“We need joy as we need air. We need love as we need water. We need each other as we need the Earth we share.” 

The Global Indian International School (GIIS), Ahmedabad believes that Earth, being the wonderful creation of God, has its function and purpose to perform. Everything on Earth needs to be preserved. This cannot be achieved without proper balance. In order to sensitize students about the importance of Earth, GIIS Ahmedabad celebrated Earth Day focusing on its mission to ‘Invest in our planet’. Students from Pre-primary to grade 12 participated in various activities to spread awareness for preserving Mother Earth. 

GMP segment - Nursery, K1 and K2 students of GIIS Ahmedabad raised awareness campaigns on the theme ‘Zero Wastage of Paper’. Teachers created awareness regarding the hazardous effects caused to the environment due to improper use of plastic. On the first day, the teachers took students on a nature walk around the school campus. The next day, students participated in a waste paper collection drive, wherein they went to every department to collect papers. They used the collected waste paper to make a beautiful card for the Principal. 

This year, the pre-primary section celebrated the Earth Day dedicated to the concept of ‘Go Digital’ wherein K1 and K2 students learned about new digital art skills. K3 students presented an assembly on Earth Day and how it is important for humans. The teachers conducted I-care activities for Grades 1 and 2 to discuss the idea of saving the environment. 

With an objective to promote recycling and gardening, Grades 3 to 4 students made ‘Bottle Hanging Garden’ using recycled bottles as receptacles for the flowers. As a signatory of UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG), Grade 5 students sowed kitchen plants inside the school campus. Inter-house activity was conducted for Grades 6 to 8 to raise awareness about the issues our mother earth is facing. During the activity, the students exhibited their talent of making posters and collages on the theme ‘Earth Day’. 

Meanwhile, the students of Grades 9 to 12 presented  ‘Nukkad Natak’ in Tivoli - a residential cluster near the school campus to raise awareness on conserving earth and nature. The students depicted the carefree attitude of humans towards Earth and nature, which led to mass destruction. Grade 9 students presented an assembly on the concept of Earth Day, where they presented a skit on Earth hour and pledged to save electricity by switching off their lights for an hour everyday. 

The Principal, Mr. Caesar D’silva was impressed by the idea of Earth Hour and shared the thoughts of Greta Thunberg on saving the environment. He said, “As a human being, God has given us the ability to think and work in a positive manner. I think we should try to make positive changes in the environment. The only common thing between humans, animals, plants and other creatures is Earth. Right from youngsters to elders, we must try to keep it clean for others to survive, just the way we keep our home clean.”

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