“We must teach our children to smell the earth, to taste the rain, to touch the wind, to see things grow, to hear the sunrise and night-fall - to care.” John Cleal

In keeping with the spirit of the above quote, the Global Indian International School, Ahmedabad celebrates Earth Day every year on 22nd April to teach the children about the importance of Earth in our lives. This year, Earth Day was celebrated on the theme of ‘Invest in our Planet’. Organizing this day gives us an opportunity to raise awareness about saving the planet ‘Earth’, climate change, global warming, and encouraging sustainability. 

At GIIS Ahmedabad, the Earth Day celebration is a part of the school’s Green Initiative Programme and I-care activities. To mark this day, various activities were conducted across GMP to Grade 8 segment. The teachers had a brainstorming session with the students on the importance of the Earth Day. 

The children volunteered to protect ‘Mother Earth’, they wore the special blue & green colored dress code for the day. The students of K1, K2, and Nursery celebrated the day by making posters along with a slogan writing activity. The students were taught the significance of Earth Day through videos and stories. As a gesture of giving back to the ‘Earth’, the students of K1 D - Mishri Ganatra and Prashvi Badami cultivated plants on the school premises sent by the parents along with Principal- Mr. Caesar D’silva, Vice Principal- Ms. Gayatri Moras, and Head Mistress - Ms. Ruchika Dhingra.

The students were sensitized toward the ‘Zero food waste’ and ‘No plastic’ campaigns. The students of Grade 3 to 5 participated in various activities like creative writing, slogan writing, and poster making. The students engaged themselves to color the Earth using their own creativity and imagination.

The students of Grades 6 to 8 commemorated the day by participating in the elocution competition and slogan writing. A total of 21 students of Grade 8 enthusiastically participated in the elocution competition on the topic - ‘Changes that we can bring on Earth as children. Vanya Lahoti of Grade 8 (Morning Shift) won the elocution competition. Padmaja Kadam bagged the second prize and Anshika Katiyar and Yug Patel stood in the third position. 

The students of Grade 8 (Afternoon Shift) also competed in the elocution competition, in which Shriya Bhavsar won the first prize, Satvik Sinha stood in the second position while Bhavya Mathur and Pratham Tiwari were placed in the third position. 

On this occasion, the Principal of GIIS Ahmedabad, Mr. Caesar D’silva, congratulated all the participants and conveyed his message to the students. In his speech, he said, “Today’s event is not about winning or losing, it is more about loving Mother Earth. The common thing between human beings, animals, and plants is the Earth as our common home. Everyone, right from the youngsters to the elders, should try to save nature and keep the environment clean, just the way we keep our home clean.”

GIIS Ahmedabad has always been known for its green initiatives, earning the school recognitions like the renowned MQH Best Practices Award for Building Responsible Green Citizens and ELETS World Education Summit 2020 Award for Green School Initiative