Par Emilie Viguier, Grade 12 Lundi, nous étions dix à nous rendre à la maison de retraite "Galignani" à Neuilly-sur-Seine. Pendant une heure, nous avons joué et chanté pour les pensionnaires handicapés ou atteints d'Alzheimer. Ce concert intergénérationnel a autant touché l'audience que les artistes. Il a même inspiré un concertiste de 95 ans à s'asseoir au piano pour nous jouer un morceau exceptionnel, avec une dextérité à couper le souffle pour un homme presque aveugle.
Madame Devos travaille à l'ISP depuis trente ans et organise des évènements de ce genre depuis vingt ans. C'est une opportunité de partage unique et qui nous a fait réfléchir sur le bonheur que nos talents et efforts peuvent apporter.
0 Comments
By Bridget, Grade 12 Iridescence is a new group created by Camilla of Grade 11 and Clovis of Grade 12, and strives to increase awareness and support for the LGBTQ+ community at ISP. The group, which currently consists of thirteen members, discusses current issues concerning the LGBTQ+ community, on a local, national and global scale. Not only this, Iridescence intends to fundraise for a number of LGBTQ+ organisations, by planning and organising events and activities - soon to be announced.
The question I first asked upon hearing of group was - what does ‘iridescence’ mean? I am sure many are pondering the same thing, it’s a fair question. It’s also kind of the point, as Clovis says their main goal as of yet is “to make ourselves known to the whole school community.” For those curious or seeking clarification - I took the liberty of asking Camilla to clarify the group’s use of the word. “Iridescence represents the radiance and confidence of the LGBTQ+ community - also referencing the several colours used in the sexuality flags and the gay flag.” The association between the rainbow and ‘pride’ has become almost a reflex action in modern society - with LGBTQ+ rights and culture becoming more and more so, an important topic of social discussion. Same-sex marriage is now legally performed in twenty-eight countries, and recently this year, the European Court of Justice mandated the recognition of full free migration rights concerning all married couples - regardless of sexuality or gender identity. However, despite this progressive news, there still remains heartbreaking statistics, especially regarding the young people of the LGBTQ+ community. According to the Human Rights Campaign, in the United States, approximately ninety-two percent of LGBTQ+ teenagers hear negative messages about the community. The HRC cites that these negative messages originate mostly from school, online and fellow peers. As young people in an already welcoming and diverse school community - Camilla and Clovis have taken it upon themselves to continue the social discussion. “We want to spread the confidence to those who don't have it, and are afraid to be ridiculed. We wish to clarify any misconceptions and correct some common myths about gender identity and sexuality. I also wish to have more confidence when representing a community that I resonate with so dearly.” (Camilla) Iridescence, still in its early stages, shows great promise and great potential. Amongst the array of topics already discussed include gender identity, the Kick It Out campaign and pansexual pride. Meetings are filled with brainstorming and sharing ideas of events and activities that can be carried out at ISP, as well as provided information about and discussing the LGBTQ+ community itself and current affairs concerning it. While its efforts to raise funds and awareness for the LGBTQ+ community are impressive, what is perhaps most striking about Iridescence is its atmosphere - accepting and personal, a comfort-zone and a safe space. Having described it as “emotionally gratifying”, Clovis hopes to make Iridescence “the club I would have wanted when I was in tenth grade” and invites anyone to join, whether they’re “closeted, questioning, or just curious.” Keep an eye out for the club’s actions in the ISP community - the first of many events will be a rainbow-themed food stall at our renowned International Day. And to anyone interested in knowing more or seeing Iridescence in its element, even if you’re hesitant, Clovis encourages you to “just pass by any Wednesday during lunch, as if you’re scared of judgment, the last place you’ll find it is here.” By Aaditya Vedant, Grade 11 On Friday June 15th, a group of grade 10 and 11 students took part in an exceptional CAS experience. The students volunteered to help set up an ‘end of year’ school fair at École Danielle Casanova - a school specially designed to cater for deaf children. A group of students from our school volunteered to go and make this amazing celebratory fair possible by assisting with the preparation. The students had previously done some research regarding sign language and oral communication with deaf people. Needless to say, their research proved fruitful and made the communication process easier, and they were able to understand the situation. To further contribute to the fair, the students created an activity based on the sense of smell, to interact with the children. This activity was a success and the children enjoyed it a lot. The École Danielle Casanova fair takes place every year, this being the third that ISP students have taken part in. We hope that this continues for as long as it can, and more and more people wish to participate.
