What is Malaysia Week?

The clip above is the introduction to ISKL's Malaysia Week Program for 2014. The clip itself shows the incredible power of being out in nature offers. It is a testament to the inter-relation between the environment, global issues, outdoor education and experiential learning. It is also a testament to the incredible benefit that students gain from being out-of-doors and developing not only a knowledge of natural spaces, but a profound and powerful connection with the natural world. What better a chance to engage students in authentic experiences that stimulate growth, generate an appreciation for the environment and develop a sense of purpose than such programs!  A big big thank you Karen Palko, the Malaysia Week Program Coordinator for years, who  tirelessly and continuously strives to reach every student in such profound ways. You truly make this world a better place!

"Green" Community Connections

As the new year steadily builds its identity and we move into the second semester at ISKL it's a good time to check in with those things that often get unnoticed. The "behind the scenes" stuff, so to speak.  Way back in August, when we were still high on the Green Flag award and the adrenaline was pumping, we promised to move forward in our goal to reach out to the community. Things have moved gently since then and this is our chance to let you in on some of the plans. 

Four key things that we're working on regarding community connections:

1. We are working with YAWA (the Malaysian association for environmental education) and WWF Malaysia to identify a plot of land that we can utilize as a Nature Education Center. The idea here is to work with local organizations and/or schools collaboratively to participate in conservation, outdoor education and rehabilitation projects. There is a possibility of assisting with the establishment of a Sun Bear conservation program in one of these locations. Things here are still "in flux" and we have a very long way to go, but it's a dream inching ever closer to reality. More info can be found at this Green Council link: https://sites.google.com/a/iskl.edu.my/greencouncil/ongoing-projects/nature-education-center-project
2. We have requested from the local city council (MPAJ) to help us coordinate a tree planting event sometime in March. Involving our varsity teams in third IASAS season this will function as a team bonding experience as well as a carbon offsetting service project for our participants. 
3. Our 3rd grade, 7th grade and HS environmental education classes are looking into collaborative programs with the Global Environment Centre to essentially "adopt a stream" and provide water quality data to be added to a Klang Valley database used by the Malaysian Government to instruct decisions regarding needs along the Klang River. 
4. Our Green Council is working with WWF Malaysia regarding organizing a half-day Eco-Schools conference at ISKL. The hope is that both teachers and students participate concurrently in the mini-conference. 

None of these initiatives has been yet been finalized. But as I write this I am excited about the possibilities. There is much to be gained from authentic and meaningful collaboration with local partners, NGOs, schools and community government. This is the way ISKL can slowly become a leader in the local community as well as we have done with our extended international community. "Think globally, act locally" they say. We're well on our way.

Holiday Wishes!

It's that time of year. Within minutes of closing the Panther News you'll be rushing into the back room to finalize the wardrobe that goes into that suitcase, slamming it shut and rushing down to the waiting taxi. Then it's off to the holiday races and to waiting family or sharing special moments in exotic destinations. But while you're enjoying your down time take a moment to teach your children about what is truly important:

• Positive time with family is important for appropriate development and healthy balance
• What matters most is the quality of interactions with those around you, not whether you've managed to find the newest tech item whose obsolescence is planned for six months down the road. 
• You can share the gift of giving by giving things other than "things". Consider the gift of volunteering and help making the world a better place while spending time with your children.  
• Try to impress on your children that every day offers a chance to make lasting positive impact on the world. Did you know that the vast majority of Melawati students want to plant a tree? Holidays are a good time to do just that, in your back yard or down the street. 
• Children watch what we do. We all know that. This holiday season take a break from the new messages that incessantly arrive in your smart phone, look your son/daughter in the eye, share a game, a story and a smile, ask them to help you make dinner, decorate the house (with recyclable materials, of course), and share the moments we all know will one day be gone and we'll wish they weren't.
• When new year's resolutions come around, take the time to resolve that you'll help the world in one way or another... yes, losing weight and exercising more are both very admirable, but reaching out to others - human or otherwise - is just as noble and perhaps more impacting

Then, when you return with that suitcase and a head (and camera phone) full of memories make sure that it hasn't just been a week or two that's served as a parenthesis in your life (though we all need that respite, for sure). Live simply. Love deeply. Enjoy the moments, during the holidays and beyond. All the best for a wonderful holiday season to all!  

