Hyderabad: On 30th September, CHIREC International School joined its global community of 85 Cognita schools across 12 countries and 3 continents with more than 58,000 students, parents and staff members to flag off its Annual Celebration of Global Be Well Day. As a part of the celebration, CHIREC lined up a bevy of activities centered on the theme of the day ‘Connecting via Empathy’ to give the community an opportunity to connect with themselves and others, enhancing a sense of belonging, identity and security.
Explaining the cruciality of the day, Head of Strategic Initiatives & Community Outreach, Aneesha Reddy shares, “Our life as a whole changed due to the pandemic, especially for students. Statistics reveal that in most extreme cases anxiety impacts 7% of children but the pandemic escalated it to 25-40% of children and adolescents suffering from it. The Be Well Day revived us, filling us with a sense of achievement. It felt like that we are back in charge of our lives.”
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Taking into consideration the disruption caused by the pandemic, CHIREC states that adding on to their last year’s promotion of physical wellbeing, this year they encouraged focus on the contributors of mental wellbeing – connecting, doing and giving.
“This is my second year coordinating events for GBWD, and I can confidently affirm that the energy and positive vibes from this program are truly transformative. It is amazing to see the framework of connecting-giving-doing being leveraged by educators in the most creative and thoughtful ways.”, expressed Sumita Gowdety, Head of Social & Emotional Learning at CHIREC.
Throughout the day, students, parents and staff members at CHIREC engaged in purposeful dialogues and activities directed to create a sustainable action plan, embedding wellbeing into daily life routines. “Our students understood the gravity of the wellbeing contributors by going beyond the rhetoric of wellness and happiness. They participated in activities that focused on the importance of nutrition, sleep and exercise for staying fit while enhancing their understanding of empathetic living and compassion via connecting, doing and giving.”, adds Trishanya Raju, CHIREC’s Academic Innovation Coordinator.
Students of CHIREC took on the mantle of mentors and coaches as they shared their journey of connecting to social and emotional causes in society. They surveyed their neighborhood and designed Wellness Kits with medical aid, food and water supplies, stationery items for people, animals and places that needed care and assistance. In addition, students spread awareness about the plight of orphaned senior citizens and ways we can give back to the community, filling their lives with joy and purpose. Students along with their teachers also engaged with the support staff of the school to learn their life stories during the pandemic and showed them appreciation for being the backbone of the institution.
Other activities included action plans to shelter stray animals, home-based recycling projects, compost pits and identifying areas or people whom students can benefit today and much more.
Global Be Well Day witnessed immense enthusiasm and fulfilment across the CHIREC community. From spreading the importance of wellbeing among the participants to fostering empathy, resilience and compassion in them, CHIREC International extended many opportunities to reflect, anchor, and empower oneself, during this day.
“It feels good to see our children being nurtured and cared for beyond textbooks.” says a parent of CHIREC, “Participating with my child in an event like this improved our understanding of each other. Not just this, everybody coming together to do something like this showed the unity of the world – we are all one. That was the most significant moment of this event for me.”
