Written by: Dola Sai Anushka, Grade 5 E

Despite the circuit breaker norms in Singapore owing to COVID-19, Earth day was celebrated on 22nd April by GIIS SMART Campus students in a number of innovative ways. The technology was put to its best use to bring together the entire school community to express their respect and care for Mother Earth.

For students of Grade 5, a virtual contest was organised where we had to record a short video, enacting the role of a TV Reporter and presenting a report on Bhutan, the happiest country in the world, and its critical role in environmental conservation. We were asked to submit a one-minute video on Bhutan. 

When I came to know about the contest I was thrilled at the thought of acting as a journalist. Also, since I had visited Bhutan with my family sometime back, I could completely connect to its natural beauty and purity of the environment.

I excitedly started exploring further on the subject with a focus on how this little mountain kingdom located in the Eastern Himalayas has evolved into the only carbon negative country in the world. In the process, I discovered some great facts like Bhutan’s pledge to retain a 60% green cover by safeguarding its natural forest resources. 

After I finished my research, I created a script where I put all the interesting facts in a one-minute script. The most challenging part was to shoot the entire video while staying indoors and enacting 3 roles at a time - one as a newsroom correspondent, second as a news reporter and another as a Bhutanese girl whose interview I wanted to include in my script.

With the help of my mother, I finished shooting the script and also managed to add some beautiful video clips and imagery of Bhutan as the background to the video.

When the results of the contest were announced I was delighted to know that I am one of the winners. My hard work fetched results.

Earth Day celebrations always hold a special place in my heart as GIIS has inculcated in me love and care for mother earth since I was in Kindergarten. The school comes up with innovative ways to celebrate the occasion every year and in past, I have enjoyed participating in ramp walks wearing paper costumes, taking part in skits and chorus songs on safeguarding our mother earth. 

I am thankful to my school for coming up with such exciting opportunities where we learn great things in a fun way.