Opening young minds
Secondary school students are challenged to present real world issues in the form of movie posters in latest NiE contest.
Secondary school students are challenged to present real world issues in the form of movie posters in the latest NiE contest.
STUDENTS stood up waving their hands, eager to be called on during a pop quiz session held at SK Taman Perling, Johor.
Dhevan Murali Pillai, 14, was one of the lucky students who answered the question correctly and clinched a complimentary pass to Snow World, sponsored by Resorts World Genting.
Other much sought-after prizes included complimentary passes to Alive Museum and Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium, sponsored by Resorts World Genting.
The pop quiz was part of a workshop for this year’s Newspaper-in-Education (NiE) movie poster contest by The Star.
Open to secondary school students in Malaysia, Star Flicks 2018 requires students to produce movie posters in groups of four.
Each poster must convey a pressing and current issue highlighted in an article from The Star newspaper published in 2018. The issue must fall under one of the following themes: health, social values, education, charity, environment, technology, safety and relationships.
Apart from letting students’ creativity shine, Star Flicks 2018 offers lucrative prizes: the grand prize a six-day, four-night trip to South Korea sponsored by Star Media Group and runners-up prizes a three-day, two-night stay in Genting Highlands, sponsored by Resorts World Genting.
Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar student Dhevan Murali said that he was excited to work with his friends on the movie poster.
“The prizes are really attractive and I have many creative friends I can work with to produce the poster,” he said after the contest briefing.
Meanwhile, his teacher Farhani Ariff said she believes that this is the kind of contest students would want to join.
“I have many students who are active and outspoken and I believe this is the kind of contest they would really want to take part in,” she said, adding that parents from her school are also very supportive of their children joining the contest.
SMK Sri Tebrau student Feng Huei Yee said that she cannot wait to work with her close friends on the poster.
“I think this contest will help me and my friends learn to work together as a team. I am sure it will definitely be a fun project for us to do together.”
As for SMK Sri Rahmat English teacher Vinala Devi Chelliah, she said that The Star’s Newspaper-inEducation (Star-NiE) has been an important teaching tool for her.
“I have been using Star-NiE in my teaching for a while now and I can really see the improvement in my students.
“I think the movie poster contest is a beautiful way of instilling the love for the language, and once the students are in love with the language, they have the foundation to create wonderful things.
“I am excited to tell all of my students about this contest as I am sure it will appeal to their creative young minds,” she noted.
She also said that the movie poster contest was a unique and interesting way of promoting English as it would cater to students of every proficiency level.
“Most English contests would only celebrate students with high English proficiency but this contest also takes into consideration weaker students who lack the motivation to explore the language,” she added.
The contest template was published in The Star’s NiE pullout on April 11. Students can also check out contests.thestar.com.my/ nie for more details.
The contest closes on July 4 and is a collaboration with the Education Ministry. Student and teacher participants from Star-NiE subscription schools earn certificates of participation and appreciation respectively that garner co-curriculum points.