On the 19th of October the Education Division of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Australia hosted the first online Taiwan-Australia Creative Video Contest Award Ceremony. The online ceremony was participated by more than 120 students in Taiwan and Australia along with their teachers and school executives. During the ceremony 7 schools were awarded certificates to highlight their creative works in bilingual education.
Speaking at the ceremony, Jill Lai, Executive Director of Education Division at TECO in Australia, congratulated the winning students and their teachers for their dedication in taking part in the contest. She further encouraged all students to continue working with their partner schools and to not be limited by the boundaries of a traditional classroom.
“The Taiwan-Australia Creative Video Contest” was launched in April 2022 with the active support of Australia’s Kambala School and 6 other schools in Taiwan. Hundreds of students have participated in the program, co-working with their partner schools to produce their creative videos. The final result saw a total of 5 videos submitted for selection. The ceremony was dedicated to fostering bilingual language learning and cross-cultural appreciation between students of Taiwan and Australia.
Participants in the online award ceremony included Kathryn Tamminga, the Head of Language at NSW Kambala School; Samantha Chen, Mandarin teacher at Kambala School; and three principals: Ho Kuo-Hsu of the He-Ping Junior High School, Kang Hsing-Kuo of the Yi-Lan Fu-Shing Junior High School and Hao Jingi-yi of Kaohsiung Municipal Nanzih Senior High School.
The ceremony was kicked off with a performance from students at the He-Ping Junior High School who performed a Taiwanese Atayal Indigenous greeting. Following, the floor was taken by Australian National University student Sam Wade as master of ceremony. Sam’s confidence in both Chinese and English kept the program entertaining and on schedule.
Other highlights include:
- Year 7 Mandarin 1 & Year 7 Mandarin 2A at Kambala School collaborated with two schools in Taichung – He-Ping Junior High School and Tiachung Municipal Dongshan Senior High School - to create a video on the theme of “Transformation” to enhance intercultural understanding between Taiwan and Australia.
- Year 10 class 109 at Nanzih Senior High School’s had their 36 students divided into groups to create their films. The entry video “Our Wardrobe” was selected by teachers to represent Nanzih at the contest. “Clothing” is a subject matter closely related to high school students’ daily life. It is additionally worth noting that the content of video showcased a close collaboration between two sister schools – Nanzih and Gungahlin College.
- “After-School Activities for High School Students in Taiwan” by year 10 students of New Taipei Municipal Hsin-Chuang Senior High School featured the daily routine of a high school student in Taiwan, aiming to open dialogue with their partner school in Australia
- “The last Straw” from a group of Year 10 students at the National Tainan Girls’ Senior High School was also a standout. The narrative is about an encounter between a stainless steel straw and the plastic straw. The music along with lyrics were performed by student creators whilst raising the awareness of environmental protection.
- Year 8 students of Fu-Shing Junior High School developed their creative thinking ability in their “global perspective class” through online exchange with TIGS in NSW. The video “Cultural Exchange with TIGS” introduces the exchange experience and friendship between the two sister schools.
- A complete best picture winners list from the 2022 Taiwan-Australia Creative Video Contest:
- The BEST Fashion Award - “Our Wardrobe”
- The Best Indigenous-theme Award - “Transformation”
- The Best Green Award - “The last Straw”
- The Best High School Life Award - “After-School Activities for High School Students in Taiwan”
- The Best Friendship Award - “Culture Exchange with TIGS”
- To watch the videos click link
