“Learn How to Learn” Essay Contest and Other Activities for School Kids

The benefit concert featuring MC Greg Carroll and leading local bands was such a hugely successful fundraiser that some of the money will also be used to set up programs to help additional schools in Banglamung District such as scholarships for students selected by the schools who have good grade and winners of essay contests, music contests, painting contests and singing contests.

The Director of Education Region 3, who is responsible for 150 schools, Mr. Natthasetha Phosrithong, said, “First of all, I would like to say thank you [foreign business people] on behalf of Banglamung kids for a good plan that your group wants to set up to inspire our kids. It is important to help the kids first and then help the schools.”

President of The Optimist Club of Thailand, Drew Noyes replied, “The children who will be helped are under these categories as follow: The first group will be a group of children who study well but don’t have money to continue to go to school. The second group will be a group of children who have a gift for art and music. The last group will be a group of children who would attend vocational school or other training programs. Another program that we will set up, we call Learn how to Learn. This program will teach the kids how to learn. For example, we will have the representatives of five companies go with Thai staff to various schools. The foreigners will tell the kids about their companies and what they have been doing in Thailand. The Thai staff will tell the kids how to learn to work with foreigners to advance their work abilities and open their minds.”

Meanwhile, Head of Education Region 3, Director Natthasetha Phosrithong said, “Our goal will be to set up the big day for the kids who win the prizes from the different contests. We will have big exhibitions of their work to show how good they are. The venue will be arranged later. We picked December as it is the month of our beloved King’s birthday, which we would like to honor.

“Groups of foreigners that have been helping schools are always going back to the same schools and doing the same things over and over again and never ask or survey what the children really need. I think the right way to help them is not giving the school money or giving toys to kids but to teach them some thing that they can use for the rest of their lives.”

The representative from Final Wave Company said, “We are specialists in advance technology. We can set up some programs for kids who are interested in learning how to make websites and how to write programs. If they doing very well and have good talent, after they graduate from school they can work for us.”

People who would like to help local kids do not have to be members of The Optimist Club of Thailand or Pattaya Builder Group. For more information, please call 084 111 7999 or 083 614 8889.