Service_Learning_Program_09_10

Information

Service Learning Program 2009-2010

Educational Methodology to Build Respect and Awareness through Community Empowerment EMBRACE is the TASIS Service Learning Program.

This year TASIS is changing both the name and the focus of what had been our Community Service Program. We hope to preserve all of the benefits of the previous program while enhancing the experience of service for both our students and our community.

Service Learning contains all the elements of community service, but it also builds upon service endeavors by focusing on education. Research has shown that the service learning approach, over time, develops a more sustainable devotion to service in students. The focus on education inspires awareness of the deeper underlying issues and causes of challenges different communities are facing.

Service Learning works to connect classroom content, literature, and skills to community needs. It gives students real life and practical application of the lessons they are learning in school while improving the community around them. Service Learning also fosters individual growth, a unique sense of success, and a deeper understanding of oneself. Through service learning projects students will develop as leaders who take initiative, solve problems, and work as a team.

EMBRACE focuses on community development and community empowerment. Students will learn more about their particular community through partnerships with different organizations. In keeping with our new focus, we will move away from words such as “help” and “aid” which often have a condescending connotation and a hierarchical implication. Our service work will ideally be a collaboration and partnership where both sides “embrace” one another and work together towards a shared goal as members of a larger community.

Expectations: All TASIS students, grade 9-13 are required to participate in the service learning program. There are a variety of different clubs to appeal to different student interests, ranging from Environmental Club to Model UN to Casa Elisabetta. Each student is expected to participate in at least one service learning endeavor where they see a project through from beginning to end. Each club will develop its individual goals at the beginning of the academic year through student initiative, and students will be expected to become dedicated members to at least one group over the course of the year.

Completion of the service learning expectation is a graduation requirement and students who fail to meet this requirement must make up hours during the summer holidays. Seniors will not receive their diploma until the requirement is satisfied.

EMBRACE Program Offerings 2009-2010 Educational Methodology TASIS will take steps towards incorporating service learning endeavors into the classroom and curriculum. Teachers will review their curriculum with the help of the EMBRACE Coordinator and identify areas where they can work with one of the four EMBRACE Communities.

Building Respect and Awareness through Community Empowerment The concept of community has many meanings, and the TASIS Service Learning Program will build relationships with several levels of community. Specifically, we envision four distinct layers into which the clubs and community empowerment activities will fit.

The TASIS Community 1. Peer Mediators—This is a program designed to train students in the art of mediation and negotiation. Students will learn valuable conflict resolution techniques and then be given the opportunity practice and enhance these skills by facilitating mediations amongst their peers.

2. Peer Educators—Students will participate in training with the counselor once a week to learn to facilitate discussion about important, personal and sometimes sensitive topics. Peer educators will work in pairs to lead small-group discussions for younger students (6-8 students in a group). Topics include transition to life at TASIS, friendship and dating, stress, healthy living at TASIS, bullying and many others.

3. Student Weekend Activities Team (SWAT)—Students plan and organize creative, fun, and innovative weekend activities for the campus, and particularly the boarding students. Students develop skills in organization, planning and follow-through. They also use their creativity to build a sense of community and school spirit.

4. Proctors—Proctors are seen as campus leaders and role models. Proctors live in the dormitories and work as a liaison between dorm parents and dorm residents. They are active community members and work to foster a strong sense of community. Proctors also participate in either Peer Educators, Peer Mediators or Student Activities to further develop their leadership skills.

5. Peer Tutoring—Top students in different areas of study will work with the Academic Help Centers to tutor students who are struggling in certain subjects. The tutors will further develop their knowledge of the subject by explaining concepts to other students. They will also develop confidence through the formal recognition of their talents.

6. “Reading Buddies”—Students would work with the elementary school students and read with them once a week. The elementary school students would pick a book to read with their “buddy” and they would practice their reading skills. This partnership is focused on mentoring and leadership skills for the older student and confidence-building and friendship for the younger students.

7. BIGS—High school students serve as mentors to middle school students. The BIGS help the younger students to adjust to life in Switzerland, at a boarding school and at TASIS specifically. The program focuses on developing mentoring and leadership skills.

8. Environmental Club—Students run a campus-wide recycling program, host a week of environmental awareness and work on various projects throughout the year to make our campus more environmentally conscious.

9. Student Council—The Student Council consists of a Student Body President, Vice President and three representatives from each High School class who work together to advance the quality of student life. As liaisons between the students and the administration, members are responsible for effectively and accurately representing the student body's interests. The Student Council promotes unity and cooperation in the School community by planning, conducting, and overseeing activities that foster school spirit.

