10 LUMEN | COVID-19 PANDEMIC - TRANSFORMING THE WAY WE WORK , STUDY , PLAY AND LIVE
CCAs soldier on pandemic during the
By Ms Karen Alexander , with contributions from Ms Wong Wah Lee , Mr Christopher Go , Aeden Chng , Caleb Seah Jia Luo , Conall Wong , David Ho , Gregory Chooi , Horikawa Tan Hideya Raphael , Isaac Tay , Jair Li ,
Jonathan Law Jiaheng , Koon Wei Pheng , Low Zhan Rui , Lucas Teo , Sashank Balasubrramaniam , and Vishal Suresh
The past 18 months have been a challenging time for schools and students as they strived to continue a normal school life along with co-curricular activities ( CCAs ) and Creativity , Activity and Service ( CAS ), against a gloomy backdrop of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic . In this issue , we take a closer look at how our Josephians through their CCAs and CAS have embraced changes to deal with the heightened restrictions , staying united together despite being apart , displaying showmanship and sportsmanship through the ups and downs in preparation for the Singapore Youth Festival ( SYF ) and National School Games ( NSG ) competitions .
This year , CCAs in the performing arts had to be creative in finding new ways to hone their skills in preparation for the Singapore Youth Festival ( SYF ) Arts Presentation 2021 . Organised by the Ministry of Education ( MOE ), the biennial SYF Arts Presentation celebrates the vitality of our youth and their diverse arts talents . In light of the current pandemic where performances could not be conducted for live audiences , the SYF went virtual , reaching out to a larger audience on an online platform than it would have normally done so at the physical events .
Drama : Theatre through Tragedy This year , with the SYF Arts Presentation going virtual , additional measures were taken for the play that was to be staged such as social distancing , donning masks and the requirement of a delightful ending to the story . Even though these requirements hindered the normal staging of a production for the competition , the SJI Drama Club pushed through with determination and produced two plays , A Wok Story and Three Wishes .
Students took the opportunity to develop their theatrical skills during the e-CCA sessions . Under the supervision of their trainer , they watched videos of other theatre productions and tried their hand at developing their very own online ones .
When school reopened in 2021 , they had to cope with the restrictions introduced to keep everyone safe , such as being split into two groups and only having one session per week . They tried their best to work around the rules from the preparation and editing of their scripts , rehearsing to the actual production at the SYF Arts Presentation .
Shaun Chua , MN203 , who assisted in the directing of “ A Wok Story ” commented , “ Since the start of the pandemic , we have been through many ups and downs , but
this is an experience that we will never forget . The start of this year was rough , as we had to cope with the restrictions , such as being split into two groups and only having one session per week . This meant that we had to make good use of every session , and not waste time , especially since the SYF was only a few months away . Despite the amount of preparation work that needed to be done like writing the script and rehearsing , we persevered and worked hard to put on a good performance . Only two to three weeks after the scripts were written , the actors had already almost memorized their lines and we began full rehearsals , adapting and improvising along the way . When our play was over the time limit , we worked together as a team to cut down and perfect the play . Although we didn ' t achieve our desired results , we were still very happy with the show we had put on .”
‘ Last year was definitely a challenge not only for me , but the entire drama club . We were definitely limited by the lack of space and interaction , which hindered our cohesion . However , we pushed through , and I was surprised by how much more I was able to learn about the art of drama from the comfort of our homes . The funniest part of it all were the physical training sessions , especially through a screen . I believe that the pandemic was a test of the spirit and resilience of the Drama Club , and we aced it !’ Aarush Nair , FN303
Guitar Ensemble : Touching Hearts through Music Despite the restrictions imposed on the way they could carry out their CCA , the Guitar Ensemble carried on with what they did best - touching hearts through music .
At the start of 2021 , the Ensemble played Perfect Medley and Bunga Sayang for the Year 1s at Arts Alive !. These two pieces , each with very distinct genres , were performed by the Year 3 and 4 guitarists to showcase their talents and to inspire aspiring musicians to join the CCA .
During the March holidays , team bonding sessions were held for members . Due to the