Stories

St. Mark’s Girls Senior Secondary School participated in the Butterfly Symposium held in Villach, Austria from 13-20 June 2015. It was organised by Mr Edmund Huditz* , a teacher of the host school, Peraugymnasium Villach. Four students accompanied by a Biology teacher were invited to attend the symposium. It was a great learning experience as our students started to take initiatives in developing the Butterfly Garden in the school as well as conducting intensive search on butterflies and their host plants, in preparation for the symposium. During the symposium, the participants not only learnt a great deal about the local butterflies of Villach but also about Austrian culture and lifestyle. Our students have had the opportunity to showcase their talents at an international platform and met many teachers and students from the other countries. The symposium represented a rainbow of cultures.

In addition, we also participated in a guided tour to the Villach city, and other landmarks such as Dobratsch National Park, Ossiach lake, Nockalm Road and Friesach. Our students also met Mr Dieter Wieltsch, an expert in butterfly art who gave presentations of his marvellous work. The students also conducted a Skype session with Mr Claude Sinner, a bio-physicist at Steibuch Centre, and a young butterfly expert who shared about his project label-butterflies.com with students and teachers for the first time.

The symposium helped in raising awareness about conservation and protection of butterflies among young people through a cross-continental classroom in Asia and Europe through the application of Information and Communication Technology tools (ICT). We are highly grateful to Mr Edmund Huditz for organising the event in his beautiful city, and providing us with the utmost care of the Austrian hosts. Being the global coordinator for my school, I would also like to thank ASEF Classroom Network for bridging students from Asia and Europe.