Hello CVWS families!
As part of our philosophy to inspire joy in service, each student in the MYP participates in two projects as part of their service as action: a community project in the 8th grade and a personal project in the 10th grade. These projects are student-centered, age-appropriate, and they enable students to engage in practical explorations through a cycle of inquiry, action, and reflection. MYP projects help students to develop the attributes of the IB learner profile, provide students with an essential opportunity to demonstrate approaches to learning (ATL) skills developed through the MYP and foster the development of independent, lifelong learners.
The community project focuses on community and service, encouraging students to explore their rights and responsibilities to implement service as action in the community. The personal project, on the other hand, provides an opportunity for students to undertake an independent exploration into an area of personal interest. Students take ownership of the process, choose how to achieve a specific goal, and create their own success criteria for the product. The project provides an excellent opportunity for students to produce a truly personal and often creative product and to demonstrate a consolidation of their learning at the end of their journey in the MYP.
The community project and personal project emphasize experiential learning, which is developed further in community and service in both the DP and CP as seen in the attached graphic. Through MYP projects, students experience the responsibility of completing a significant piece of work over an extended period of time, as well as the need to reflect on their learning and the outcomes of their work—key skills that prepare students for success in further academic studies, the workplace and participating in their broader community.
Service as action involves participation which leads to service learning. This action can take many forms, such as direct or indirect service, advocacy, research, and more. Each year, our students engage in service learning opportunities through a variety of grade-level and school-wide service initiatives. Some examples of this year’s service learning events include:
● Celebration Memorial Garden
○ Our 8th and 9th grade students took a walking field trip to the Memorial Garden to assist in cleaning and painting the gravestone markers there.
● Thriving in place
○ Working with Celebration Foundation, our 7th grade students have created a pen pal exchange with members of Thriving in Place, a program dedicated to people aged 55+ or who are disabled in any capacity and living in their own homes.
● Melia Hotel
○ Our students were invited to volunteer at The Melia Hotel of Celebration press event. The Melia partnered with Glice to launch their holiday sustainable ice rink. The students helped to set up and serve food to the media representatives. We also had some of our students entertain guests with musical performances.
● Rotary Club
○ The Rotary Club is sponsoring the Rotary Run this weekend on October 28th, where our students will be volunteering at the fire station next to the school, helping to prepare for and support the event.
● Service Learning Mission Trip
○ We are currently planning several options for our students to participate in a mission trip and will be sharing information once we are able to finalize the details.
As a final reminder, our Gala is approaching, and the registration deadline is November 10th! You can visit our website here for details, as well as volunteering options here.
One measure of our growth as a school is reflected in the impact we have on our community. I am so thankful for our students taking advantage of these opportunities and establishing the foundation upon which we can build and the example for others to follow.
Cordially,
Marcos Redondo
Dean of Middle Years Programme.
