MORE than 100 Year 9 students at Shenton College came together on Tuesday to build prosthetic hands for landmine victims for the second year in a row.
With the help of five staff, 116 students took part in the student-initiated project, called Helping Hands.
Teaching and learning co-ordinator Gary Green said the college placed a high priority on service-based learning.
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READ NOW“Shenton is about developing the whole child,” he said.
“We want our students to think beyond the boundaries of the school to connect more holistically with the world.
“Service-based learning gives our students that opportunity to be part of different communities and to develop values that support kindness, integrity and awareness of the needs of others.”
Mr Green said students were placed in teams, enabling them to develop co-operation, communication and negotiation skills as they built 11 prosthetic hands.
“The Helping Hands initiative supports younger students in other countries who are often landmine victims,” he said.
“The ability to produce an artificial hand that will directly improve the lives of other children was a powerful and motivating factor for our students and the reason for the overwhelming response.
“Students personalised the finished product by decorating the bag the hand is stored in, meaning the recipient will know who has made the hand, and our students have been able to make a more emotional connection with the receiver.”