Making Connections with the Community

I just had the pleasure of accompanying a number of our students - Alysha Alizan and Deanna Anuar from the Green Council and Zijia Kee and Sun Woo Kim from the HS Earth Club - to the 2nd International Eco-Schools Conference. The delegation participated in a number of activities ranging from experiential game-based activities to school presentations or their initiatives and projects. Our students also had the opportunity to run two hands-on workshops for the students from other schools. The biggest benefit, though, was the interaction and networking that took place in the five short hours we were there. The level of engagement went from an expected cautionary arrival to a thrill of being around peers who share a genuine concern for the environment. 

This got me thinking about the connections that we have with the community around us. It also brought me back to a conversation with two representatives from the MPAJ. They mentioned that the them ISKL has an "invisible wall" at the limit of our campuses, seeming out of reach to the common passer by. One of the aims of the Green Council and our community service teams is to provide a corridor of interaction between two parallel worlds that benefit from each other. 

So it was with this in mind that I was perusing the latest issue of the Hornbill. It includes a number of articles that deal with global issues, diversity, community connections, service and environmental action. It is a bit of a "wow" to read through it and makes one realize just how much is being done at ISKL in terms of connections with the various communities we work with. Add that to the community service projects that are being done on a weekly basis at the HS and you have a highly engaged population. 

Data collected from our HS community service programs that our programs have, until now, added up to 1,558 hours. Though the amount of time is not as essential as the value added by the quality of service, it is none-the-less important to recognize that what works best is on-going, authentic connections with the community. Certainly time with others, particularly those outside "the expat bubble" allow our students an engaging connection to learning from those they interact with. 

Of course we would love to do more. We are planning to have workshops and/or conferences set up for Eco-School members locally. Likewise we are working on developing connections with local schools for environmental projects such as tree planting along the Klang River in Ampang and the establishment and development of a Nature Education Center - along with local NGOs and/or schools - in the Klang Valley. 

Overall we are doing very well. But our impact as a school is made greater by the collective positive interactions we have with the world around us. Experiential in its nature and authentic in its setting, community involvement is essential to the growth of our students in the formation of socially conscious global citizens. 

The New Campus Comes Alive in Grade 5

It was a Friday. I was tired. Like most things the set up had been a bit of an issue and technical difficulties are always the norm, aren't they?  But come 1:15, when the fifth graders walked into their pod area, the place came alive!  They had been waiting for this for close to three weeks and the (renewable) energy - fittingly the unit topic - was palpable. The visitors?  The team directly responsible for creation our new campus. Architects. Check. Director of Operations. Check. Project managers. Check. Sustainability expert. Check. Engineers. Check.  All here to link our new facility to exceptional learning. 

The students were offered a glimpse of the plans related to sustainability in very informative and pretty snazzy posters focusing on nearly everything from daylight harvesting to grey water reuse to solar power to green spaces and traffic flow. The kids listened intently. At the midpoint the tables were turned. Visitors scampered across the way to the respective breakout rooms based on four main themes: Water for Energy, Pressure Points, Water harvesting, Solar/Wind energy. Other groups walked around in a gallery walk of posters and plans for the new campus. The wow factor was palpable and the questions coming at machine gun speed. 

In their respective classrooms the students impressed us all with their thoughts, intended to be "outside the box" practical things that we might consider as we plan the new campus in years to come. Ideas on the table? How about harnessing the energy from playground swings or using self adhesive, transparent solar panels on windows or cork floor tiles that absorb human weight and capturing kinetic energy? The kids were full of wonderful ideas and the visiting team loved them!  

As an observer of this sort of event it's difficult to not find inspiration in watching students engage in an authentic manner with practitioners in the field. Above and beyond the ideas presented and the sharing of thoughts and questions, it was equally impressive to see how fifth graders, only 11 years old, carried themselves as they made presentations to their peers and the visiting experts. Their poise and confidence were only superseded by the obvious level of deep understanding of their topic. 

