Disbelief. Confusion. Euphoria. These emotions swept over us in rapid succession when it was announced that we were the champions in this year’s NSLF Secondary 2 Book Trailer competition for our room where we had earlier competed against seven other schools.

So what is the book trailer competition all about? Just as a movie trailer is produced to entice the public to watch the movie, a book trailer has to entice its audience to read the book. During this competition, we had to dramatise Animal Farm, the Literature text we had studied in Semester One, in a creative and interesting manner.

We started preparing for the competition during the June holidays as it involved writing the script, assigning the various characters, creating simple props and, above all, rehearsing for the final performance. Winning the competition is a testament of all the efforts the cast had put in.

Overall, it has been an extremely enjoyable and fruitful experience not only because we won but also because we have learnt so much more about Literature outside the classroom context from participating in, and attending the National Schools Literature Festival.

Reported by: Keerthana Reddy Eswaravaka (2G1)

National School Literature Festival 2017-Upper secondary set text and unseen debate

On the 15th of July, 41 Crescentians from across the 4 levels participated in the National Schools Literature Festival 2017 held in St. Anthony's Canossian Secondary School. The National Schools Literature Festival (NSLF) is the biggest literary festival for students in Singapore and has provided a powerful platform to develop students’ passion and love for Literature.

Each level took part in a specific category ranging from choral reading and book trailer to unseen and set text debates. All our teams worked very hard and after intense competition, we were all very satisfied with our results and all the teams felt that our efforts paid off. Even the teachers who accompanied us to the Festival were very proud of us.

Out of the 6 categories we participated in, we emerged the winning teams in all the upper secondary debates. For the book trailer, our school emerged champions in their grouping consisting of 8 secondary schools!

We definitely learnt to appreciate literature on a deeper level; we also gained new perspectives of a text from other schools and increased our knowledge. It was truly an extraordinary experience for all of us and we would not miss the opportunity to participate again in the future.

Reported by: Freya Keertikar (4C2), Ting Hou Yee (4C2), Angeline Sneha (4C2), Srinidhi Ragavendran (4C2)

Racial Harmony Day 2017

On 21 July 2017, we commemorated Racial Harmony Day (RHD) with the theme "The Singapore Way". The CrezAmbassadors lined up an exciting programme for Crescentians that focused on our roles and responsibilities as youths in ensuring that we continue to keep alive our hopes and dreams for Singapore, what she could be in the future, and tracing our nation’s journey from tolerating differences to embracing diversity.

The CrezAmbassadors went around the school prior to the actual commemoration to interview Crescentians and what Racial Harmony meant to them. These recordings were then compiled into a video which was shared with the entire school during the assembly programme. Students came to school in the four ethnic costumes to immerse in the mood for Racial Harmony Day and to get to know the other ethnic groups better through the costumes, food and games that were served and organised by the Parents Support Group (PSG) during our various recess slots.

The CrezAmbassadors also organized a runway competition that required each class to send a representative who wore a unique costume that was put together by the class – incorporating various cultural elements into the costume. These models paraded the costume to the school while two presenters from each class read out their write-up on the significance of the costumes. The presenters displayed their creativity by presenting a rap, mini-skit, or song. A resounding round of applause was given after each class presented and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the celebration.

Crescentians also took photos with their classmates which they then uploaded for a photo challenge on the CrezAmbassadors Instagram account. This activity was organized to capture the beauty of the class coming together in their different ethnic costumes, displaying the idea of embracing diversity within the classroom. This was further discussed during our Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) lesson which focused on what it meant to have racial harmony in Singapore.

In conclusion, we learnt the importance of racial harmony in our Singaporean identity as well as have a deeper understanding of the various races, which helped to strengthen the bonds between the different races. This was truly a memorable commemoration and we look forward to RHD 2018.

Reported by: Michelle Jean Chew Yixuan (3G2), Director of Publicity for CrezAmbassadors

Youth Day Celebrations

Youth Day was celebrated on 4th July at Crescent this year and consisted of two main events. The first event included a class interaction session, where we shared some of our hopes and aspirations with our teachers. We also took some time to think about the less fortunate - the mentally and physically challenged youths who live very different lives from the majority of us at Crescent.

Then, together as a school, we went to the auditorium to enjoy two game shows hosted by two of our teachers. The first game was called “Human Scrabble”, where several students and teachers, competed to spell out as many words that they could think of from the alphabets flashed on the screen. The second game was “The Crescentian Quiz”, which made us review our school’s mission and vision and strengthened our identity as Crescentians. Both these games were very enjoyable to watch and the school laughed whilst participating in the group activities that day.

The activities conducted on Youth Day served as a subtle reminder to always cherish what we have and care for others in our community. It was truly a day to remember and reflect on our uniqueness and role in society as youths.

Reported by: Keerthana Reddy Eswaravaka (2G1)

MEP Performance at National Gallery Singapore

On the 22 July, five of us from Crescent Girls School's Music Elective Programme (MEP) performed at the National Gallery Singapore. This performance was part of MEP Schools' Community Outreach to promote and educate the general public about music in schools, as well as to celebrate the musical talents and passion of our MEP students.

The performance by various MEP schools featured a diverse range of musical styles and genres, ranging from classical to pop. Our students transcribed an arrangement of "Gabriel's Oboe" originally written for a string quartet and staged it for 5 wind instruments - 2 French Horns and 3 Saxophones. "Gabriel's Oboe" is the main theme from the 1986 film "The Mission". Its famous beautiful haunting melody, written by the Italian composer, Ennio Morricone, is believed to be the most widely recorded tune by many renowned artists.

Our performance was very well received and we were delighted to have this opportunity to perform at the national gallery, which is well-known for holding the world's largest display of modern Southeast Asian Artworks.

Reported by: Glenys Quak (3S1)

Inter-school Dragon Boat Championship

“Dragon boating is deemed as a sport for fitness enthusiasts who do weight training regularly.” This misconception needs to be dispelled. Crescent canoeists are not simply muscular but are also synchronised in their movement and positive in their attitude, ready to challenge their opponents who may look physically superior.

The Inter-schools Dragon Boat Championship is a yearly race held by the Singapore Dragon Boat Association for schools to pit their teams against one another. The Crescent Canoeing Team has been a regular participant since 2014. These competitions have paved way for the school team to bond and get fitter.

“Hold your boat! Are you ready?” the starter of the race bellowed through the megaphone. “Up!” we yelled in unison and raised our paddles forward. The cutthroat silence helped us focus. “Attention!” the starter shouted, followed by a blast of the horn. Cheers could be heard from the supporters. The deafening steady beat of the drums rang in our ears as we followed the rhythm. The burning pain that shot through our arms lasted for one minute and six seconds. We looked around. We were neck to neck with our competitors. Did we win? Excitement rose during prize presentation. When our B- and C-divisions were announced to be 3rd and 2nd respectively, we cheered mightily. From this competition, we learnt tremendously from our coaches, especially from experienced dragon boaters and coach Yin Lin. She was only with us for 3 days but had imparted her knowledge and passion for this sport. She taught us to make use of our skills from canoeing for dragon boating.

The polished medals that hung around our necks were bonuses for our hard work. The true reward was the stronger bond we had forged as a team, instilling determination and strength in every member. We may not have clinched the gold medal, but our own medals remind us of this exceptional journey we experienced as a team.

Reported by: Wang Chun Yi (3S1) and Yong Hui Qi (3S2)