Reviewed by Thisal Rajapakse The Young Inventors’ and Researchers’ Club of Trinity College, in collaboration with the Library Council, launched a series of workshops, titled, ‘Inquiring Minds’ Workshops’, to encourage young students to support their inquiring minds to further engage in innovation, creativity, critical thinking and problem solving. The first lecture in the series was held on May 27th at the Napier Multipurpose Arena. Titled, ‘An Introduction to Research Methodology,’ the workshop was about the foundation and substance of research. Dr. Kumudu Kopiyawattage, an esteemed Senior Lecturer from the Department of Agricultural Extension of the University of Peradeniya, served as our special guest lecturer and guide, leading students from the middle and upper sections alike, on an extremely informative and interactive journey, exploring the essence of research. In the simple span of 2 hours, Dr. Kumudu managed to explain the basic essence of research and managed to entrap the audience in a world of endless possibilities. Helping to foster future researchers, this one workshop impacted all those who attended and imparted to them many facets of research, that will forever serve them in their future endeavors. This being the first of a series of equally enthralling and captivating workshops, we can only wait in anticipation for what the future may hold.
The Library Council of Trinity College Kandy successfully winded up the annual Library Day on Thursday, the 20th of October 2022. In continuing its initial mission and bridging it with the future, the library council plays its role in moulding young Trinitians through activities such as Library Day. Following the customary proceedings, the 1st keynote address in the repertory was done by the principal Rev. Fr. Araliya Jayasundara OSB. He elaborated on the skills the 21st-century learner should be acquainted with to build an ideal character. “Learning has been an essential part of life since the past. We learn every moment, and it is not limited by time. Today’s learning encompasses different fields and has become more complex than before. As a solution, the students should acquire the 4C’s, Namely, Critical thinking, Creativity, Collaboration and Communication.” He explained the different and exciting ways to inculcate these qualities in one’s life, incentivizing Trinitians to be well acquainted with vital skills and an all-round personality to face the complex and competitive future world. The Library Day featured award ceremonies for Middle-school and upper-school students who showed their colours in the Library Day competitions. Competitions such as the Readathon, where winners were selected based on the number of books read within a certain period, were a popular competition among students with the main focus of building the skills of fast, compelling reading and explaining what you have read. Participation in competitions such as Book review writing, short story writing, book talk, digital storytelling, home library challenge, longest book worm and the speech and essay competitions created a vast platform for students to showcase and mushroom their reading, writing and speaking skills. Out of the competitions for upper school students, the Research project competition received many commendations and was taken part by students with great interest. Four groups of students carried out and presented their respective research on topics. Group 1 – Validation of radioimmunoassay Methodology (RIA) for phytoestrogens.Group 2 – The Kandy Night EconomyGroup 3 – The Contribution of semi-natural habitat. (Research was carried out on the Trinity College property at Pallekele).Group 4 – Radio Frequency Identification Devices. Group 4 emerged as the Best Research concept of the Group research competition. The Research competition was the first step to developing a research symposium in the future to create a much more comprehensive platform for Trinitians to put into effect their solutions for a better tomorrow. The 2nd Keynote address was made by the guest speaker, Mr Sanka Hettiarachchi, a software Engineer, the CEO and founder of PROVIDEV and an Old Trinitian. His address commenced with a little bit of drama, where he showed signs of stage fright and anxiety and left the stage, infusing everyone in confusion. He returned after a second invitation drawing a smile on everyone’s faces. He reflected on how he was an anxious, introverted person with severe stage fright and how he overcame that fear through the encouragement of his teachers and friends. He stressed the importance of having “Grit“, through which he overcame his fear and encouraged all students to cultivate Grit as a skill. He urged everyone to gather their own stories of “Grit” so that they could share them in their interviews and inspire others. “Many would require interviews as part of the selection process. Doing well in these interviews would require stories that show our grit, traits, and competencies.” “I urge you all to gather as many life stories during your time at Trinity”. The library day also featured an enthusiastic Q&A session where the audience comprised of students and teachers were asked questions related to general knowledge, literature and the library, which received active participation from both parties. In the end, the winners were awarded prizes donated by the guest speaker, Mr Sanka Hettiarachchi. The Library Day for 2022 marked a successful conclusion inspiring and encouraging young Trinitians to use the 21st-century library that Trinity College is gifted with. The Library Day undoubtedly enabled young Trinitians to face the future enriched with valuable skills and an all-around personality built on grit to explore the vistas of excellence. Review by Master Samiru Herath Event Photographed by the Trinity College Media Unit. (Photographer: Nethmika Athukorala and Shaluka Herath)
