May 22, 2026 - Service Learning Blog
Student Service Learning Blog Writers
🏆 An Award-Winning Project - It takes a Village
By Nick Sturmey (Service Learning Coordinator) and Eaindray (Grade 10)
How can something that is already good, become even better?
As you probably know, every six weeks, the Chinthe Fund runs the Helping Hands event. At this event, children from our Chinthe Fund partner organizations (Care to the Least Center (CLC) and Kalihtaw School) have a medical check-up at the ISY Clinic. The project is an excellent example of service learning: we are responding to an authentic need, access to health care, and the ISY students learn that their actions can have a significant impact.
As usual, trained ISY students were assisting in the Clinic. In addition to the medical check-up, a group of ISY elementary school students played with the children from CLC and Kalihtaw, getting to know each other better with every game.
An important stage in any service learning project is reflection, and the student leaders and faculty supervisors from all the organizations have discussed how we can improve the Helping Hands initiative. We all felt that we would like to spend quality time getting to know each other. Some Grade 4 students got the ball rolling. They are compiling a directory giving information about the children and staff from CLC and Kalihtaw, and this information will be used to plan activities together - e.g., we might find out that some students like to make music, cook, or teach mathematics. Together we can share knowledge about so many things!
The Chinthe Fund Helping Hands project presents opportunities for ISY students to work with other organizations. Daw Wai Wai Kyaw (founder of the NGO She Creates and owner of the restaurant Wai Wai’s Place) kindly donated lunch for everybody. Another new feature of the event was that students from ISY’s Community Kitchen service learning groups prepared and served some delicious dishes.
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“This was the last Helping Hands of this school year. As I walked around the campus, I felt proud of the compassionate community we have created. As Service Learning Coordinator, I was impressed by the engagement and commitment of the ISY students, teachers and staff who have been such a vital part in making this project a success. Furthermore, it was gratifying to see younger ISY students taking over tasks and growing into their new leadership roles.” Mr Nick Sturmey Service Learning Coordinator |
It’s funny how things all seem to fall into place. Just as the Helping Hands project is growing into something really special, it received an award from 21st Century Learning. The ASEAN School Awards celebrate educational excellence, innovation, and impact across a wide range of schools (the list of finalists was a Who’s Who of international schools from all over ASEAN). ISY was nominated in three categories, and we received the service learning award. Although ISY might be limited in resources and numbers, this award is a testament to the community’s dedication and passion towards service.
The award enhances ISY’s growing reputation as a center of excellence. A lot of people have worked very hard to make our service learning program a success. All people involved in ISY’s service learning program should be rightfully proud of their contributions.