10. Sports Management—Students work with the athletic director to help run sports tournaments and home games. Students develop planning and organizational skills in the process of hosting a tournament. Students learn the rules and regulations of a variety of different sports, and help to foster school spirit by supporting the TASIS teams.

The Local Community: Montagnola & Lugano 1. Casa Elisabetta—Casa Elisabetta is a domestic violence shelter and orphanage in downtown Lugano. TASIS students visit Casa Elisabetta and play with the children once a month. They also organize a Holiday gift giving campaign where advisory groups, individual teachers or students can give a gift to a child at the home.

2. Al Pagnolo—Al Pagnolo is a home for the elderly located a few minutes from campus.

Students work in groups of two or three with one resident. Students visit the home once a week to sing, go on walks and to develop relationships with their resident. Students have the opportunity to practice their Italian, to liven up an elderly person’s day and to learn lessons and hear stories from another generation.

3. Tea Time—Students meet with elderly residents in Montagnola for tea once a week.

Students go grocery shopping and deliver groceries to the elderly, and then join them for conversation and company. This helps students develop their Italian skills and learn about the local community.

4. Casa Primavera—Casa Primavera is a center for troubled teens located in downtown Lugano, and TASIS students hope to begin this partnership in the 2009-2010 academic year. Students will visit the center once a week to offer English tutoring sessions. TASIS students will have the opportunity to develop organizational skills, practice their Italian, and form relationships with peers from a different background while helping the Casa Primavera teens improve their English skills.

5. OTAF—OTAF is a foundation that works with 300 disabled children and adults. It offers a variety of services, including a school, health partnerships, educational partnerships, rehabilitation and welfare, jobs, housing and social and professional integration. TASIS students hope to begin this partnership in the 2009-2010 academic year. Students will visit OTAF throughout the year to help wherever is deemed necessary. Students will form relationships with OTAF students and members. TASIS students will learn about and develop an awareness of a different way of life.

Inter-School Community 1. Model UN—Students will attend conferences around Europe to simulate the United Nations.

Students will discuss and debate global issues and work with students around the world to create possible solutions to our current crises.

2. Global Issues Network— A new opportunity for the 2009-2010 school year, this network will be focused on working with nearby international schools to spread global awareness on various issues. Students will attend both regional and international conferences. The Global Issues

Network will organize smaller summits with Zurich and Milan students to discuss global issues. The summits will be thematic and involve student presentations.

International/Global Community 1. Women’s Institute for Secondary Education and Research (WISER)—WISER is the first all girls’ boarding school in Muhuru Bay, Kenya, a small, rural fishing village on Lake Victoria. The school is located in Nyanza, one of the poorest provinces in and the province with the highest HIV/AIDS and malaria rates of the entire country. TASIS students discuss issues of girls’ education, female empowerment, poverty and HIV/AIDS awareness as well as how these issues are connected. Students learn about the community surrounding Muhuru Bay while working in a global partnership to provide opportunities for disadvantaged girls.

Students will raise funds to sponsor one girl’s scholarship to WISER. A group of club members have the opportunity to travel to Muhuru Bay to visit WISER for Spring Academic Travel.

2. Assisting Children with AIDS (ACA)—ACA focuses its work in Bucharest, Romania where TASIS sponsors an apartment for HIV-positive teenagers. The residents are transitioning to independent living after living at a children’s home with a house mother. ACA members raise money for the apartment’s operating expenses and work closely with another organization in Bucharest, Health Aid Romania. Students learn about AIDS, its global impact, and about individuals who work with this disease. A group of club members are eligible to participate in the Spring Academic Travel trip to Romania.

3. Habitat for Humanity—This international nonprofit organization seeks to eliminate poverty and homelessness and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. TASIS students participate in a program based in Portugal, where they learn about the community and the issues of global poverty and homelessness. A group of club members are eligible to participate in the Spring Academic Travel trip to Portugal to build homes for local residents.

4. Serving Africa—Students learn about different countries in Africa in preparation for a summer trip to Zambia and Botswana. Students learn about educational disparities and are challenged to grapple with the demands of teaching in an impoverished school as they prepare lesson plans for the summer trip. Students develop leadership skills through organizing fundraising events for projects in Zambia and Botswana. Students are made aware of responsible travel. A group of club members are eligible to participate in the summer trip.

5. Cancer and Malaria Education Organization (CAMEO)—CAMEO’s dual focus of cancer and malaria reflects the different medical problems faced by both developed and developing countries. Students will discuss these medical conditions and their societal impact around the world. Students will raise funds for mosquito nets in Kenya and Zambia and help cancer research in the local area of Ticino. CAMEO was a student initiated club and it will remain highly student run. Students will develop leadership skills and organizational skills through teamwork and planning events.