As part of the Community Service-Learning’s (CSL) SUSS LEAD (Learn, Experience, and Develop) initiative, SUSS students from the Project Learn, Love, Live (LLL) team partnered with PERTAPIS Education & Welfare Centre to provide academic and social-emotional support to children and youths who are recipients of the PERTAPIS Welfare Trust Fund through weekly tutoring sessions.
WILDSMarines is another CSL initiative where SUSS students collaborate with National Parks Board (NParks) Singapore on mangrove restoration and environmental education outreach. The two CSL teams found the perfect occasion to come together and organise a fun-filled tour for the mentees from PERTAPIS to explore the SUSS campus and the Singapore Botanic Gardens.
The first half of the day took place at SUSS where the new batch of 2023 LLL mentors and mentees bonded through ice-breaker games. As their weekly academic mentoring sessions were conducted online via Zoom, this helped to break the ice when meeting in person for the first time. As highlighted by LLL team member Danish Mirza, a SUSS Supply Chain Management student, “The relaxation of the COVID-19 measures has allowed us mentors to bond deeper with the children face-to-face.”
Once a comfortable atmosphere was created, the team embarked on a campus tour with the objective of introducing the mentees to their own study environment, hoping to spark an interest in pursuing higher education in the future and inspire them to further their studies. The tour included visits to the school library, sports hall, study areas and even FoodClique, a food outlet where students frequently have their meals!
Mentor and mentees playing a game of “Splat”
LLL Emcee Danish asking what their favourite subjects are
School tour at the Sports Hall
In the later half of the day, the LLL and WILDSMarines teams rolled out a variety of activities and games for the mentees at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Leveraging WILDSMarines’ experience with biodiversity and environmental education, the activities aimed to enrich the mentee’s knowledge of the local flora and fauna that thrive in the garden, whilst also fostering teamwork. One of the leaders of WILDSMarines, Zelia Tee Yingwei, a student from SUSS' Bachelor of Science in Marketing degree programme, shared, “It was great to see the joy the mentees had experienced on the outing day, and we are glad for the opportunity to share about Singapore’s rich biodiversity with them.”
The children played a memory card game about the predator-prey relationship
There was also a segment where the children had some playground time, and it looked like the SUSS mentors had just as much fun as the children!
Mentors and mentees playing with the swing
Despite the warm weather, the children remained lively, which kept the SUSS mentors' spirits high too! Overall, the day was filled with meaningful engagement between the PERTAPIS mentees and their SUSS mentors, which will in turn positively impact the LLL team’s academic mentoring sessions for the mentees throughout the year.
Explore the captivating highlights of their action-packed day on YouTube!