Year 12 CAS – NOVA
Creativity, Activity, and Service, more commonly known as CAS, is a core component of the IB diploma program which most Y12-13 students at Sha Tin College take. And as part of this, students are required to take part in a CAS project to show their understanding of one or more of the different concepts. One of the many CAS projects at STC this year is NOVA dance, and the media team had the opportunity to interview their members.
NOVA is a student-led non-profit organization that hosts STC’s annual dance competition. They work alongside the Brightly Project, an organization led by Dr. Jamie Chiu which aims to prevent youth suicide in Hong Kong and around the world. “While our passion is dance,” stated Mandy So, NOVA’s head of communications. “We hope to incorporate our own passion while raising awareness for mental health issues.” Furthermore, NOVA’s project manager Megan Leung added: “We hope that other people who are passionate about dance will choose dance as a way to express their feelings and to know that they are not alone and we’re all there for them.”
Following its stunning success previously, the NOVA dance showcase will make its highly anticipated return this year. The theme this year is ‘Peripeteia’, which is defined as the sudden reversal of fortune or change in circumstance. “We chose this theme because it relates to our real-world situation right now with Covid,” said Lauren Ho, NOVA’s other head of communications. “It’s just like a peripeteia in everyone’s life where we suddenly had to go through lockdowns and quarantine. And we want to explore not just the surface level of dancing, but a deeper meaning to it.” The team has also made significant progress with the event. “We just did our auditions so we’re going to be finalizing our finalists,” said Karen Lee, NOVA’s other project manager. She also added: “We’re hoping to do an online showcase, because of the pandemic we couldn’t go through with our actual (in-person) showcase”. Although not finalized, the date for the showcase is set for March 12th, 2022 and it will be live-streamed on both NOVA’S and the official Sha Tin College Instagram page, so be sure to watch out for it!
The group has also planned for a Monday dance challenge with Ms. Parry, however, it has been put on hold due to the recent school suspension caused by the Omicron outbreak. “We wanted to have a dance club every Monday, just so the students can experience how dance can be a way for them to express themselves and release any emotions that they may be having, and also fully experience what dance can do to their mental and physical health,” said Mandy.
Being a part of the NOVA project has benefited the student leaders a lot. “Before any of us joined the NOVA team, we were all already really looking forward to this CAS project since all of us were passionate about dance already,” stated Karen. “And not only do we get to do something we love, but also get an opportunity to experience what it feels like to be a leader and do it together as a team.” Lauren also said: “For me, I think this project alone is a very rewarding experience for me, as it teaches us the importance of connecting with others and creating connections.”
At the start of Y12, the student leaders were new to CAS and were faced with many different challenges. “As we are not just focusing on our project (NOVA), we have much other schoolwork and have lots of different responsibilities around us, we find it difficult to prioritize NOVA over them,” stated Megan. To overcome these challenges, the team has worked together to communicate effectively with each other and also hold regular meetings to address any challenges or issues.
Finally, if you would like to know more about NOVA and the work of their project, you can follow their Instagram page: @stcnovadance for updates, or contact their members individually through email. The STC community is looking forward to the upcoming showcase as well as their future successes!
