Service Learning & Social Outreach at GDGWS

Service learning and social outreach are the cornerstones of learning at GD Goenka World school primarily because service-learning programs provide opportunities to make the curriculum relevant while meeting community needs. The key to a 21st century curriculum is to equip students with decision-making skills required to face social, ethical and scientific dilemmas in an ever-changing world. As technology develops by leaps and bounds to solve many of the world's problems, the dilemmas faced by humankind today and in future will not be about ‘can we’ but rather about ‘should we’. Thus, today's students—tomorrow's leaders, nation builders—must be mindful of the significance of issues such as justice, equity, dignity of life, and human rights. Service learning aims to awaken this consciousness in our students and to bring to life the saying by Mahatma Gandhi “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” These programs empower students to bring about change no matter how small, to empower others and in the process get inspired.Students at GD Goenka World school have been associated with a number of service learning and social outreach initiatives.
  • Tree Planation drive:The boarders from Grade 12 of GDGWS Interact Club collaborated with the Bhagat Singh Foundation, an NGO for Child Education, to organize a Tree Plantation Drive under the aegis of its GO GREEN Project on August 24, 2019 in Gurugram.
  • No Plastic glasses drive:Inorder to inculcate a sense of responsibility in students towards environmental conservation GDGWS initiated ‘No plastic glasses drive’ wherein students learned about waste reduction using a “4Rs” approach to refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle so that less waste is created by the school community. The drive sought to broadened student’s understanding of materials that they could recycle, the process of recycling and promoted recycling in school and at home.
  • Labor day:On 1st May 2019, students of the IBDP program celebrated world labor day.The students put in great efforts to make the staff of GD Goenka World School feel special. They got chocolates and made over 60 cards for distribution to the nannies, guards and cleaning staff who help contribute to make our school life easier.
  • ‘Elves’ help with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP): In collaboration with UNDP, studentsprepared emergency medical kits bycollecting necessary material required for medical emergencies from the students and staff of the school. These kits were handed over to a village in Sikkim which was cut off from the city due to a natural calamity. This project made students cognizant of the fact that they too can be agents of change and fostered a sense of responsibility towards helping fellow citizens in need.
  • Book Collection Drive:A group of 7 students which included Vrakshita Kothari, Arpit Kumar, Aditya Padia, Vikalp Jain,Ritesh Singh , Kashvi Gupta and NishthaKawatra from 12th grade initiated the“Book Collection Drive” in collaboration with the NGO Adaa with the motto “Donate a book, change a life” under the guidanceof the CAS Coordinator,Mr. JinasPanicker. Through sheer dedication and commitment students achieved the remarkable feat of collecting and donating over 400 books to Adaa.
  • Kartavya Project: Inorder to help rural women in India get the proper menstrual hygiene that they deserve,students of the interact club initiated the Kartavya project,which involved collection of sanitary pads from the students and staff of the school. These were then donated to an NGO, The Earth Saviors Foundation.
  • Scream No: Driven by the ideology that “Safety, Communication, Responsibility, Emotions & Assertion can make a difference” in preventing sexual abuse of children, students of grade XI initiated the “Scream No” project. Under this project they taught grades II to XIabout basic concepts of “stranger danger”, “good touch bad touch”and self-defense.For grade XI they went a little bit more into the specifics and discussed case studies such as the “Me too Movement”.
  • Neev Foundation:  The school had invited students associated with the ‘Neev Foundation,' an organization that works with the underprivileged, to participate and perform with GDGWS students on the occasion of the celebration of Independence Day on 14th August 2019. Two students of grade 12 Ananya Singh and Esha Sethiassumed the responsibility oftraining students of Neev foundation for a musical production on girl education and women empowermentwhich was showcased on Independence Day assembly at GDGWS. These twostudents trained 14 students of the Neev foundation for 5 months and their efforts bore fruit when the students of Neev foundation gave an enthralling and breathtaking performance in the assembly.
  • Fairtrade: Fairtrade India is a not for profit organization that aims to promote responsible consumption and production in India, by way of eradicating the social and environmental exploitation in our food and fashion supply chains. It’s about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers. Fair-trade aims to enable many farmers and workers, who make and grow our food and clothes, to improve their position and have more control over their lives. GD Goenka World School has joined the Fairtrade movement and has become a part of a global schools’ program that teaches young people that they can be change makers. Our school is committed to promoting sustainable consumption and production.
  • Sports Day for the underprivileged: Students of the interact club organized sports day for students of a school for the underprivileged children.
  • Great Ganga Run:Students of the interact club participated in the Great Ganga Run organized by Jal Shakti Department to create awareness about keeping our rivers clean and conserving our planet’s natural resources.
  • Anti-pollution masks: Students of the interact club collected and donated anti-pollution masks to students and staff of a school for the underprivileged.
  • Fundraiser for Diwali: Students of GDGWS decided to spread the Diwali cheer to those who are less privileged by organizing a fund raiser on Diwali in school, the proceeds of which were donated to the school for the underprivileged.