Higly Engaged in Life Projects

We wanted our students to gain awareness of: - Different volunteer work that is done in their regions - Volunteer work done in regions of the other schools in the project - They experience first...

We wanted our students to gain awareness of: - Different volunteer work that is done in their regions - Volunteer work done in regions of the other schools in the project - They experience firsthand the value of civic engagement - Every single individual action may contribute to improving society - Helping others and being an active member of a group will increase the students’ self-confidence and self-esteem - Cooperating with European partners to create small-scale volunteer work together to acquire knowledge and skills for the future - Improve use of English as a second language as the lack of language competences is one of the main barriers to participation in European education - Value new friendships - Learning environmental sustainability Our aim was to spread out the experiences in the three school communities. This made the project bigger than including only the students that actively participated in the work done in the three schools. The project helped to build the bridges that are somewhat damaged at present. All our aims were linked to our final priority which was educating students to be active citizens for a better Europe and supporting the implementation of the European strategic cooperation in educati

Activities to help students to explore the different possibilities of volunteer work both at home and in the partners’ countries. As the students met each other, they got to know each other, forming bonds with their new partners. In school, the students visited the volunteer centers, met the volunteers, made reflections, and shared them with their correspondents. They also compared the different forms of volunteer work in the different countries. Students also participated in volunteer activities and they produced various documentation to describe their experience to the community. This documentation was shared in the final week of our project, held in Bagno a Ripoli just outside of Florence, Italy. The work of the two years was varied and showed various ways of looking at the topic of volunteering, mental health and the necessity of friendships for us all, and the work was presented by students and teachers participating in the project.

The activities in the schools during their planning and organizing of activities for their European peers resulted in a broader understanding on behalf of the students around the fields of volunteer work. The activities were designed to show different types of activities that already existed in the schools' vicinity, thus establishing a base for the students to continue the work from. Students also shared their experiences with their schoolmates by oral expositions and by posters of pictures that showed it in the local places of our schools or on the school website.