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CHARITY ASSOCIATΙON OF AGIOS IOANNIS THE MERCY
The "Social School" is an enterprising and innovative educational program implemented by the Charitable Association of Choristi, "Agios Ioannis the Merciful", since August 2020, with an exclusive donation from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF). The two-year program is aimed at vulnerable families with low income criteria, single-parent families, Roma and families with many children, from the local community of Choristi and the wider area of Drama and includes activities such as:
Computer Science lessons (for parents and children)
Educational Robotics lessons (children from 6 years old)
STEM courses (children from 6 years old)
Painting / Artistic (for parents and children from 4 years old)
Strategy Games Seminars (for children)
Virtual and Augmented Reality Workshop (for children from 4 years old)
Parenting Schools and individual sessions (for parents and children)
80 families (120 children, 30 adults) participate in the program,150 people in total, and 18 educational classes take place per week (72 classes per month). During the summer months there are 2 additional sections, where children attend virtual reality classes, strategy games, Steam builds and educational robotics. The program complements the school's curriculum, offering FREE IT, robotics and artificial intelligence classes, as well as art activities, strategy games and thematic seminars to support and guide parents. Moreover, on the Charity Association's YouTube channel: SOCIAL SCHOOL OF CHORISTI, there are online chess lessons curated by the program's instructors as well as audio-visual material from all the lessons taught in the program.
The duration of the program is 24 months, but due to the pandemic and the lock down, the program was extended for a third year and 9 people are employed in it with a fixed-term contract. 80 families (120 children, 30 adults) participate in the program, that is 150 people in total and 18 educational classes per week (72 classes per month). The courses taught in the "Social School" program are Creating an Educational Robotics Manual.
1. Educational robotics courses
2. STEM courses
3. Strategy Games Courses
4. Virtual Reality Courses
5. IT courses
6. Painting lessons
7. Parenting Schools and Individual Sessions
The program takes into account cutting-edge international research, according to which the active participation of parents, with lower financial comfort, in the educational process of their children has the result of improving the performance of students and limiting the number of them, who interrupt their studies. So the purpose of the "Social School" is both the empowerment and development of children through the strengthening of the educational process, as well as the support and strengthening of the parental role, so that the parent can respond positively and successfully, both to the development of the child and to the dynamics of the family. The aim of the project is, through various actions and with the active participation of students and parents, to offer experiences, knowledge and skills that are necessary for parents and children, so that they can be active citizens
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) is the donor of the program
In the program nine people with fixed-term contracts, three volunteers and two female students doing their internships, are employed.
The "Social School" is an enterprising and innovative educational program implemented by the Charitable Association of Choristi, "Agios Ioannis the Merciful", since August 2020, with an exclusive donation from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF). The classes take place in a pleasant and equipped space, with complete security, as all the necessary measures are taken to ensure public health and all the prescribed health protocols against Covid-19 are observed.
The 21st century, with the technological developments it has signaled, has largely changed all areas of people's daily lives, from economic and social to education and culture. The new information era, brings at the same time new possibilities, opportunities and demands. The field of education at a general level and the educational systems, aim at the development of skills that will be able to give the necessary qualifications to the future citizens. The "SOCIAL SCHOOL" program, both during its creation and in its evolution, aims to move in this direction. More specifically, the program regards it is important to offer a "technological education" considering the possibilities of new technologies and their correct use. But taking into account the fact that technological knowledge should not be an end in itself, the program puts special emphasis both on the development of social skills and on areas such as art. In this way, the program hopes to offer a multifaceted education. In the context of the actions and lessons that are implemented, knowledge, science and the arts are linked to the issues and problems that concern the local community, in order for children and adults to be informed, get to know and become more aware of the area where they live. In the following, we briefly present the courses taught in the "Social School" program.
ROBOTICS
In unprecedented conditions of a pandemic (covid-19), the "Social School" overcame all our inhibitions and fears and implemented a program with the ultimate goal of expanding the horizons of children and parents in modern Science, Art and Innovation. 69 students participated in Robotics Lessons, 26 in Computer Science Lessons, 80 in Art Lessons (Painting) and 31 adults in Parenting Schools. The students were divided into groups based on their age to discover and explore the world of technology and art, through creative activities.
The program is Innovative, Pioneering and beneficial for the Greek educational reality, because it approaches a new field of technology as well as because it compensates, as much as possible, the absence of public education from the area.
The children who participated in the program were socialized and acquired with new knowledge and skills, in matters of technology, IT and engineering as well as raising awareness of modern issues of humanity such as recycling, energy, sustainability and developing a sense of personal responsibility for the management and protection of the environment. They developed their imagination, inventiveness, creativity and developed their social skills through group work.
The fact that the program was addressed to sensitive social groups, made its success even more important, as it practically contributed to the fight against social exclusion, stereotypes and inequalities.
