Pusat Bantuan Sentul Workshop

The last Interact Club project of year 2009 was a Pusat Bantuan Sentul workshop, held for all the kids that frequent the centre. The last time we had them all at our school was during the Kids' Carnival (which was, given that so much has happened since then, a VERY long time ago). This time we decided to do something entirely different- a motivational workshop centred around teamwork, achieving your dreams and most importantly, having fun while doing it.

And so, the PBS Workshop was born- an event that I hope will become an annual affair, simply because it was so much fun (for the kids AND Interactors). The workshop was held over two days, the first of the school holidays, the 23rd and 24th of November. Day 1 focused more on skills, personal development and teamwork whereas Day 2 focused on career, life goals and games.

FYI, Pusat Bantuan Sentul is a non-profit based centre that works with children from all ages, who usually come from difficult backgrounds. It is a place where the kids go for homework help, and WMS Interactors visit the centre twice a week to help them with their work. Next year, we'll be teaching them how to use the centre's newly-installed computer.

After the kids (aged from 8 to 16) arrived at our school, we got them registered and divided into groups, according to colours. After the opening ceremony, we played a few icebreakers and then started the arts and crafts session.

Funding Director Ong Kar Jin conducting the motivational session on Day 2. (sorry, pictures are not quite in order)

Interactor Laura helping out with the arts and crafts using recycled materials.

Plasticine animals!

On Day 2, we talked to the kids about their dreams and goals. We were glad to see that all of them seem to know exactly what they want to achieve in their lives, no matter how difficult the circumstances. Another activity was to give each participant a piece of paper and a pencil, and ask them to draw exactly what they want in life. This activity unearthed interesting dreams- most of the boys drew men wearing suits and carrying briefcases with a sports car in the background, one boy drew a doctor, and a little girl drew a big house on an island.

Later on we took the kids to the Chapel for a movie screening.

Our teacher advisor, Cik Norhayati, brought along her 3 nephews and a niece. This is one of her nephews snuggling up to Interactor Jeremy.

Cik Norhayati's nephew.

After two long days, the Interactors and the participating kids were exhausted. During the closing ceremony, certificates of participation and gift bags were handed out to all the kids.

The pioneer PBS Workshop turned out to be a successful event that brought us much closer to the kids. They clearly had a lot of fun and we are glad to have been involved with this project. Thank you to all the Interactors who participated, worked tirelessly and made this event what it was.

41st District Interact Conference

On the 10th of December 2009, 9 Interactors went to Nilai University College, Negeri Sembilan to attend the 41st District Interact Conference. The conference was hosted by the Rotary Club of Klang and over 700 Interactors from 111 schools attended the event.

Low Zhi-Yang, Lau Yen June, Esther Foo, Anisha Passcuran, Lim Qing Wei, Jonathan Lee, Giselle Soosay Nathan, Ong Kar Jin, San Peggy and Teoh Pei Ji all attended the conference. We weren't sure what to expect as we had never been to such a large-scale Interact Conference before.

After registration, the girls headed off to their dorms and the boys went to theirs. We got changed into our conference T-shirts and went downstairs to the Multi-Purpose Hall, where most of the talks would be taking place throughout the conference.

The conference featured many talks from several professionally-trained, distinguished speakers. We later learned that none of them were paid to speak at the event.

Us Wesleyans were really excited to see Mr A.R. Peter, our former principal. We went up to him and were glad to find that he is still as amicable as ever. As Past President of the Rotary Club of Klang, Mr Peter (or Master Peter as he was addressed by Rotarian Anthony Dass) laid down the house rules. Later on he gave one of his trademark speeches on 'Patriotism towards the Country'.

After dinner the Rotaractors of ATC conducted a session that highlighted our constitutional rights and the rights of the child. After that, Rotarian Gerard Lazarus, an accomplished lawyer, gave a hilarious speech on 'Crime-Related Problems in School'. After supper we went to bed and had a good night's rest for tomorrow.

On Day 2 the official opening ceremony was held, where all the Interactors had to wear their official Interact uniform. The Wesleyans stood out as one of the few groups that were not clad in black, but purple! After the opening ceremony we got a chance to properly mingle and get to know the other Interactors, which was one of my favourite parts of the event.

