When cool gems shine
SMK Tarcisian Convent, Ipoh, Perak
MANY made fun of their group name, but Team Jewels of Frozen Island can stand tall and shine after clinching the Outstanding Award for the state of Perak in the NiE contest.
On days following the contest closing date, they would check The Star newspaper every day, keeping their eyes peeled for news of this year’s Game4Life winners.
The all-girl team – consisting of Darshini Dewi Elangovan, Kelsey Moses, Sangetha Devi Vijaya Kumar and Shalini Selva Rethinam -- literally jumped for joy when they found out the good news.
“Happy”, “proud” and “excited” were some of the words they used to express how they felt as they recounted their incredible team spirit.
“All our hard work and effort paid off!” said Shalini, who sacrificed sleep to finish colouring the poster artwork.
“We only had a week to complete the entry as we found out about the contest quite late and everyone gave it top priority that week,” she said.
Darshini said that they would stay back in school to work on the poster, and when they were not in school, they stayed connected through their Whatsapp group chat.
Darshini said: “We learnt a lot about teamwork and doing our best despite the challenges. We came up with seven different slogans for the PSA, and all four of us had to sit down to pick one.”
There was also nail-biting suspense when they thought that they were not able to send in their contest entry in time, Sangetha recalled. “We rushed to the post office and tracked the package to make sure that it was sent.”
“Time management is very important! One week was a short period of time for us to finish the project, but we managed to stay on track with our studies as well,” said Sangetha.
Throughout the project, Kelsey said that she improved on her English. “Creating this PSA has taught me many new words. When I did not understand what something meant, my friends would explain it to me.
“The PSA topic on sports has also helped me with ideas for essay writing,” she added.
Their PSA message called for everyone to put on their shoes and lead a healthy lifestyle by participating in sporting activities.
Kelsey said that the project made her realise that health is very important.
“Exercising helps to keep diseases away. We can avoid obesity and our brains will stay sharp.”
In the same vein, Shalini added: “Technology is becoming advanced. People are so obsessed with their gadgets and the convenience they have at their fingertips that they neglect their health.
“We are still quite young, but through this contest, we have a platform to tell everyone our message.”
“We’d like to thank The Star for giving us a voice to reach the nation. We would also like to thank our teachers who have guided us.”
Agreeing, Sangetha said that their teachers, especially the school contest coordinator R. Krishnavani, had been very helpful and encouraging. “She gave her full support to all teams from the school. She is the reason we have come so far.”
Krishnavani said that she encouraged students to join the contest as it helped unleash their creativity and develop their writing skills.
“They learnt new words and ideas as well as how to incorporate them into a project. Team Jewels of Frozen Island had excellent teamwork. They each had different strengths and learnt how to work together.”
The school principal Juahir Mohd Hassan said that taking part in the NiE contest was good for the students’ personal development.
“The girls seem to have more spunk now. The award is an incentive and will encourage them to be ‘daring’ when speaking out.
“The project also improves their English. It gives them a discussion topic that is not in textbooks. It encourages students to read and interact with each other. The skills that they acquire will certainly be an asset to them.”