IB / Grade 11 Ileia Retreat, Nov. 9, 2016

9
Nov
2016

IB / Grade 11 Ileia Retreat, Nov. 9, 2016

The annual Grade 11/IB Bonding Retreat trip takes place in the beginning of the academic year. Students visit the area of Northern Peloponnese, in particular Ancient Olympia, Pyrgos and Lehaina. This is an educational trip in its entirety connecting experiential learning, either physical or social with the ACS Athens and IBO learning objectives. The design of the trip is perfectly aligned with the constructivist teaching methodology adapted by both aforementioned educational organizations.

As every year, the itinerary of the October 2016 trip included:

Shopping groceries from a local supermarket to donate to the Home of the Elderly and the Therapeutic Center for Chronic Illnesses Institution in Lehaina, (KEPEP)
A visit to the Home of the Elderly in Pyrgos, Ileia. Students delivered food and clothing collected through a school wide food and clothing drive. Spend a couple of hours with the patients engaging in art activities, playing games, listening to their personal stories from the past
A visit to the Therapeutic Center for Chronic Illnesses Institution in Lehaina, (KEPEP). We visited and interacted with the patients. Students opened their arms to hug the patients, sung lullabies to them, laughed with them and several cried for not being able to help these individuals more
Experimental work in the area of Lake Kaiafa; water testing, biology and environmental science experiments by the seashore in the Kaiafa area
Work in the Botanical Garden. The Botanical Garden project is one of our school's long-term projects that in collaboration with the Nature Association of Ancient Olympia developed the model of structured school volunteerism. Students "adopt" part of the garden and support its maintenance throughout the year
Academic workshops to connect student experiential learning to different academic subjects; writing, Theory of Knowledge, sciences, math, CAS learning outcomes

In addition to the above, this year our trip aimed to

Collaborate with other IB World Schools of Greece
Promote school membership in the Ancient Olympia Botanical Garden project

Our Botanical Garden project is a long-term project that began in 2012 when in collaboration with the Nature Association of Ancient Olympia, ACS Athens assumed the restoration of part of the garden. It supports one of the most highly regarded archaeological sites of Greece.

..The design of the trip is perfectly aligned with the constructivist teaching methodology..

Students engage physically in cleaning, weeding a designated area of the garden as well as provide funds for the further maintenance of the garden. The success of the project inspired further collaboration with the Nature Association of Ancient Olympia and the local governmental authorities and the design of a structured, school-driven model of volunteerism to support the Botanical Garden. Our model of organized school volunteerism aims to establish a network of schools that will adopt the garden as their long-term project and will contribute to its maintenance. This can be a sustainable volunteerism model provided the numbers of educational institutions increase their long-term commitment.

We are very proud to share that our collaboration with The International School of Athens (ISA) on all objectives of this trip was very successful. School collaboration on service as well as academic projects, a clearly articulated IBO objective, enhances student learning and social growth.

..School collaboration on service as well as academic projects, enhances student learning and social growth..

The interaction among students and faculty of both schools was exemplary. The learning from presentations, discussions and activities was shared and reflected upon by students and faculty as a whole rather than as two separate schools.

Students, communities and educational institutions can only benefit from further collaboration! The newspaper articles, the pictures and videos are the best evidence of this fruitful partnership.