After the opening ceremony, more talks were held- however, the most inspiring talk was conducted by Datin Paduka (Dr) Hajjah Sharifah Mazlina. She talked about her journey all over the South Pole and the North Pole, all for the love of her country. In preparation for her trip to the South Pole, she underwent rigorous training to build up her strength and endurance. After becoming the fastest person to cross the South Pole, she injured both her kneecaps yet refused to undergo surgery, as advised by her doctors. Instead she trained even harder, became a sharp-shooter and went to conquer the North Pole. She became the first Muslim to cross the South Pole and the first Asian woman to conquer both. After completing her North Pole mission, she said, "This is for all of us Malaysians; Malaysia boleh!"

After that there was a talk on how Interactors could use social media to their club's advantage- a move which we will be taking in the future. After that was formal night, where everyone got dressed up to watch performances. Everyone was having fun, but due to strict time constraints, we had to return to our dorms.

Our president Zhi-Yang and vice president June.

Day 3 was full of talks, some less engaging than others. There was also a huge treasure hunt. The highlight of Day 3 was the Talentime competition, where unfortunately the judges were very strict on time.

The next day Past President Rotarian Dr. Siva Ananthan spoke on 'The Leader in You', which was amusing and thought-provoking at the same time. Then there was a workshop, where all the Interactors sat in their respective groups and discussed several topics with their Rotarian representatives. Issues such as the problems faced by our Interact Club, conference pros and cons, and Rotary participation were all dealt with, and later on we were given 1 minute to present whatever we had discussed. A question-and-answer session followed. Certificates were given out to the Interactors, and we returned to our dorms to get things sorted out before making the journey home.


Zhi-Yang receiving the certificates on behalf of the WMS Interactors.


All in all, it was an eye-opening conference and we certainly learned new things that could help us as Interactors in the future.

Where have we been??

Hello all! We know we've been pretty quiet these last few months, but of course it's only because we've all been so busy. Since the 30-Hour Famine, we've had a host of other events and things going on. The Form 5 students retired to get ready for the SPM examination and the Form 4s got ready to carry on the legacy.

Our funding project, called the iFun Carnival was held on the Monday right after exam week in WMS, which was October 26th. We wanted to create an atmosphere that was totally different from the one hanging around school during the exams. The carnival succeeded in letting the students unwind and have fun, and it was also a great way to kick off the post-examination activities.

We had tons of cool attractions that day- including a dunking booth, Human Pacman, song dedications, face painting and body art, Human Foosball and an obstacle course. It was evident that everyone was having fun. All the Interactors were also given permission to wear sunglasses that day- really cool. T-shirts commemmorating the event were sold, and they were completely different from our usual black-and-white ones. This time, we decided to sell bright orange T-shirts.

The Carnival started at around 8.30 am and ended late, at about 2.30 pm. At the end of the day all the Interactors were exhausted, but it was all worth it.

Pictures coming up very soon.

Updates coming up on these events:

• iFun Carnival
• Pusat Bantuan Sentul Workshop
• 41st District Interact Conference

30-hour Famine

The 30 hour famine was held on the 11th and 12th of July. All Interactors took part in this meaningful event. Other participants included students from all Forms. Before the famine, students who were taking part were to collect donations with a minimum of RM50 from their friends and families.

During the famine for 30 hours, students were not allowed to eat but drinks were given at certain time intervals. It means that we had to starve ourselves for 30 hours! Many activities were carried out throughout the famine. These activities were aimed to take hunger off the minds of participants and also to allow them to have a fun time.

After 30 hours of starvation, we were looking forward to the lunch in the afternoon the next day! We counted down together for the last 10 seconds...10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1.. Yay ! We had nuggets, mushroom soup and many other delicious food for lunch.

The end.

35th Annual Interact Club Installation

The annual installation was held on the 21st of August. The theme for this year's installation was 'Dare To Care'. We invited the Leo club of our school as well as Interactors from the other schools to witness this auspicious moment. Pictures of the Form 4s and form 5s interactors were put up for others to look at. Those were the pictures taken during the activities throughout the year. All who attended this installation were all given a door gift as remembrance.

The installation started off with speeches given by the guest of honour, Mr Francis Chan, the Immediate Past President of the Rotary Club KL Diraja. Then, our outgoing president, Catherine and incoming president, Zhi-Yang were also invited on stage to give us a few words. Catherine showed us some photos of the Form 5 Interactors during her speech. The outgoing members were all given a certificate for their service and contributions to the club . The Form 4 Interactors were then installed. The Form 4s had been looking forward to this day and were very excited about it.