The students of the Educational Robotics & STEM group dealt with the basic tools provided by First Lego Legue, the well-known ¨Lego Bricks¨ and the Lego We do 2.0 packages and SPIKE PRIME, creating static projects, explored the challenge, created scenarios, proposed solutions to the problems and built over eighty (80) different robots of escalating difficulty each one, with many mechanical parts and motion and tilt sensors. They learned to program robots through available software and understood the concept of autonomy. They presented the result of their work to the general public and according to their age, successfully participated in seven robotics competitions, three at the regional and four at the local level, in which they received important distinctions, such as:
1. May 8, 2022 STEM EDUCATION Xanthi, at the WRO HELLAS regional STEM competition, where students aged 6-12 years in the OPEN category, built a model on the theme of a winery with 5 motors and 6 automations, and won the 3rd place, as well as in the FOOTBALL category 2X2, where they won the 1st place and become qualified for the finals in Athens.
2. 9 May 2022 at the Town Hall of Drama, First Lego League category Explore, on the theme of Cargo Connect, students aged 6-12 received 3 awards in: Best Poster, Best Construction and Best Programming.
3. December 17, 2022 in the Oneiroupoli of Drama, First Lego League Explore category, with the theme of Super Powered, where students aged 6-10, received 3 awards in: Best Poster, Best Collaboration and Best Construction.
4. March 11, 2023 at the indoor gym of Drama DIGA WRO HELLAS regional competition AMTH, students aged 12-15 years in the category REGULAR TRILIZA, won a gold medal and qualification to the finals in Athens.
5. March 12, 2023 at the indoor gym of Drama DIGA WRO HELLAS regional competition AMTH, students aged 6-12 years in the FOOTBALL 2X2 category, won a bronze medal.
6. March 26, 2023 at the College of Athens, final Panhellenic Educational Robotics Competition WRO category REGULAR TRILIZA, students aged 12-15 years won 30th place out of the 49 best teams all over Greece.
7. May 14, 2023 at the Music School of Drama, First Lego League CHALLENGE category, first time in Greece, the children had to complete missions without prior preparation, on an unknown track.
COMPUTER SCIENCE
In the context of the Computer Science courses, the structure and teaching methodology was designed with the learning of basic computer skills in mind.
The course included introduction to the subject with question and answer and interaction with students, teaching with examples and practical exercises. In the part of the assessment on the practical exercise, comprehension questions were included.
The students practiced in the use of a desktop computer, the use of basic programs, took their first steps in programming and are able to recognize and describe the basic operation of the computer parts externally and internally.
In terms of learning to use the operating system and various applications, students can now fluently use the Windows operating system, MS Word, MS Excel, MS Power Point, Paint, Paint3D, GIMP and Internet browsers, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.
PAINTING/ARTS
The preschool and school drawing classes, began with students drawing with pencil and then with charcoal, shading, creating gradients, volume, and capturing depth and perspective in the drawing. With simple techniques, soft pastels, acrylics, brushes, canvases, easels, glitter and gold dust, they painted various nature landscapes, Christmas balls and candles. The teenage section of the workshop, with the technique of Pop Art and the release of oil onto the canvas with the use of a spatula, created works of art of high aesthetics.
PARENTAL COUNSELING
The goal of individual and group counseling is to empower parents through discussion, sharing and experiential learning processes, finding solutions and improving the quality of life for families.
In the Parents' Schools, informational actions were carried out with the aim of informing parents of the services they can have and two group counseling sessions, where they were also grouped, according to the ages of the children and the investigation of the needs of those concerned. 31 adults participated in the program in total from 2020-2023, 198 individual sessions were accomplished, many of them via video conference, with the main objective of providing psychosocial support to those concerned, in the special circumstances of the pandemic and to ensure public health. Furthermore, 29 group counseling sessions of seven people were fulfilled and an online seminar through the zoom platform, on the topic: "The Greek family today: Crises, Transitions and Transformations" which was addressed to the participants of the program and to the local community as a whole.
In conclusion, both students and parents had an unforgettable experience under our supervision and guidance. They learned, had fun, bonded and through this process we managed to indirectly educate the children's parents, who supported us in every step of our way with their presence and positive attitude.
The classes are held in complete safety, as all necessary measures are taken to ensure public health and all prescribed health protocols against Covid-19 are observed.
Through the implementation of the "SOCIAL SCHOOL" program, the Institution offered work to nine people, with a fixed-term contract and a project contract. The local community also benefited manifold, giving the opportunity to vulnerable families with low income criteria, to have a multi-faceted education and at the same time access to technological knowledge through robotics and IT, as well as in areas such as art (painting). In addition, it succeeded in empowering the vulnerable population through psychosocial support services (individual and group counseling sessions, psychotherapy for parents), as well as through various actions and with the active participation of students and parents, it provided experiences, knowledge and skills necessary for parents and children, so that they develop into healthy and active citizens.