Every year since 2016, when I was given the task to see to the presentations for the Graduation Ceremony of the Fifth and Sixth Formers, I'd try to come out with something memorable.... With the help of a colleague who believed as strongly that it can be a very good thing for the kids (to remember the school by) and also to include those kids who do not take Chinese and are not allowed to attend the graduation ceremony, we would spend a lot of our free time working on this. Much time is required to search for the suitable shots. Over the years we developed the discipline of meticulously filing up our videos and photos. Then there would be the countless hours of editing. Then coming out with the story... that requires inspiration and a feel for what gives it a good feel. Though sometimes we’d whine as we worked on it, the looks on the faces of the students never failed to make us forget all that.
The first of such videos started in 2016 when I was tasked for the first time to prepare the presentations. I decided to make an extra video from the school dedicated to the graduating kids, blessing them and wishing them the best as they move on in their lives because I truly believed then that if a school does its job well, the students will rise above the bar.... just as my alma mater had done for me. I will always remember the dedication of my teachers which inspired and made me feel that they cared enough. That was the legacy that I had been given and when I decided to be a teacher, that was the legacy I felt should be passed on.
The joke was, being a Chinese school, everything was very mechanical, structured and a practice run must be done for every event. The Discipline Master, Mr. Lim originally insisted that the video be shown so that the kids do not talk or misbehave during the graduation ceremony. I had a hard time convincing him that if the videos/presentations were meaningful and relevant to them, they would respond in kind. There was no need to show them.
Suffice to say, on that day, the kids were more focused on the screen than being disruptive. Meaning... I learned a long time ago that when you are able to to give meaning, the responses will always be positive. The problem with many of us today is we do things without much thought. We just want to complete a task more to satisfy our conscience than anything. And that is why there is so much brokenness. We have lost much of our community spirit in that sense.
This video is more poignant for one reason. I would be part of the story because I would leave the school too, though I did not know it at that time. However, the circumstances in which I was made to leave left a very bad taste in the mouth as well as a deep disappointment in the system that I am in... in that I had been let down even though I stood up for the kids over a teacher who verbally abused kids and used her position to intimidate the students. Till this day, I cannot understand why a teacher needs to show that kind of 'power' over her students. And to make it worse, the Principal, 'the man in black in the video" had no courage to do the right thing.
So this particular video will have meaning in part that both of us (my colleague and I) are part of the stories. Because in the ordinary, I discovered gems of extraordinary in those of our students. Many of my own former and some, whom I did not teach reached out to me and made our story even more extraordinary and hopeful. We found the extraordinary in the courage shown by students to voice their support and anger at what they perceived as injustice. We found comfort from those who messaged us privately to express their thanks. These will be among the stories that we will bring with us... and this is also why I will continue to plod on.
And a special word of thanks to Lim Chun Ming and Ahh Jie (Ah Black... and dunno what other nicknames he has ... 8)) For the last few years of working together... these kids were at this since they were in F3.
Apologies for abrupt ending of the music... I was working on it from my iPad and there seemed not to be a fade off function... so the music got chopped... Had to remove the original music scores due to copyright issues. So, I had to change it...
As to the graduating batches, may each of you find your place in life... The best is always yet to come if we work towards that...
No comments:
Post a Comment