Certification Ceremony – Batch 1 UNLESS
“The end of one cycle is the beginning of another.”
On Sunday, 8-Dec-24, we wrapped up the first batch of “UNLESS- Nature & Sustainability Education” series for children. It was the “Certification Ceremony” for our young participants who had taken a course spanning the themes of biodiversity, ecosystems, habitats, inter-connectedness of life on Earth, human impact on environment, understanding conservation, global warming & climate change and finally, understanding their role and actions that they can take for the environment.
And what a journey it was! A great learning for us and we hope for our young participants as well who have taken pledges to work positively towards environmental sustainability.
The course began in mid-August and the final session took place on Nov 24, as per plan. The course was customized for the participants and made use of variety of delivery methods to put across the course objectives.
Our facilitators, including nature educators, researchers, environmental conservationists, sustainability practitioners; and our supportive team of friends and volunteers supported the participants learning and awareness journey. The course utilized contextualization, observation, experiential learning, open discussions, case-studies, hands-on activities, group activities, and creative games to build a comprehensive learning journey for the participants who were in the age groups of 7 -14 years. Short follow-up activities were provided after some sessions to aid in continuous observation and learning process. Parents and guardians were kept informed on what was covered in each session, through session highlights.
8-Dec-24 marked an end to this formal learning journey for our participants. Our guest for this certification ceremony was Dr. Bharat Shah, Nisargopachar Kendra, Vadodara who has a keen interest in issues related to education, environment and holistic health and without whose encouragement and unwavering support this series would not have been possible. He congratulated the entire team for Paper Ball Educational Innovation on the completion of this course.
During the ceremony, some parents shared what made them ask their kids to enroll for the course and about their own brush with nature and sustainability practices. We thank Arpita ji, Samvitti ji, Vaishali ji and Trupti ji for their candid sharings and thoughts.
Our young participants, Pritesh, Kharv, Sonakshi, Vishvaa and Pranaaya shared briefly about their learnings and how they intend to apply those. Some participants also shared their video testimonials. Thank you for the same: Aariv, Taniya Madhvi and Rudra.
The participants were awarded certificates by Dr. Bharat Shah as well as by the parents in attendance. The participants were also gifted a cotton bag, some compost, a hand-made paper scroll and a postcard. The cotton bag has been beautifully made by women and the quote on it very aptly says “The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else is going to save it”
The day would not have been complete without acknowledging the efforts of our friends, supporters and volunteers who not only provided their time and effort with the implementation of the entire plan, but also provided motivation and invaluable support whenever needed. Thank you friends, you know who you are – Krati, Pinky, Swati, Jahnavi, Falguni, Sunita, Sanjana, Ravish, Maitreyee, Aakriti, the team and staff at Nisargopachar Kendra, and many more.
Participant pledges for the planet, their 14-day sustainability challenge and some items made from waste were on display too.
Later, it was group photo time. Our team also made a wooden frame with “Sustainabilty Champion” written on it so that participants can click their photos with it and later whenever they do an act of nature conservation or environmental sustainability, they could tag themselves on our social media handle (@its_paperball)
We ended the day with Madhaviben from Nisargopachar Kendra offering all some saplings
Later Deval ben, mother of our participant Jugnu, shared how Jugnu is so compassionate that after rains when small millipedes or centipedes come out on their society roads, she would painstakingly keep moving them to the side of the road so that they are not crushed under the feet of people passing by or under the vehicles. She shared how they would ask her to stop doing it earlier, but now having attended this course on nature education, it has not only helped Jugnu by reinforcing that she is doing the right thing, but it has also helped the parents to understand the need of biodiversity and compassion for other species.
This is what just we need, more people who care because “unless we care, nothing is going to change”
List of Participants And Certification Status
| S.No | Name | Certification Type |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aakriti | Completion Certificate |
| 2 | Aarav | Participation Certificate |
| 3 | Aariv | Completion Certificate |
| 4 | Abhimanyu | Completion Certificate |
| 5 | Bhavya | Completion Certificate |
| 6 | Deepali | Participation Certificate |
| 7 | Sonakshi | Completion Certificate |
| 8 | Jugnu | Completion Certificate |
| 9 | Kharv | Completion Certificate |
| 10 | Manthan | Completion Certificate |
| 11 | Khushi | Completion Certificate |
| 12 | Rudra P | Completion Certificate |
| 13 | Madhvi | Completion Certificate |
| 14 | Tulsi | Completion Certificate |
| 15 | Pranaaya | Completion Certificate |
| 16 | Prabha | Participation Certificate |
| 17 | Rudra S | Completion Certificate |
| 18 | Taniya | Completion Certificate |
| 19 | Vishal | Completion Certificate |
| 20 | Veeransh | Participation Certificate |
| 21 | Vishvaa | Completion Certificate |
| 22 | Vivaan | Completion Certificate |
| 23 | Pritesh | Participation Certificate |
| 24 | Aayush | Completion Certificate |
| 25 | Navya | Participation Certificate |