At AV it has become a tradition to host a yearly talent show where our students can share their awesomeness with our community. This year, we had to change the format, but this did not stop our students from sharing their talents and contributing to Happiness, Kindness, and Imagination – the AV core values.

A Strong Community Spirit

At the beginning of May, we hosted our first online talent show. The contestants used their imagination to submit the greatest videos. We were thrilled to see the amount of support and happiness that this resulted in, expressed through comments, likes, shares, and thousands of votes. Together, the finalist videos had more than 14,000 views, 148 shares, and 1,861 likes on Facebook! This surely reminds us of how strong the AV community bond is – even when we are apart.

To brush up your memory, the four winners of the AV Talent show were:

• Sophie won Category 1 with her rap
• Alikhan won Category 2 with his guitar performance
• Aisha won Category 3 with her performance on the dombra
• Ensa became the overall winner with her piano performance

You can still watch all of the finalist videos here.

Supporting Good Causes

Kindness is extra needed in these difficult times of the pandemic. Therefore, the winners’ prize did not only accommodate themselves but also other people around the world.

One part of the prize was a gift certificate to BetterWorldBooks, an online book store that rewards every book purchase from its website by donating a book to someone in need. Additionally, they raise money for literacy and libraries around the world.

The other part of the prize was the honor of donating 50 EUR/USD each to a good cause.

This is what the winners donated to

Ensa donated the money to UNICEF in order to help children around the world fighting the Corona crisis. UNICEF spends donations in this cause to deliver essentials, strengthen health systems, and maintain routine services for vulnerable children.

Sophie chose to support the education for young people around the world by donating the money to Khan Academy which is a nonprofit organization that offers free online courses. During a crisis like COVID-19, this service is particularly important as a lot of schools have not had the resources to offer a comprehensive online learning programme.

Alikhan decided to donate the money to people who protect our nature and indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin; The Amazon Watch. Their focus is on climate justice, stopping the amazon destruction, and advancing indigenous solutions.

Aisha enjoys reading and donated the money to new books at the secondary library at AMADEUS. Thank you for this, we are sure that many of our students will appreciate that!

Summing up, we can conclude that the AV Talent Show is more than a competition and that it has more than four winners. It is a reminder that the AV community is filled with great talents and encouraging support, and that we are able to use happiness, kindness, and imagination to leave our marks everywhere around the world.