Students make a difference with projects inspired by Zayed

Dubai - Students from 45 schools in the UAE had taken part in the competition held at the GEMS International School - Al Khail.

Winners of the #gemscelebrateszayed competition, held as part of the Year of Zayed initiatives of GEMS Education, walked away with a total prize of Dh22,000.
Students from 45 schools in the UAE had taken part in the competition held at the GEMS International School - Al Khail. Over 35 student-led projects met the qualifying criteria and covered the values and attributes that the UAE's founding father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, embodied - such as sustainability, human development, environment conservation, women empowerment and tolerance.
The first place was bagged by GEMS Modern Academy's 'Tilly the Turtle Project' that saw students build a turtle with cigarette butts they had collected from Dubai beaches during clean-ups. The turtle was used as a global mascot to raise awareness of protecting marine life from trash. The students were presented with a cheque of Dh10,000.
GEMS Millennium School - Sharjah won the second place for creating cost-effective and user-friendly sustainable products for blue-collar workers - such as solar caps. They were awarded Dh7,000.
The third place went to GEMS International School - Al Khail for spreading smiles through their 'Smiles4Zayed' project that saw students designing activities focusing on making people smile. They were presented with a cheque of Dh5,000. During the event, shortlisted students from the three schools were invited to present their projects to the judging panel and GEMS Education representatives including Dino Varkey, GEMS Education CEO, and Sir Christopher Stone, global chief education officer of GEMS Menasa.
"GEMS has always been a proponent and champion of the UAE's national agenda and initiatives, and this is clearly reflected in the student projects we have seen, which seek to embody the values, characteristics and spirit of the UAE's founding father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. We are proud to have played a part in highlighting and continuing this great leader's legacy, which lives on in the actions and behaviours of all involved at GEMS Education," said Varkey.
Garden of Tolerance
Talking about GEMS campaign for the Year of Tolerance, Deema Al Alami, vice-president of Arabic and Islamic at GEMS Education, said: "We are looking to launch a Garden of Tolerance in schools where a plant representing each nationality will be sowed. We will also partner with local Emirati schools who will get the UAE national plant Ghaf, which will be planted along with the other trees. The common garden of tolerance will see students from our schools invite and interact with local students and build relationships between the public and private schools of the UAE."
saman@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai