Service Learning Residential Programme 2015!

From the 11 – 21 November 2015, the Sixth Saints Advocate stayed in SA Hall for an enriching 10-day programme, engaging in various leadership workshops and activities. Through their stay, The Sixth had taken away many beneficial skills and had definitely grown both individually and as a team. Here is an outline of the residential stay:

We started the stay with checking into the cosy hostel rooms, settling into our homes for the next coupe of days.

During the duration of the stay, we had various activities lined up for us. Some of these included 

• 2016 Task Force Meetings:

• Operation VO50 Planning and event
• Leadership workshop by Positive Intentions and Intercultural Workshop by Mr Jason Ong 

•  Walking Trail at Mount Faber 

• Last but definitely not the least, we volunteered at Willing hearts, packing over thousands of packets of food for the needy! 

Not only did we have to start by cooking the food,

We had to prepare the food prior to cooking them,

Followed by continuous stirring of the pots, where the food was finally being cooked.

Ultimately, the experience was indeed eye opening, and it also tested out resilience as we pushed forward packing seemingly endless amounts of food into Styrofoam boxes.

Through the Service Learning Residential Programme,  The Sixth not only got to experience living in the SA Hall, but they also got to evaluate their Saints Advocate journey, plan for what’s to come in 2016 and bond as a CCA even more outside the school time.

Late night CCA Frisbee bonding

The residential stay is definitively something that The Sixth will always hold fond memories with as it is one that fostered closer relationships and also bonded the CCA as a whole.

Saints For Nepal

In May 2015, 'Saints For Nepal' was organized by the 6th Saints Advocate in collaboration with Mercy Relief, not only to raise funds for the pressing needs of the survivors, but also raise awareness on their situation and the help that they need.

Both students and teachers visited our booth to make donations, and also enquired about the situation and how they could help in other ways. It was touching to see many Saints who have the heart for the community and the willingness to help even though it was a community overseas.

The information board provided by the Geography Department further raised awareness of the devastating effects of the earthquake. Photos taken by an Ex-teacher on ground zero helped us to better understand the victims' situation and to empathize with them.

'Saints For Nepal' raised a total of $2493.70. We would like to thank our CCA teachers for their guidance, Geography Department for the Information Board, Mercy Relief for allowing us to raise funds, and last but not least Saints for their generous donations.

We hope that the Saints family will continue to play an active role in making the community a better place.

By: Chanasak M.

The 6th Saints Advocate Inauguration

The 6th Saints Advocate taking their pledge

The inauguration ceremony marked the official beginning of our journey as the 6th batch of Saints Advocate. It was an honour to have received the badge from our previous President of Saints Advocate, Jingxuan, in front of the JC1 cohort. The badge I now don signifies my responsibilities as a servant leader and a role model to the rest of the student population. As a Saints Advocate, it is now my duty to show my care and concern to the community and to be a link between the school and the rest of the community.

I will definitely try my best to render my services to those in need and to reach out to the society as much as I can. Apart from our monthly volunteering activities organised by the Metropolitan Young Men's Christian Association, I, along with the rest of the Sixth, would be embarking on self- initiated projects to extend my services even further. With the support of our peers, I hope to be able to make a change, eventually making Singapore a better place for everyone. As our motto goes, 'Advocating Changes, Inspiring Lives', we aim to evoke positive changes for the society as well as to inspire our peers and the people around us to join us in our journey of service learning. I look forward to working with the rest of the 6th to serve the school as well as the community.

'A noble leader answers not to the trumpet calls of self promotion, but to the hushed whispers of necessity.' -Mollie Marti

By: Shajiah Begum (15S12)

Friendship Week 2015

SAJC celebrated Friendship Week on February 11-13, 2015 with the theme “It’s a small, small world”. It was organised by the 5th Saints Advocate in collaboration with Simei Care Centre (SCC) to bring all Saints together as one family unbroken and to raise awareness of the SCC patients.

The atmosphere was incredibly high all week as students were hyped up by what we had in store. Exciting posters hung around the school aroused curiosity, but even more exciting wasthe fact that our beneficiaries, SCC, visited SAJC during morning assembly to perform a dance number and shared their personal experience.

Various activities were held in the fitness corner. From our unique ball pit where friends and strangers had a chance to converse, to the Photo Booth where juniors and seniors congregated to capture sweet memories together, there was never a dull moment.

Various activities during Friendship Week 2015

The merchandise booth was definitely one of the highlights, Handmade items like flowers and notepads from SCC were available at affordable prices, but it wasn't that which made the sales such a success. Students, teachers and other staff took the initiative to ask about our friends in SCC, and even went beyond that to enquire what else they can do to help. It was honestly a heartwarming sight to see meaningful bonds forged between strangers, all in the spirit of love and care. On top of that, the students had a chance to see SCC members’ paintings at the Music Cafe displayed all week. Students learned to appreciate the members’ talent and creativity, and some even expressed admiration and inspiration from SCC who were given so little, yet gave so much.

Since Valentine’s Day was just around the corner, we also sold balloons of different designs for Saints to give as a statement of gratitude to their friends and loved ones. The reception was astonishing – stocks ran out in hours, testament to our community’s insurmountable capability for concert and the invaluable “One Family Unbroken” spirit we boast.

Friendship Week 2015 highlights

Friendship Week was truly a success as the Saints Advocate was able to raise funds for Simei Care Centre as well as for the future St Andrew’s Village Indoor Sports Complex. However, its success did not stop there. Our aim to forge better relationships among the Saints, to build a more inclusive student body and to advocate for the cause of psychiatric patients at SCC were met with great success, and we have only the guidance from our CCA teachers and help from the students and school staff to thank.

We hope that friendships continue to grow for the years to come and may the Friendship Weeks down the road not cease to enkindle in us the love and care for the community internal and beyond. Indeed, it's a small, small world after all!

Behind the scene: Preparation work by Friendship Week task force

Friendship Week 2015 task force