When we all drifted away from the event the adults had a real "wow" look to their faces. The interaction alone had been a heart warming event, but they carried with them a bit of inspiration too for recognizing that our students might just be able to put sustainability into their daily practice, at our new campus and beyond. A subsequent email from CK Tang, the lead sustainability architect, noted "It was great fun for me to have the opportunity to interact with the kids and to learn from them. The great thing about them is that there is no boundary in their imagination and it is great, because they are thinking out of the box!" 

Wow. The future looks bright.

ISKL's Response to Typhoon Haiyan

From rescue operations to in-kind assistance, helping those in need is a difficult task, especially when the event is of such magnitude as Typhoon Haiyan that hit the Philippines on November 8th. As of the writing of this article close to 4,000 people have lost their lives and thousands remain displaced and homeless. We can only imagine the challenges ahead for those affected.

At ISKL the event hit close to home. A number of our community members are from the Philippines and a immediate call to action is natural and necessary. The PTA's response was nearly immediate. In a quick and concerted effort to support the typhoon victims the PTA communicated with the Embassy of the Philippines and several NGOs involved in rescue and support operations. The PTA then coordinated with our Head of School, the Sustainability & Service Learning Coordinator, the HS Community Service Coordinator, the Student Councils and the Red Hats to establish quick action. Within a few days there was a plan shared with our entire community. There are currently three main ways to support the relief efforts through ISKL:

• By making a monetary donation to the Panther Store (designated for Philippine Disaster Relief) which will be forwared to the Philippine Red Cross at the end of the month;
• By placing non-perishable food and/or health-related items (from the list provided by the PTA) to boxes already being filled on both campuses, or
• By sponsoring the shipment of a box by filling out the form here.

Please consider giving generously if you have not already done so, and thank you so much to those who have already helped in any way. The silver lining in a crisis like this, if there is one, is the growth in the sense of community - in this case the global community - that inevitably takes place with something of this scale. At ISKL we have shown time and time again, that we are willing to support those in need and this is no exception.  

On a related note - and highlighting the interconnectedness of our human and natural future - as the on-going discussions about the human impact on climate change continue the Philippine government is attending the Climate Change Conference in Warsaw this week, the latest country to demand global action on climate change.   It gives credence to the thought that, in addition to our concern for human life in emergency circumstances, which is completely appropriate and critically important, we must likewise move quickly and decisively with regard to our daily actions, consumption patterns and expectations of our governments, business environment, our communities and ourselves.

Thank you for all that you do, for this emergency and for our collective future. 

Melawati Going Trash Free on Fridays

About a month ago I wrote about the Trash Free Fridays initiative at Prep Senior. Since then I've been approached by a number of teachers and reminded that other classes are doing it too. The Prep Reception and Prep Junior classes have been doing something along these lines for years with parents asked to consider the snacks they send along with their children. Students who have gone through our program for the past three years (when the Prep Seniors started the initiative) have experienced it as well. So as of November 15th we're piloting a Trash Free Fridays across Melawati and seeing how it goes.

This has farther reaching effects than one might suspect, however, as there is a need for total community buy-in to ensure success. Students and teachers, of course, are on the front line, but this also affects operations (most notably the cafeteria) and home prepared lunches as well. which is where parents come in. 

Here's a quick guide for parents of Melawati children:

• Try to pack lunches that are healthy and natural 
• Try to purchase food that is in its natural state rather than something in a package (the idea is not to take it out of its package and transfer it to a tupperware container, but to avoid packaging altogether)
• Spend time with your son/daughter in making the food. Apart from the positive interaction it provides it's also a great opportunity to talk about nutrition and positive eating choices!

Certainly there is a new level of thinking that needs to take place regarding purchasing and preparation, particularly for those of us whose shopping bags are stuffed with single service packages. But research clearly indicates that sustainable and healthy choices are nothing but beneficial for the development of our children. Proper nutrition, healthy discussions and hands-on interaction with healthy food are all part of far-reaching nutrition education and that correlates to positive nutritional choices as children grow. If one adds the environmental benefits of less waste-to-landfill it's hard not to call it a win-win situation. 

We hope you'll join us in celebrating this through your participation, choices and conversations with your children and family. After all, we're all in this together!