Take 5 – 4 April 2016 by Mr Tay Chew Woo

I hope last Friday’s Cross Country event was memorable for all of you. It was definitely memorable for me as I recalled my past Annual Cross Country Races in Chinese Garden. Our school chose Chinese Garden several times over the years because the venue was easily accessible by MRT and the running route was scenic and safe. Also, are you aware that this event was intentionally scheduled to be held before NAPFA to prepare students better for their 2.4km run?

Every year during Cross Country, I observed the strong affiliation our staff, students and parents have for our school. Our school creed says, “as many hands build a house, so many hearts build a school” – this is exemplified by our caring staff who ensure our students’ safety; our students’ involvement in event preparations, participation and event closure; and parents’ enthusiastic support. You would have observed that many of your teachers were either running with you or standing at checkpoints to ensure your safety. This year, there were many more student volunteers and generous sponsorship from parents, supplying food and beverages.

Today, I would like use this opportunity to acknowledge these groups of students who had put in effort in running this event successfully and sacrificed their chance to participate in the race. They are the students from Boys’ Brigade, Girls’ Brigade, Infocomm Club, Saint John Ambulance Brigade and Sports Leaders. Special mention to the following Sports Leaders in the planning team who had started planning and preparing for this event 3 months ago. They are Celeste, Azmirul, YuXian, Shanon, PinWei, Nicole, YingYing and Venus. Please join me in thanking all of them through your applause and enthusiasm.

Next, I would like you to relate your Cross Country running experience to the quote: “Winning is not everything, but the pursuit of excellence is”. If you ran competitively, did you put in your best effort to compete? If you participated in the non-competitive category, did you try to jog the whole route at a slower pace instead of walking?

To end off, I would like to encourage everyone to give their best effort in this week’s NAPFA test and aim for good awards.