21S20

Class 21S20 collaborated with Lions Befrienders on the 6th of August 2021 to do a VIA. Our allocated timing for our VIA was 9:30-10:30 in the morning and 14:00 to 15:00 in the afternoon with each session having 4 to 5 seniors. The morning session was conducted in school while the afternoon Zoom session was conducted at home. In total, we had four activities planned out for both groups of seniors consisting of Guess The Sound! (a game involving seniors to guess drawn items), School Tour (a video where different parts of SAJC are introduced to the seniors), Dance A Long (a dance session whereby students taught the seniors a simple choreographed dance coupled with doable actions) and Origami whereby students taught the elderly how to fold hearts).

Overall, our partnership with Lion Befrienders was a successful one bringing smiles to not only the students but also to the seniors. Although there were some minor hiccups during the morning session, our classmates were able to swiftly adapt to the sudden changes, making the session or game a fruitful one for all. On top of that, through these minor hiccups we were able to learn from our mistakes and were able to fill in the gaps when it came to the afternoon session. For instance, during the morning face to face session, for the last activity which was the folding of the origami, the seniors were not able to properly see how to fold the hearts as they had to translate the 2D actions onto the 3D origami paper. Moreover, the zoom was laggy and the wifi connection was weak, hence making it harder for the seniors to see the actions the students have made. However, we persevered and even added a top view of how the actions of folding the heart were supposed to be, in hopes that our guide to fold the heart would be clearer and easier to follow.

Though the top view of the actions was not planned before, our classmates were still able to execute it, adapting to the relevant changes. From this experience, we were able to give back to the older generation as how they have first given to us. We hope that through these conversations between our class and the seniors we were able to form bonds and connect with them. Furthermore, we hoped that through this VIA we were able to brighten up their day and connect more with them. We also hope that we will be given another opportunity to partner with Lion Befrienders in the near future.