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SATURDAY - SUNDAY, MARCH 18-19, 2017
International Education in Greece VIEWS FROM THE INSTITUTIONS
Serving Humanity: The mission of Significant Educational Institutions Today, more than ever, society has developed expectations for instantaneous gratification in daily life for just about everything. Young people seem confused about what principles and values to adhere to, being unclear about the boundaries between their personal interests and well being and those of their communities. Kindness, selflessBy Dr. Stefanos Gialamas, ACS Athens President
ness and humility are sometimes considered characteristics of a weak person whereas being difficult, selfish and aggressive are considered elements of a strong and successful person. Today’s ethical and leadership crisis worldwide brings about a world full of conflicts, wars and violence. It is therefore the distinct responsibility of academic institutions, especially the leading ones, to inspire significance and prepare young people not only to become successful professionals but also to develop principles and values in order to become members of a global society and serve humanity, with their actions guided by ethos. Significant institutions are those which, in addition to fulfilling their mission, vision and goals are committed to and continuously engaged in serving their community, country, region and the world. Engaging all constituencies of an institution in a collective, long-term commitment to serving humanity has many manifestations. These include providing relief to less fortunate or less privileged human beings, protecting the environment and caring for animals. The faculty and academic leaders of a significant institution have a fundamental role in developing leaders with ethos. They must be an example to their students, inspiring them to develop their authentic leadership identity, which is directly affected by the educational experiences they gain within the institution. Therefore, a leader must be the source of kindness, ethos, authenticity, intelligence, creativity, wisdom and happiness. Significant institutions foster the culture of their community serving humanity by building on the following three pillars: 1st Acquiring skills and knowledge by formal learning within the classroom and through a holistic curriculum 2nd Adopting principles and values encouraging everyone to use them as a moral compass in their daily life 3rd Inspiring the assumption of responsibilities and accountabilities beginning with one’s home, academic institution and the community Academic Institutions are molding the minds, souls and spirit of students in order to serve humanity. Over the past decade, believing that it is possible to transform the world and aspiring to contribute towards creating a more sustainable, humanitarian planet, ACS Athens has been building the foundations for serving humanity. Holistic education has included educational experiences that raise awareness and empower students to understand today’s global issues, encouraging empathy, and equipping students with the skills necessary for behaving responsibly, taking action in thoughtful and ethical ways. Developing social interest, civic engagement and commitment becomes an integral way of life. From a school wide Wellness program which fosters an environment of safety and inclusion and embraces diversity, to materializing the right and access to education for ALL children, serving humanity is a reality at ACS Athens. A current example of such commitment can be seen in the ACS Athens student-led program
“Youth to Youth – Educate ALL Children.” This program educates all students on the migrant crisis and expands to community involvement in an initiative which prepares unaccompanied refugee children to be reintegrated in the educational environment and to society in general. The “Y2Y” program began in the spring of 2016 with 15 unaccompanied refugee children who were welcomed into the ACS Athens community in a special immersion program. Today, four of these children are totally integrated in the ACS Athens community, through a scholarship program. In collaboration with the HOME Project Οrganization (hοmeproject.org), ACS Athens is introducing new groups of unaccompanied refugee children into this program during the 2016-17 academic year. Empowered to transform the world as architects of their own learning, students and educators continue to build upon their commitment to serving humanity, exemplified in the following projects which have taken place over the years: Youth Optimizing Leadership Opportunities (YOLO): Each student’s reflection on local or global issues on “how the world would be if…,” provided grounds for taking action such as distributing bags full of groceries to the Klimaka shelter for the homeless. Village Project: Ongoing since 2007, the program takes students to visit the rural village of Zacharo in the Peloponnese and offer their services helping the local needs. Food for a Friend Project: Students raise funds and cook meals for 50 people in collaboration with the Aghia Paraskevi Church Street Beat Project: In support of an effort of the Mayor of Halandri, students distribute food to homeless persons on Saturdays You-4-Kenya Book Drive: Students collected over 200 books and sent them to the Makarios Orphanage in Nieri, Kenya, intended for abandoned children suffering from AIDS Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE): Students participated in this tournament to raise awareness against all kinds of racism Annual visit to Pyrgos Retirement Home: An ongoing project where, in addition to donating food from a schoo lwide food drive, students spend quality time with senior citizens Therapeftirion Lehainon - IB class retreat: Each year, IB students visit this institution for the mentally challenged and spend time with the patients, helping to brighten their days, while assisting with errands and other needs such as painting the building walls Song and Dance Show: Students, faculty and staff members produce and perform in a show open to the community where the entrance fee is a bag of groceries. All bags collected are donated to the discounted social grocery stores of Aghia Paraskevi. Tyros Water Project: In 2006, as the culmination of a semesterlong project focused on building integrity, learning humility and nurturing empathy, 9th grade students organized a beach cleaning in the village of Tyros, Arcadia, on “World Environment Day” Israeli-Palestinian Project: In 2010, students traveled to Israel and the West Bank in order to film a short documentary on the Israeli-Palestinian struggle, following a semester-long research project on the issue. In these challenging times where self-centered mindsets expect quick gratification, and empathy is weakened, significant educational institutions should be the catalyst for transforming the educational experience of their learners and engaging them in serving humanity. It is more important than ever that we prepare our students to navigate their life ship in the ocean of future uncertainties.
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