Project Papyrus

Blog post by Elaine Leong, PS0803

During the march holidays, 2 other classmates and I took part in Project Papyrus which was organized by the National Youth Envirolympics Challenge (NYEC). The aim of this project was to promote environmental awareness and the large-scale promotional event included creating the largest piece of handmade recycled paper and at the same time, try to  set a world record of 100m² . There were 4 dates to attend with the last being the event day itself where booths were set up at the rooftop gardens at Vivocity to promote NYEC and its other activities including Project Papyrus (PP).

During the first session of 3 hours, the NYEC personnel taught us how to create the piece of A4 sized paper from the recycled paper. (Please see the video in the link below). 3 schools took part in PP and they were NYP, ITE Clementi and Marsiling Secondary.

The next 2 sessions were focused on making the large piece of paper and this was carried out at the Ci Yuan Pavillian. After the completion of the piece, it measured to 88m²  which was sufficient as the previous record was 50m2 .

The last session was mending the booth at Vivocity, giving out pamphlets to the public and informing them about what NYEC was all about and what people can do for the environment. We also gave out booklets made from the recycled paper.

Although physically draining, it was really fun participating in the event. Working with younger students, making friends and all was an experience that will never be forgotten.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hPNu4c2sRs

With these simple materials, you too can make your own recycled paper at home! 

Stuff needed:

1. Newspaper pulp (blended)
2. Cardboard box to fill water with
3. Wooden frame or anything that can act as a sieve
4. Anything that fits within frame to squeeze water out of the paper
5. Plastic film to collect pulp on
6. Towels
7. Some strength?
8. A place to put the pulp to dry

Note:

1. Dry it throughly before leaving it to dry or it’ll take very long to dry.
2. Use a suitable amount of pulp. Adding too much will give you cardboard and too little will give you tracing paper. About 3/4 cup if the pulp is concentrated, and 2 cups if it is too diluted.
3. Don’t rush yourself to complete it, if you tear your paper in the process, it’s hard to mend. Restart procedure if it happens.

MINDS Carnival (4)

Blog Post by Hayden Yeo (MB0801)

I guess, this is a pretty late entry about the MINDS carnival held on the 10th Oct. Half of our class, MB 0801 had the opportunity to be in charge of the game stalls. We had so much fun making the games, decorating the stalls and of course not forgetting seeing the happy faces of the clients after they had played our games. Some of the clients were very shy, they were so shy to approach our game stall but we managed to get them to play our games. When you successfully make them happy, you get this feeling of pure satisfaction that you wouldn’t want to part with them at the end of the day and you want to make them laugh smile more.
The performances put up by the various groups were awesome. I could see on the clients’ face that they enjoyed the performances very much. Some of them even went up the stage to perform. They were so energetic and lively.
There were so much fun and laughter in the sports hall.
Overall, our class had a great day at the carnival.

MINDS Carnival (3)

Blog Post by Toh Shi Min (MB0704)

Before the last day of school reopens, which was on the Friday, the school of SCL held a MINDS Carnival. This carnival involves students from Year 1, Year 2, mentors, lecturers and of course students from MINDS. We have to report to school early in the morning to have our briefing for this event. This is a compulsory event for those people involved. Each student was paired up with one student from MINDS and this would be their buddy for the day. The people involved in the event were allocated by different buses whereby we were given an envelope with the buses written on top of it. I was allocated Bus D. That means my buddy is from bus D. In the envelope, there are still a piece of paper which is something like a game list, after you have brought your buddy to those game stations, let the game masters or game-in-charge to sign the paper. Presents and prizes could also be worn at the stalls. The aim is to bring your buddy to as many stations as possible. There are still candy floss and popcorn coupons in the envelope.

MINDS Carnival (2)

Blog Post by Julia Sim (MB0704)

Hey guys! I had a great and fun experience taking care of my “client” on 10 october 2008. It was a huge event where almost every single of the SCL students were involved in it. We were there early in the morning at 8.20am where the venue was held at sport hall and the moment i stepped into it, I saw many different attractive game stalls. We had a briefing before we went on to fetch our “client”. Most people had one to one “client” but i had a “client” who was shared between me and Azmah. This was due to the fact that she had epilepsy condition and she need extra care and attention.

First we brought her to the various game stalls and she had a enjoyable time playing the short games. We clapped our hands and encouraged her whenever she win or lose the game. She loved the gift that she won from all the stalls that she played! Then we filled our stomach at North canteen and after eating we watched the cartoon “Mr Bean”. Back to the sport hall, there were performances and the giving of lucky draw gift.

To end this event, songs were played where everyone were dancing happily. This event truly gave us the opportunity to interact with the “clients” where we have in mind that there are indeed many peoples out there who need love from the society.

MINDS Carnival (1)

Blog Post by Christine Aw Ling Zhi (FS0702)

Last Friday, the SCL(LS) students were involved in the MINDS carnival which was held in our school’s sports hall. We had to gather there by 8.30am in the morning (it was so early!) for a briefing. We then received a name tag (to identify who we are and the emergency numbers) and an envelope which contained the “game coupons”, a movie ticket and a popcorn and candy floss coupon each for our MINDS client.

When our clients arrived, they went over to the north canteen to gather and we were supposed to find our clients by their name tag. However, I was disappointed to find out that my client was absent ): Therefore I joined my friend, Yina and her client. Our client was very quiet, probably because she felt shy. When we spoke to her, she either shook or nodded her head only. We brought her to the different games stall and to the movie screening (Mr. Bean’s movie). We can feel that she really enjoyed herself at the carnival, and she seems especially happy when she won prizes at the game stalls and also while eating the popcorns and candy floss. After the lunch break, there were performances by the Japanese cultural dance and students who sang songs.

Seeing the MINDS clients enjoying themselves as they danced to the music makes me feel happy too (: At about 2.30pm, the carnival ended and it was time to say goodbye to our clients. I felt sad as I really enjoyed the time with them. Some of the clients are very friendly as they would smile and wave goodbye to you and also seeing them enjoying themselves at the carnival really puts a smile on my face (: