The students of BEM Upper Primary School at Bilathikulam, Kozhikode, have chosen a rather colourful way to raise funds for charity in keeping with the Christmas spirit, an endeavour that has earned them the title, ‘Stars of Bilathikulam’.
Christmas decorations, including stars, lanterns, wreaths and glitter balls, made by teachers and students of the school sold like hot cakes within an hour of an exhibition organised here on Friday.
The exhibition was organised under the banner of the Greens Eco Club of the school. “Last year we collected liquor bottles from the neighbourhood in association with the NSS unit of Government Engineering College. Once painted, the bottles were much in demand as decorative items,” said Headmaster Alex P. Jacob.
Members of the school staff Neelama Herina, Laisamma Verghese, Raju and Vincy are the brains behind the endeavour. “It took us two weeks to prepare for the exhibition. While big lanterns and stars were made by teachers, the students contributed by making wreaths and small decorative items,” Ms. Neelama said. The school has already received orders for more lanterns and stars.
The school has been organising a variety of other programmes to raise funds for charity. “We recently sold organic manure we had produced on our premises. The proceedings from the sale of newspapers that we subscribe to and small contributions made by students during their birthdays too go into the fund,” the Headmaster said.