First of all, I express my gratitude to Ms. Surekha Thakur, the Punjab State Nodal Officer, for organizing and guiding me in the execution of this program on such a large scale. We are all set to embark on a joyful journey of learning, exploring, and getting rewarded for our innovative waste management practices. We already have a WhatsApp group of 460 School Nodal Teachers from 23 districts covering almost all the 166 urban local bodies (cities) of the State of Punjab.
I see a lot of queries from the SNTs in the group, especially about their role, timelines, and activities. Let me try to list down the following:
SLP is an 8-week internship program for high school students focused on promoting source segregation of waste, which is the crucial first step towards economic and proper solid waste management by the city governments. At the same time, students learn various life skills:
a. Critical thinking based on Assignment writing
b. Creativity based on Poster creation, storytelling, slogan, or doodle
c. Digital Skills based on learning and creating PowerPoint presentations
d. Initiative – Personal or team-based sustainability activities
e. Public Speaking: Students present their PPT, tell a story, or explain their poster.
By participating in fieldwork, interacting with stakeholders, and community outreach, students will develop a deep connection to the cause of waste management.
The program requires 2 hours per week of activity time, which includes attending webinars, discussions, demonstrations, and fieldwork. The program website is https://sustainableleaders1.wixsite.com/sustainabilityleader, which gives student registration link on the home page, details about the program, the blogs (enlisting our program progress) and the resources - sample exercises, videos and articles. https://www.youtube.com/@suhanisharma208
Recognition and Incentives:
The program aims to recognize and reward students and schools for their dedication and achievements. Students will earn points at the end of each week, and the schools will also be awarded collective points. Students will receive certificates on program completion. Besides, we will assess, acknowledge, and award:
a. the best-performing students in each school
b. the best-performing school nodal teachers in each district
c. the 'Sustainability Leader School' of the year in each district
d. And possibly the best-performing districts
First Steps for the School Nodal Teachers
On the home page https://sustainableleaders1.wixsite.com/sustainabilityleader, the SNTs must register 50 students from classes 8th to 12th by 27th Sep.
Optional: If the SNT feels that more students are interested and can accommodate them in classrooms showing presentations and webinars, they can register more students. SNTs will maintain the list of students by themselves
https://youtu.be/C3C3KKeBwN0?feature=shared
This link takes you to last year's presentation given to the nodal teachers of Mohali in Aug 2023 when the SLP was conceptualized and was evolving. SNTs are requested to go through it. Some variations happened during program execution. You can see the 8-week schedule on the website under the header 'About the Program.'
https://sustainableleaders1.wixsite.com/sustainabilityleader/about-the-program
The first-week session with the students will be conducted on 1st Oct. The live webinar will cover different aspects of waste and its management.
The nodal teachers organize the conduct of webinars and field visits, guide social initiatives, assess students' assignments, posters, and stories, assist (or take assistance from computer science teachers) in making PPTs, organize public speaking sessions in their schools, assess best-performing students, submit their school assessment form, etc.
After assessment of written work (assignment, story, poster, etc.), from time to time, the SNTs scan them in order (best ones first), make a pdf, and name the file by district code, school code, and subject (Guidelines to be given) and share on the group (or email sustainableleadersprogram@gmail.com) for record and further display on the website under Impact Chronicles.
You can click on the header' Impact Chronicles' on the website to see last year submissions.
Posters, Poems, Slogans, Stories- Sustainability Leaders Program 2023 Mohali (youtube.com)
https://youtu.be/EmeNSVY8S_8?feature=shared
https://youtu.be/o-N9o6DU0ZA?feature=shared
The above videos give some glimpses into the student engagement under the Sustainability Leaders Program in Mohali district in the year 2023.
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