Transforming lives
Skincare giant continues to empower the young with language fluency.
MARY KAY’S tagline, “Enriching women’s lives” is very much the core of what the direct-selling cosmetics and skincare giant does.
“At Mary Kay, we basically help women come up with their own start-up and become entrepreneurs. From there, they improve themselves through the many training sessions that we provide. It’s very much focused on self development and transformation.
“This is why we felt that the sponsorship of education pullouts is very in line with our mission,” said Mary Kay general manager (Malaysia and Singapore) Khor Lee Fan after handing over a mock cheque worth RM20,000 at SJK(C) Chung Hwa Damansara, Petaling Jaya.
On hand to receive the sponsorship of Step Up, an English language educational resource for primary schools, was the school’s special education coordinator Cho Shiou Yun.
Apart from SJK(C) Chung Hwa Damansara, three other Selangor schools -- SJK(C) Yuk Chai, SJK(C) Puay Chai 1 and SMK Puncak Alam 3 -- will also benefit from this sponsorship.
Step Up is a 24-page educational workbook-cum-activity pullout designed for primary schools. It features Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese translation of difficult English words.
This marks the third time that Mary Kay (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd is stepping in to sponsor the Step Up pullouts.
Khor noted English proficiency will take pupils far in life.
“Education is very important, and Step Up provides a fun way to learn. When children pick up this international language, they gain bigger opportunities. They also read more books because many books are written in English.
“English, to me, is very important. You can go everywhere! People who have mastered English tend to be more confident too. It would be one language that I would highly recommend children to pick up.”
Phua Eujon, a Year Five pupil, who aspires to be a space scientist one day, said that he found the mini dictionary feature useful.
“Sometimes, I learn new words. I also like the exercises because they are quite challenging. The stories in Step Up are also very interesting.”
Zoie Sip Wan Xuan, a Year Five pupil, said that learning is fun when using Step Up.
“It’s fun because it’s interesting. If we have fun while learning, it is easier to remember.
“I also love English! When you learn English, you can communicate easily with many other people,” she said.
Classmate Goh Jia Jia said that she finds Step Up fun and simple.
“There are poems and short stories that are fun for us to read. And there are also puzzles and games as exercises.
SJK(C) Chung Hwa Damansara English panel head Ervinna Luk recalled going to a Newspaper-in-Education (NiE) workshop at Menara Star, Petaling Jaya.
“I initially subscribed to The Star to do NiE activities. Then, I got to know about Step Up and thought that the pullout was suitable revision material for my pupils. They enjoy the “Fun Pages” and they learn new words from the comprehension activities.
“Having the newspaper around makes a difference because it is something they can relate to. When I distribute the newspaper, they are excited to read the news.”
Step Up is endorsed by the Education Ministry.
For details on the Star-NiE school sponsorship programme, call The Star’s Customer Care Unit at 1300 88 7827 from Monday to Friday (9am to 5pm).