Are you up to date with festivities occurring throughout the world?
Be sure to check out the June edition of Bruna's World Celebrations calendar to celebrate the diversity of our community! http://ispworldcelebrations.blogspot.com/2018/06/june.html By Megumi Nomura, Grade 11 Last May, a group of ISP students and I organised a concert for French seniors at the Residence Mozart in 16 arrondissement of Paris. This event occurred on Mother's Day in France, and celebrated the occasion in an intergenerational environment. I decided to organise this intergenerational concert as I had previously been involved in several intergenerational activities organised by my French teacher, Madame Devos. I believe understanding how seniors feel and think is important in terms of education, as there may be perspectives of which we, as adolescents, are unaware. I hoped to create a better understanding between age groups by meeting, connecting and spending time with seniors. I first attended intergenerational exchanges with local people in Grade 9 with my French class. I was made aware of what exactly “intergeneration” means. Madame Devoss organised intergenerational activities such as educational games, internet workshops and concerts for French seniors. She also initiated a teaching method called “Cross- Ages Learning” for students to consolidate their knowledge of French through practice and thereby gain self-confidence. I learnt a lot from my organisation of the intergenerational concert. I was able to improve my French skills as I had to write emails to the director of the seniors residence. Furthermore, through the communication with the seniors, I was able to improve my French, gain a better understanding of the French culture and share my own culture. As some of the seniors had been to Japan in the past, I was able to discuss some of the Japanese traditions and attractions. Their life experience in Japan educated me as they knew a Japan from 40 years ago, one that I did not. Their knowledge about the past made me reflect on how small my worldview had been. Lastly, I was able to gain the great feeling of putting a smile on people's faces. The students participating also enjoyed this experience and told me how delighted they were to be there. Through this experience, I think I have a closer relationship with seniors. I initially thought that talking to seniors will be quite difficult as we would not have much in common. However in reality, there was much that we could discuss and a lot of advice they could give us from their life experiences. I think now that getting along and understanding is not divided by age but by our interests. As long as we have common interests, large age gaps do not matter. I think it is important to love and not to isolate seniors from society just because of age - they have as much or even more understanding than us. To respect them is very important but to share a moment together and to learn to overcome the age difference is also an essential thing that students need to do. Time spent with seniors does not just benefit the young people but also the lives of seniors as they become enriched with love and happiness. With numerous benefits to seniors and students, I think that intergenerational learning activities should be a part of our curriculum. I hope that in the future more ISP students will participate in intergenerational exchanges with the Parisian seniors in the hopes of increasing intergenerational understanding. I believe that “Cross Age learning” will be an important key to connect people of different ages. By Aaditya Vedant Ashani is Grade 12 student who undertook a huge responsibility for her CAS project. She began babysitting Augustine, a 5 year old with autism. Augustine, like other kids with autism, has his mind stuck at a younger age. Ashani often looks after him, playing games with him and helping him in certain tasks. She took up the idea from an acquaintance, who like Ashani, used to take care of Augustine. The task is difficult at times as Augustine has a language for himself, which can be challenging to understand at times. Luckily, Ashani had the babysitter in house, who helped with the situation at times. Regardless, Ashani considers the job a great experience and has enjoyed it immensely. The project has not only helped Augustine as it has been great learning experience in her life too.
By Aaditya Vedant Alexander Perov and Alexander Gomez of Grade 12 formulated the innovative idea to provide food at cheap prices for hungry students, who have forgotten their lunch. The notion originated in the school common room, where Grade 11s and 12s relax during free periods. The students found a hot plate on which they could cook food. The idea was afoot, and they started selling food in the A building lobby. This food arguably trumps Fab Corner as it is significantly healthier and sold at a very reasonable price. The project has been in effect for over a year and feeds hungry students on a weekly basis. So if you ever forget your lunch on a Thursday, or even want to try something new, simply go to the A building lobby at lunchtime.