The third instalment of the “Rediscovering Trinity” webinar series, organised by the Library Council of Trinity College, was conducted on the 25th of June. With the great goal of what Trinity means, recognizing its great minds and learning from the past, the topic that evening was “How did it all Begin? Revisiting the Vision of the Pioneers and Protagonists“ The keynote speaker for the webinar was Mr Harendra Alwis (Old Boy) who joined us all the way from Melbourne, Australia. The webinar was conducted on Zoom and live streamed on Facebook. The lecture was indeed a very informative one that touched on how Trinity came to be as a result of the British colonization and how all the milestones in Sri Lankan history thereafter affected Trinity. At the start of the Webinar, Mr. Harendra Alwis spoke about Mr. Keshan Thalgahagoda and Professor Gishan Dissanaike who were featured in the last two episodes of the Rediscovering Trinity Webinar series. He quoted Mr. Keshan Thalgahagoda – “The primary responsibility of a Trinitian is to be a good citizen”. In the webinar he said Professor Gishan Dissanaike led an illuminating reflection of the relevance and the ingredients of an all-round education. The kind that nurtures good citizens and empowers them to think and act. How did it all Begin? needs to be rediscovered and it is only when we see the story of Trinity as parts of stories about our communities, nation, and world that gave rise to it that we can grasp its relevance to our present lives and appreciate the hope and promise that offers to the future. The idea that Trinity should be strongly involved in the community’s life, education, and improvement was a deeply held conviction of her pioneers. Rev. A. G. Fraser said, “If I go into a village and see the place full of flies and mosquitoes, the poultry scrawny, the streets untidy and the houses dilapidated, I know at once that the school – if there is one – is not doing its job”. Rev. A. G. Fraser In the final analysis, the vision of the pioneers was to institutionalize the ethos of unity and the spirit of service at Trinity College, Kandy. To that end they initiated traditions to habitualize and monuments to memorialize and holistic education to empower men and women who would pass through the institution. The Library Council wishes to thank Mr Harendra Alwis for taking time off his busy schedule to speak at this webinar, the Student Task Force (STF) and the IT department for their continued support, and all those who took part in the webinar. The 4th instalment of the Rediscovering Trinity webinar series will be held in August 2022. – Rahul Jayasinghe (Curator, Library Council)
The library council is pleased to announce its Fourth episode of the coffee talk webinar series will take place on 26th June 2021 at 6.00 pm on Microsoft teams. Resource Person – Mr Lasantha Tennekoon (Choirmaster, Trinity College, Kandy) This event will be Open for Grade 6-14 Students and all Staff Members. A one-hour interactive exploration of music; talking about the how and why of its inseparable presence in human life. Can we survive without music? Is it so precious that billions of dollars are spent on producing equipment to simply bring a tune to our ears? Find out about how music can become our lifelong companion that befriends our body, mind and soul. Listen to the captivating history of how music evolved to take control of our thoughts, feelings, emotions with real life experiences of those who have found and savoured the marvel of music! Join the webinar via Microsoft Teams link below:
The Library Council is pleased to announce its second coffee talk on “Horse Culture” which will take place on 27th March 2021 at 4.00p.m. to 5.00p.m. on Microsoft teams. This Event will be open for grade 6 – 14 Students and all staff members. Topic – Horse Culture Principles of Equine Science Basic Horse Management Horse Riding and Ownership Resource Person: Mr. Danushka S. Weerasekera Join the Microsoft Teams Meeting using the link below: Click here to join the meeting
The Library Council is pleased to announce its newest venture, Coffee Talks conducted by various entrepreneurs and those in other fields. The coffee talks will take place every month based on various topics and themes, and conducted on Microsoft Teams. Theme for the month of February 2021 is ‘overcoming biases toc create a personal success model’ hence the topic, “Diversity Matters” which will be conducted by Mr Sanka Hettiarachchi, a well-known Old Boy and the CEO of Providev, a software consultancy company founded in Singapore. ‘Diversity Matters’, the first episode of the webinar series will take place on 27th February 2021, at 05.30p.m. on Microsoft Teams. This event will only be open for Upper School students and all the Academic Staff members of the College. The following areas will be covered: Ability to understand what Personal Biases are and how they influence our decision making. Learn How Diversity of Thought helps overcome these biases and opens possibilities for better problem solving and Solution Generation Understand a simple framework in creating a personalized Success model based on diversity of thought. Join this interesting talk by Mr Hettiarachchi, using the Teams meeting link below: Click here to join the Meeting The Top five Students will be awarded with Certificate and the Winner of the Webinar will receive a valuable book gifted by the Resource Person Mr. Sanka Hettiarachchi Don’t forget your cup of coffee on the 27th at 5.30p.m.! The Library Council of Trinity College, Kandy
