Fountainhead School, like every year, hosted a community service programme where they invited underprivilaged children from government schools to interact and upskill in their field of interest. The programme offered activities like, dance, arts, sports, science projects and ICT. This programme was not only an opportunity for FS volunteers to share their knowledge, but also expereince and learn from them. Since I had an interest in STEM, I chose to deliver my knowledge by volunteering for science projects, where instead of children learning science the conventional way, they get to practically experiment their learnings. I had been part of community service last year as well, so this time I took the lead to explain the experiments along with our supervisor, Manish Sir and few other volunteers.

LO1 – Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

My strength lies in interacting with young kids. I believe in order to convey our knowledge its important for the opposite people to feel comfortable. Therefore before beginning our sessions, we used to interact with kids in groups and question them about their lifestyle and further career choices. Such intereactions helped us be one step ahead in making an inclusive culture for them.

We often realise our strengths and weaknesses when we interact with people. While teaching them, we had to use constant gujarati because that language was quite easy for them to comprehend things in. However, I realised that despite having gujarati as my mother tongue, I didnt know how to communicate those scientific terms effectivity to kids because I was always taught in English. Hence to develop myself in that area, I ensured that from the next session, I would know those scientific terms in gujarati or hindi by asking our mentor or searcing on google.

LO6 – Engagement with issues of global significance:

Access to education do lie as one of the global issues because this opportunity isn’t avaiable to all. Even if it is, quality education is very limited. According to United Nations Sustainable development goals, Quality education shall give every child the opportunity to thrive. It should be inclusive, and ensures that every child has the resources, attention, and focus they need to effectively learn. With this motive, I was part of STEM Community Service of 2024. Since I have been alwys hooked in sciences just because of the practical experiments and the ability to imagine what is being taught to me, I realised that it isnt everyone who gets access to such practical or experimental learning. Therefore, volunteering in assisting the stem education to underprivillaged children allowed me to engage in sustainbal edeve;lopment goas which holds a global significance; quality education.

LO7 – Recognise and consider the ethics of choices and actions

To carry out a service programme, it is essential to be mindful of how are teaching in every session is impacting the audience. It is important for us to have awareness of the consequences of choices and actions in planning and carrying out the experience. When we focus on ethics,

Firstlty it was important to respect their autonomy which included acknowledging their agency and involving them in decision-making processes regarding their projects whenever possible because this practical learning wasn’t just a we teach and you do according programme, it was a space where they could implement their different knowledge and communicate any possible situation otherwise. For instance, there was one kid who was mentally differntly abled, hence to teach her was a little diffuclt because she required more personal attention while dealing with resources. However, I tried ensuring a lin between when I needed to spoon feed her and when I could allow her to do her own things.

Overall, based on right decisions or my actions , I tried empowering and supporting underprivileged children to reach their full potential. This involved providing mentorship, encouragement, and emotional support, as well as fostering a growth mindset that emphasizes resilience and perseverance.