Last but not least, there were performances by the fFrm 4s to entertain the guests and students there. A short, funny but meaningful sketch was carried out. The band performance by Jen Xian, Zhi-Yang, Ivan, Shi Kai was truly electrifying. The students even shouted for an encore!

Everyone enjoyed themselves during the installation. Farewell to the Form 5s interators and all the best in your upcoming SPM examinations ! We, the Form 4s will always work hard to prove that we are all capable leaders, just like them.

Farewell

On the 12th of August, a farewell party was held in KLCC for the Form 5 Interactors. We made a lot of different plans for this farewell and finally we settled on KLCC as the venue. We met some obstacles along the planning of this farewell but managed to tackle them. The following pictures will tell you the story. =)

Everyone gathered in the canteen and we left immediately after everyone was present. We went to KLCC by LRT. Everyone was buzzing as we were waiting for the train to come.

We started off with a game in which all the Form 5s were given some clues to find places and landmarks.

Our teacher advisors, Ms Teng and Mdm Norhayati. =)

After we gave the Form 5s the last clue, they managed to find the last station. California Pizza Kitchen!! This was where we had our farewell party.

On the table, there were pizzas and photo frames with our Form 4 Interactors' photo. Everyone was busy finding their own seat as all the seats were arranged with names.

Gifts from the Form 4s to Form 5s. We also gave a message box to our President, Catherine Kok and Vice President, Jonathan Yeoh.

Our Vice President opening the message box.

Everyone enjoying their meal.
After the meal, we went to prepare the two cakes for the President and Vice President. Among the candles, some were magic relighting candles.

Cheese cake.

Chocolate cake.

Everyone sang the Interact song before they blew out the candles.
Jonathan Yeoh (Vice President) trying very hard to blow the candles out. Every Form 5 helped too as some of the candles relit. =)




Cutting the cake.
Nearing the end of the farewell, everyone raised their glasses for a toast to the President, Catherine, Vice-President, Jonathan, and all the Form 5 Interactors.
Everyone enjoyed the farewell party and it will always be a part of our memories. We had been working together through thick and thin for almost a year and we had learned many important values, given rise to friendships and working together. We promise the Form 5s that we will work hard next year to prove that we all are capable leaders, just like them. =)

Coco Fusion 2009

On the 19th of June, the Interact Club had its first ever Coco Fusion! The event was held to give students a better understanding of what every club and society in Wesley Methodist School does, and thus give them the opportunity to learn new things and find new interests. (:





Each club and society put on interesting displays, such as..

LEO's 'Are You Smarter than a Kindergartener?'

Computer Club's Wii games, which were a hit.

And the Choir and Ensemble, a real crowd-pleaser with several well-known songs that night, such as Mamma Mia and Viva la Vida.

It was evident during the event that everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, whether they were manning their own booths, walking around looking at the various displays, or even just sitting idly with friends and enjoying the evening.

We are proud of the event's success and thank everyone for putting effort into making this event possible. :)

AWESOME. :D
(See top of mask.)

Kids' Carnival 2009

On the 20th of June, the Interact Club had our annual Kids' Carnival. Children from several organisations came for the event and we are happy to report that everyone enjoyed themselves, Interactors included. :)


When the kids arrived, they were brought into the school, where we tried to make them feel as welcome as possible.





For icebreakers we danced the macarena and had several games. Then, the station games began!



The children were divided at random into several animal-themed groups, such as Dog, Snake, Cat, Wolf et cetera. They found each other by making their group animal's sound, such as a bark for Dog, and took part in the station games as their groups.



We went by the point system, and the group with the highest amount of points would be declared the winner at the end of the event.



There was a petting zoo too. :D



After about an hour of running around and having fun, we merged in the canteen for refreshments.

We also had a creative session, during which the children enjoyed doodling and drawing on white caps, which they got to take home. How often are you allowed to graffiti your clothes, right? :)

Sadly, the fun had to end eventually. Prizes were given for Most Creative Child, Best Group and All-round Best Child.

The children were clearly sad to leave as they seemed to have had a great day. Several cried upon departure, and we were sad to say goodbye too. :(

However, we saw the event as a great success and, although things could have been done to improve it, we learned lessons in organising it and had a wonderful experience.

*More pictures to be added soon!