The Trinity College Library Council held their first ever Human Library on the 4th of October 2018. The Human Library is a concept where the ‘books’ are people who have experience in various subjects or professions, and they are ‘borrowed’ by ‘readers’ who can ask any question they like. This is to both learn new information and to learn about the person. The event started at 2:30 pm with a speech from the Chief Curator. In his speech, he explained why the library council organized the ‘Human Library’. He said: “The reason why we chose this particular moment in time is to celebrate the month of reading, as well as our Library Day. Reading is, unfortunately, a dying habit amongst those living in the 21st century, and it is our duty as members of our own library community to ensure that here, at least, that does not happen. We have seen increased numbers of readers since beginning these workshops and events in this Library, and we hope that it continues to increase in the future.” This was followed by a speech from the Vice-Principal, after which the “books” were introduced: Mr Sanka Hettiarachchi, an expert on Artificial Intelligence. Dr Kanishka Ukuwela, an expert in biology. Dr V. Seneviratne, a chemist. Mr F. Immamudeen, an expert on public speaking. Mr N. Dhammasena, an explorer and doctor. Mr K. Jayasena, a sports expert. The different experts were placed in different parts of the library and the students could choose to visit the expert whose topic they were interested in. They participated enthusiastically in discussions with experts. With this unique format, the students were able to ask questions pertaining to their specific interests and have them answered fully and completely. Following is a comment made by one of the experts who participated at the event: “I had the great pleasure of being a human book on “Artificial Intelligence” at the first ever Human Library Project in Kandy, at the Trinity College Library on the 4th of October 2018. Together with me were human books on Biology, Public Speaking, Adventure, Chemistry and Sports, proudly represented by four other distinguished guests; Dr. Kanishka Ukuwela, Mr. Farweez Imamudeen, Dr. Nishan Dharmasena, Dr. V. Senevirarne and Mr. Kavinda Jayasena. The library had been transformed into six sections where the human books shared our knowledge and experience in our respective fields. The students met us in groups and freely asked away questions to their hearts content. As the human book on Artificial Intelligence (AI), I had received many questions on the current state of AI, what the future holds for humans in an AI rich world and the career prospects when they enter the workforce. What took me by surprise was the enthusiasm of the teachers who took part in this experience. They were very keen to know how their students’ lives would be enhanced and affected by AI and what would make their students stand ahead when competing with AI applications head-to-head in the future. There were a select few who remained seated in my section throughout the program, wide-eyed and overflowing with enthusiasm, asking deeper and deeper questions during each round of the discussion, wanting to extract the maximum they could from this human AI book that stood in front of them. I praise the college Librarian Mrs. Achala Illangakoon and her staff for initiating this project and hope this would be a regular event at the college library. I hope and pray that the future programs could be opened to the rest of the students in and around Kandy, so that Trinity College could lead by example in initiating this unique eye-opening experience to everyone.” – Sanka Hettiarachchi (Founder and CEO, Providev) Trinity College Class of 2000 To conclude the event Mr Sanka Hettiarachchi gave a speech on behalf of the experts, in which he commended the enthusiasm of the students who participated, and strongly recommended that the Human Library be made a continuing event. He also stated how much he enjoyed answering the interesting questions posed to him by the teachers and students who attended the “Human Library.” The Library Council is grateful to the experts, the librarian and staff, and all the visitors who helped make the first human library a success. Trinity College Library Council See the full album on our Flickr site!
The Old boys from the Batch of 2000 together with the College Library Council organized a workshop on “Design Thinking for Youth” which was held at the College main hall on Friday, 27th July 2018. The workshop was to guide the young individuals at Trinity to unleash their full potential using design based thinking to approach and solve complex problems. The workshop was headed by Mr. Sanka Hettiarachchi (Batch of 2000), and conducted by Prof. Suranga Nanayakkara (Associate Professor and Head of the Augmented Human Lab, University of Auckland). The entire workshop was designed to nurture the young minds to develop skills on creativity and innovation; two essential competencies that are required in facing the unknown challenges of the future career landscape. Participants of the workshop learned how to: Understand team dynamics Frame and scope problems Generate concepts with collaborative ideation techniques Prototype and test ideas Pitch their ideas to industry experts and potential investors Trinity is proud to host such a timely event that gave an inspiring and rewarding experience to our young students and we extend our sincere gratitude to all those who organized the workshop which concluded with great success! Review by Mrs. Achala Illangakoon (Senior Librarian)
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