Appreciation to "I Love Science" Teachers 2011 - 2012

Time did fly and the program "I Love Science" finally came to an end. "I Love Science (ILS)" is one of Bank OCBC NISP’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs in education, aimed especially at elementary school (SD) students, who were provided with 'free' lessons in the field of science and mathematics. No less than 900 elementary school students attended the ILS program in around 66 locations near Bank OCBC NISP offices.

The ILS program - as one of a series of activities in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of OCBC NISP, began in March 2011 and ended last May 2012. This program was well supported by Bank OCBC NISP’s CSR partners, namely Karya Salemba Empat (KSE) Foundation for the provision of the teaching staff who were made up of university students and Surya Institute for the teaching method called GASING (Easy, Simple and Fun) devised by Prof. Yohanes Surya and the training and briefing of the teachers from I-Teach and Daily Meaning.

On Thursday, 14 June 2012, at OCBC NISP Tower, Jakarta, dozens of students who became teachers for the ILS program and other invited guests were seen gathering in the hall of 23rd floor. A simple event titled " Appreciation to I Love Science Teachers 2011-2012", specially held in appreciation of the contribution of all ILS teachers, who were students from the University of Indonesia (UI), Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), University of Padjadjaran (Unpad), Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB), as well as other stakeholders who also contributed to the implementation of the ILS program.

A friendly and warm greeting by the lovely MC, Sharon Laureen, opened the evening's event. Next was a playback of a video showing the journey of the ILS program, which brought back beautiful and meaningful memories of its journey, from the selection, training and briefing of the prospective teachers, the teaching and learning activities at OCBC NISP’s branch offices to the togetherness of the teachers.

After a flashback of the journey of the ILS program, Mr. Rama P. Kusumaputra, a Director of Bank OCBC NISP, gave some opening remarks. On that occasion, he expressed his thanks for, among others, the support of KSE and Surya Institute, and also of course the highest appreciation for the efforts and work of all the teachers, making it possible for the social and humanitarian program (ILS) ran smoothly.

Mr. Rama gave the opening remarks

Bp. Tatan A Taufik - KSE	Mr. Tatan A. Taufik, Chairman of KSE Foundation and Mrs. Melanie Hartono, a representative from Surya Institute, also each gave a brief speech. They expressed their big thanks to Bank OCBC NISP who had entrusted KSE foundation and Surya Institute to become its partners in the ILS program.
Ibu Melani Hartono – Surya Institute	One remark of Mrs. Melani that really encouraged ILS teachers to continue with the humanitarian work, particularly in education, through the knowledge and experience they had was "No body is stupid, they simply do not have the chance to learn from good teachers and with good teaching methods."

The event certainly wouldn’t have been complete had the key stakeholder behind the ILS program, namely the teachers, had not come to speak at the event. The teachers were represented by Monika (IPB) and Munawar (UI), who gave their testimonials on their experiences while teaching the ILS program. 

"Telling the children to learn turned out to be such a challenging task, especially dealing with hyperactive children. I once had to split the class in two groups, the hyperactive and the somewhat calmer students. I was teaching at OCBC NISP Cibinong and once due to over-excitement, the children had got to the branch 1.5 hours before the scheduled time of study. And because they were all very active, while awaiting the class they went around the office, going up and down the stairs, frolicking around the corners of the room, shouting, touching any objects they could see and this continued until I arrived at 5 pm. Strangely, even though they had previously done lots of activities, they did not seem tired but instead they were still eager to learn.” A remark from one of my students that I will always remember and once recorded in my diary: "I really like learning with you, you are nice ...". This remark has always motivated me to continue teaching and I hope my friends are also willing to continue teaching anyone and anywhere... "

"Hello ...", Munawar greeted his fellow teachers .. "Hi ...", replied the entire teachers present in the room .. Apparently that's greeting they have agreed to exchange between them while they were still teaching. "Teaching elementary school children takes patience and struggle. I was teaching at the office in Jakarta but my campus was in Depok. Sometimes I felt really exhausted, but considering what we were doing was a humanitarian cause, I was sure what we did would not end up in vain. My message to all fellow teachers: never give up teaching ... I trust that what we've done will eventually turn into a farm of charity in the hereafter .. "

After the ILS teachers gave their testimonials, the elementary students also did not want to miss the opportunity to give their testimonials. The testimonial session from the students was represented by Zahra, a student from Tebet office, and Dinda, a student from OCBC NISP Tower office.

Dinda : "When I took the ILS program I was in 6th grade of the elementary school, and I am now in junior high school. I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to learn from all ILS teachers, especially Mr. Munawar who was very nice. The mathematics lessons which were taught in the "simple” method (read: GASING), is very useful .. I do computation faster now. Some time ago, my math test scored 100. Thanks to all the teachers and Bank OCBC NISP "

Zahra : "Thanks to Bank OCBC NISP and all the teachers who have taught me .., especially Miss Dian who was very nice... My friends and I will always continue to learn diligently in order to continuously make improvements and eventually achieve our ambitions ... "

After the testimonial sessions from the teachers and students, all teachers were given appreciation by Bank OCBC NISP in the form of “I Love Science” certificates, awarded to each of the teachers one by one by Mr. Rama, Mr. Tatan and Mrs. Melanie. The feeling of pride and excitement came into one in the simplicity of that evening’s event.

On this occasion, too, special appreciation was awarded to two best teachers, namely Monika (IPB) and Hendra Januar (IPB) and two favorite teachers, namely Ahmad Munawar (UI) and Rola Oktarina (Unpad).

And, Mr. Rama also presented souvenirs to Mr. Tatan and Mrs. Melanie as representatives of KSE Foundation and Surya Institute respectively, as a token of Bank OCBC NISP’s appreciation for their cooperation as partners.

And finally ... the ILS program appreciation event came to an end. Before proceeding with the free chit-chat session, the MC announced three winners among those who participated in clicking the LIKE on OCBC NISP Facebook account, as had been informed at the beginning of the event. 

"It's incredible being part of the 57 young teachers, teaching 900 children in the "I Love Science" program. OCBC NISP, keep up with the humanitarian program to educate Indonesian people towards a better future. Good luck and success for OCBC NISP.. "
- Arif Pandu, ILS instructor, on the FB wall of OCBC NISP –

Keep up your passion and spirit for teaching and sharing with others ...

See you next event CSR....