By Maira De Tollenaere As part of the Diploma Programme, students in grades 11 and 12 must complete a self-initiated project, for their Creativity, Activity and Service programme. In order to get the most out of their projects, many students choose projects they know they would enjoy in order to produce the most successful and enriching projects possible are those that include passions, but still give back to the community in some form. The following CAS project is based on the display of the wonderful musical talent of ISP in an intergenerational setting.
Megumi Nomura, a student in her first year of DP, was first given the idea to do something with a maison de retrait from Mme Devos, who has for a long time had contact with "Residence Mozart". This would be a chance to interact with the elderly, something the youth of our generation have few opportunities to do. Thus, she set a goal for herself: achieve a place where elderly people can, primarily, have fun, but also get to know the skills and talents of students as teenagers of diverse backgrounds and ages. She would then organize an hour-long concert to be held at the retirement home consisting of a variety of genres, but mainly including Classical music. She invited students from grades 6-12 who were willing to play various acoustic instruments or sing. The integration of a range of ages, a diverse range of students into an older environment would create an intergenerational bridge not-exclusive to French kids. Participating in the concert are 11 students from grade 8 to grade 12, playing instruments such as the flute, the saxophone, violins, guitars, pianos and their own voices and performing artists from Chopin to Eric Clapton. The concert will be held at Résidence Mozart La Fontaine, 78 Rue La Fontaine, 75016 Paris, on Tuesday, May 15th from 15:00-16:30. Please email Megumi at [email protected] for further inquiries! By Maira De Tollenaere As part of the Diploma Programme, students in grades 11-12 must complete a self-initiated project (for their Creativity, Activity and Service programme). In order to get the most out of their projects, many students choose projects they know they would enjoy rather than devote significant amounts of time and effort into projects one has little interest in. The most successful and enriching projects are those that include passions, as is demonstrated in the following case. For her DP CAS Project, Phaedra has chosen for a project close to her heart. In her previous school, a close friend of hers lost her grandmother to leukemia. Following her death, her friend decided to form an association named after her grandmother, Aïda. In 2015 the association was launched with the main goal of supporting pediatric cancer research and improving the lives and general well-beings of children and adolescents with cancer. The association is unique, as it is lead by young people helping others of the same age. Being involved in cancer research, the association makes use of donations funnelled into this, amongst other activities in supporting those suffering with various forms of the sickness. To play her own part in this, ISP’s twelfth grader, Phaedra, with the help of other students (most of Grade 12) and staff, namely Ms. Cuneo and Mr. Anderson, decided to set up a concert in the school gym. It was a great success; around 50 people attended to show their support, and €294 was raised for the cause. Leading up to the concert, sales of baked goods and sock dolls were held, remaining in the child-focused theme of the association, to pitch in further. In these sales, Phaedra was helped by colleagues Melissa, Mina and Ollie in the creation of these dolls. With her project, this student was able to combine her passion with a cause she was passionate about, to collaborate with others and lead in a tremendous personal effort to the Aïda Association. Visit the association’s website if you would like to know more, be involved in, or donate to help the cause, at http://associationaida.org/ If you would like to contact Phaedra about her project or the association, reach her at [email protected] My name is Bruna Bobanovic and I am a Grade 11 student. During our IB Diploma Programme, we are required to develop an large scale CAS project. CAS (Creativity, Activity and Service) is a program at the center of the IB that focuses on enabling us as students to enhance our personal and interpersonal development by learning different skills through experiences. To counterbalance recent academic pressure, I have decided to develop a celebrations and festivities calendar. Almost serving as a database for ISP students and families, this calendar describes a wide variety of celebrations occuring in the countries represented in the secondary school. In addition, I added information regarding public holidays celebrated around the world. This project has allowed me to develop my self-determination, my collaboration with the PTA and many other important life skills. The calendar, updated at the beginning of each month with information on upcoming holidays, can be found via the link below. https://ispworldcelebrations.blogspot.fr |
|