ISKL Eco-Schools Mini Conference: Collaborating & Future Shaping

Collaboration is a big word at ISKL. We talk about it all the time. Student projects require it and teachers are often utilizing it to engage their students in an exceptional education. But though collaboration is essential to our educational being, it has been challenging to walk outside that font gate of apply it externally. 

This coming weekend our school's Green Council executive - which has grown in size lately from eight to 15 members - will be organizing it's first true outreach program. The ISKL Eco-Schools Mini Conference is a bit of a two-in-one idea with both teachers and students engaged in workshops, collaborative activities and "greenstorming" sessions. 

The idea is simple. Bring in delegations from around the city and ask them to share what they're doing. Then, walking them through a process called Pyramid 2030 (www.pyramid2030.net), our Green Council executive members will facilitiate a number of sessions of brainstorming (a.k.a. "greenstorming") that will focus on true collaboration between the schools. At the same time, the teachers will be involved in their own professional development of sorts, by participating in a teachers-facilitating-teachers session dealing with issues of administrative and organizational matters. 

By and large we hope that the half-day event will be powerful enough for the nine participating schools that we can make it an annual (or semi-annual) event. The idea is that students can do more when they are united. Can you envision our youth greening the Ampang and making it the "greenest" suburb of the Klang Valley?  How about students leading a movement to eliminate plastic bags from KL?  Or perhaps they can work with architects and planners to increase "green" building practices in schools around the country? The students can envision so much more than our adult minds can muster.

Students can truly shine if given that tools and opportunity to do so. We see it every day on our two campuses. Now it's time to let them shine in the community as well. If our future is to be a great one, let us give them the chances to exhibit decision-making and leadership here, now. 

Go on. Make the world a better place.