This story is written by Grade 5 Learning Support teacher Colette Cooke, who introduces to us how our Grade 5 students prepared for their PYPx and participated in the Fun Run.

In Grade 5, our students are preparing for PYPx, the culminating project in the final year of the PYP that celebrates student learning. During PYPx, students follow their passions and interests to explore world issues and learn about the changemakers who take action and positively impact the world around them.

To demonstrate what it means to be a changemaker and take action, our Grade 5 students took part in a charity Fun Run last Friday. Wild Women organised this event in aid of local and global charities.

The students first pledged to run a number of laps around Tiger Field (400m) in thirty minutes and asked people in their lives to sponsor them for each lap. It was a chilly Friday morning, but our students came out in force, and once they started, there was no stopping them. For many, it was a long thirty minutes, but the music and commentary from Mr Watts, combined with the cheers of encouragement from their teachers and friends, inspired them to keep going. And boy, did they go! All students reached their pledge, and many surpassed what they thought they could do. As a grade, we ran a combined 503 kilometers that morning and raised RMB22,382 for charity!

Not only did our students learn what it means to take action for a positive impact, but also what it means to push ourselves to go beyond what we think possible. Maybe we planted some seeds today for the changemakers of tomorrow. It was truly inspiring and a wonderful way to launch our PYPx project. Thank you to all the Grade 5 students, all the teachers who encouraged and supported them, and all the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, little brothers, sisters, and family friends who sponsored the children and showed us what it means to come together to make a difference.