This May, we celebrated the LIS World Bee Day for the third time, and it’s wonderful to see how this grassroots initiative, started by Grade 9 students in 2022, is evolving into a cherished school tradition with a lasting impact!
By celebrating this event, we aim to bring more attention to the importance of bees and insects. We want to make our community aware that everyone can contribute to preserving the biodiversity we enjoy in our environment. This fun event managed to raise €1,500, which we donated to Ökolöwe Leipzig, BUND Leipzig, Leipzig pflanzt!, Schutzgemeinschaft Deutscher Wald and GeoWerkstatt e.V.
We were thrilled to see how many community members actively participated this year. Families created bee-related products or donated homemade honey for sale at the LIS Farmers Market. Many parents baked beautiful cakes and cookies for the bake sale. Grade 3 and Ms Annie composed a lovely LIS Bee Song, and both primary and secondary students performed a concert. Secondary students also volunteered at the food stalls, and Faust Fischer and Cedric Rehm helped by taking fantastic pictures and producing videos.
We’d like to give a special shout-out to Emma, Chloe and Sanyu (Grade 11) for taking on the responsibility of organizing this year’s event. Great job, girls! Here’s what they had to say in the following interview:
Why did you choose this project?
Chloe: I participated in Bee Day two years ago in Grade 9 for my Global Perspectives Project and loved the experience. I wanted to continue contributing to such a meaningful cause. Ecosystem health is a crucial issue that doesn’t get enough attention, so bringing the LIS community together to raise awareness was something I was really passionate about.
How did your personal values influence your choice of project?
Chloe: As part of the younger generation with my whole future ahead of me—including children and grandchildren—I feel it’s essential to do our best for the earth. If we don’t, it will become uninhabitable for future generations, who deserve to experience the beauty of our world. Organizing an event that highlights the importance of protecting our environment, especially pollinators that sustain biodiversity, was a key reason I chose World Bee Day. Additionally, community is a vital part of humanity, and I wanted to highlight that in my CAS project by bringing the LIS members together.
What did you hope to learn?
Emma: I wanted to improve my leadership skills, especially in reaching out to organizations and making things happen. We also wanted to see if our student body cared about the environment as much as we did, and we were pleasantly surprised by the support we received, not just on the day but throughout the planning process.
How successful were you?
Chloe: Based on the feedback from friends and teachers, it seems everyone enjoyed the event, and plans are in place for it to return next year. We also raised €1,500 to support environmental organizations in our city.
What challenges did you face?
Emma: We had some issues with the organizations we invited for the information stands—some didn’t respond as positively as in previous years.
Chloe: There were last-minute changes with some stands, and we ran out of food at times, so we had to find volunteers to make quick trips to the store. It was stressful in the moment. The rainy weather was another issue—we might want to have more umbrellas on hand in the future. We could have also been more organized with the volunteer list.
What did you learn about yourself and others?
Emma: I learned that I need to trust my intuition more and stand firm when I know I’m right. Realizing this earlier would have saved us time and energy. I also learned that people need clear, precise instructions; otherwise, they can become uncertain.
Sanyu: I discovered that I can stay unusually calm in stressful situations. When others are stressed, the best thing to do is be supportive, rather than just telling them everything is okay.
Did anyone help you?
Emma: The Parent Association and Management Department were particularly helpful, contributing spaces and donations for the event.
Chloe: Gitte, the school garden coordinator, deserves special thanks for her help. She was great to work with and provided valuable feedback. We’re also incredibly grateful to the volunteers who signed up to assist on the day.
How can you apply what you’ve learned to future situations?
Sanyu: When making big decisions or organizing large projects, I’ve learned that staying calm and taking things one step at a time works better than stressing over everything. Asking for help is also key.
What moment convinced you it was worth putting your energy into this project?
Emma: The moment I got an extremely positive correspondence from the Local Beekeeper, I was hyped to get the ball rolling on the project. As the date came closer and closer, I kept on getting more excited as I thought about how successful and fun the previous events always were. It was thrilling to be in charge, and it pushed me to overcome any challenges.
Sanyu: When I saw how hardworking my team was, it encouraged me to put in all that I could.
See you next year at LIS World Bee Day 2025!
