By Bavinee Shrestha & Prasamsa Moktan
This year’s Literacy Week 2021 at Premier International School was held from the 1st to the 8th of September. There were lots of activities during the entire week throughout all the grades. Literacy Week has historically been held every year to raise awareness about its importance. The essence of the Literacy Week 2021 is to reflect on how smart and effective teaching skills can be used in youth and adult literacy programs to face COVID-19 and other pressing issues.
On 1st September
The Literacy Week 2021 celebration started with Grade 1 students who made bookmarks with their favourite characters to give to the people they love with personalized messages. Below are the pictures of some of the participants and the bookmarks made by them.
On 2nd September
On the second day of Literacy Week 2021, the activity called ‘Drop everything and read’ was conducted in Grade 4. In this activity, the students are expected to drop everything at hand and read for 15 minutes straight.
On 3rd September
On the third day of Literacy Week 2021, there was a story-reading session in Pre-1 and Pre-2 by Spriha Phokral and Ayuia Amatya, our Student Ambassadors, in their homeroom.
On 4th – 5th of September
On the weekend of Literacy Week 2021, there was a story-reading competition for Grade 5, where the students picked out any English/Nepali literature book and competed with their family members to see who would finish reading the book first.
On 6th – 8th September
The sixth, seventh and eighth day of Literacy Week 2021, was a story-reading session in Grade 2 by the Student Ambassadors in their homerooms.
the 7th Graders also hosted their own little Book Drive as a gesture of love throughout the three days (6th-8th September).
On 7th September. For the 7th Day of Literacy Week, the 3rd Graders took part in creating their own authentic Gratitude Journal as a means of staying grounded, grateful and thankful.
On 8th September
On the last day of Literacy Week 2021, we had a guest speaker named Mr. Gaurav Kandel, who talked to the students about the experiences of his younger days, how he developed interest and started youth activism at a very young age. Mr. Gaurav is a youth activist, program project consultant, development campaigner, blogger and media enthusiast. From his stories, we found out that he was also invited to work for Wai Wai Foods as the youngest Deputy Manager, was a Youth Ambassador for the US back in 2011, and worked at non-profit organizations as well. He shared with us a very important phrase that he had learned from his life and career: That if we want to do something, we should do it today and not wait for tomorrow. He also shared his thoughts on the platform Glocal Teen Hero, which recognizes teenagers who are social activists and working for the betterment of society. The guest speaker activity ended with him reciting a Nepali poem.
On the last day of Literacy Week 2021, we had a guest speaker named Mr. Gaurav Kandel, who talked to the students about the experiences of his younger days, how he developed interest and started youth activism at a very young age. Mr. Gaurav is a youth activist, program project consultant, development campaigner, blogger and media enthusiast. From his stories, we found out that he was also invited to work for Wai Wai Foods as the youngest Deputy Manager, was a Youth Ambassador for the US back in 2011, and worked at non-profit organizations as well. He shared with us a very important phrase that he had learned from his life and career: That if we want to do something, we should do it today and not wait for tomorrow. He also shared his thoughts on the platform Glocal Teen Hero, which recognizes teenagers who are social activists and working for the betterment of society.
Lots of wonderful memories with loved ones, friends and teachers were made throughout the week from making bookmarks for loved ones, having reading competitions with family members, having Student Ambassadors read students’ stories, and other meaningful and enjoyable activities. It was also fun listening to Mr. Gaurav’s experiences and have learned a lot from his stories. On the same day, we had another guest speaker Mr Bisma Upreti a well recognized personality at grade 11 who emphasized on the Nepali literature and its recognization. Bisma Upreti a well recognized personality at grade 11 and 12 who emphasized on the Nepali literature and its recognization.
This brings us to the end of Literacy Week 2021 and we look forward to the next one
