On 3^rd March, 7 members of the DGS Interact Club attended the 4^th annual Interact Day at Kennet School. The day was a fantastic experience as we were able to meet Rotary Club members as well as Interactors from different schools throughout Oxfordshire and Berkshire. The day consisted of lots of different activities including icebreakers, sharing experiences with other clubs, and a fun project to create and launch a rocket. We also had the chance to hear from different speakers about the charity work they do and, in particular, we were inspired by the work of Sue Pomeroy who is leading a project that supports education in Zambia. This is a project that the DGS Interact club is currently involved with by collecting resources and materials to help improve the quality of classrooms in a less wealthy region of the country.

After lunch, we had an interactive technology challenge where we paired up with other clubs to try out a hands-on experiment. We all worked together to make the parts of the rocket; we used a plastic bottle as the body of the rocket and paper to create the fins, nose cone payloads and the launch lungs. Although there were many teams who took part, the DGS rocket was the winning entry in the competition so well do to everyone who took part!

At the end of the day, we heard from a keynote speaker from Japan. After an introduction on his home country, he moved on to the main purpose of his talk, which was to speak about poverty across the world. He explained that he works in a company named JICA and he has travelled to developing countries like Vietnam and Philippines to assist with their social and economic growth. It was difficult to hear about so many countries still struggling economically, as many people in these places do not have enough money to afford the food they need to survive.

I really enjoyed the day and I am very grateful to be a member of the Interact Club as we have lots of fun! I am particularly enjoying how we all work together and hold events where we support other people around the world as well as more locally. If you would like to get involved in the Interact Club, come and join us on a Wednesday lunchtime in C29 (Mr Newborn’s room!)

Yasmeen Jones.