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> > Interview with Mr. Simon Lawrence, St. Andrew’s International School
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| Interview with Mr. Simon Lawrence, St. Andrew’s International School |
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Parents should value community service projects in their child’s school. Learning also takes place outside the school. The community service encourages the children to understand and learn more about others. They need to find a balance between their lives and learn more about the world around them and that is through community service.
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Interview with Mr. Simon Lawrence, St. Andrew’s International School |
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Can you tell us a bit about St. Andrew’s international school?
The school itself started ten years ago with only twelve students at the beginning. We currently have 470 students and our plan is not to become a big school. It all start from ‘word of mouth’ on the parent’s talking about the child experience at our school. We welcome students with learning difficulties and give them the support they need.
How did you hear about EDF?
I found out about EDF through searching in Google under ‘Thai charity organization.’ There are many different organization and you are one of them that is a valuable organization in which you do lots of good work. I was also impressed with my visit to EDF office two years ago where everyone showed me that they cared.
What got you motivated to encourage the children to help fundraise for EDF?
Our student is privileged since they are in international schools. Money is not a problem to the students here. We want to encourage them to be more involved and give something back to the Thai society. The children are keen in getting involved in the fundraising activities to help those that are less fortunate.
If I am not mistaken, St. Andrew’s is starting with the IB program. Can you explain to us what the IB program is and how community service is related to it?
The IB or the International Baccalaureate program has both its academic and community side. The IB program is comprised of creativity, action, and service (CAS). The children gets involved in creativity by learning new skills, action by learning new physical skills and service through planning/preparing of charity events or activities.
The examples of the high school service project is raising money through teaching English in Phuket school, habitat community by building houses, and conservative projects (planting trees). The purpose is for them to learn from their own experience.
What are the types of fundraising that your school have done to help support EDF scholarship program?
The types of fundraising activities that the children are actively involved in is spelling bees, sports, talent show, and cake sale. We try to encourage the children to be more involved and let the class organize the charity activities themselves to help those that are less fortunate. However, we want to take it one step further and let them form partnership with the students and create two - way communication.
Since an important part of IB is the community service, how do you think community service affects the student?
Community service changes lives. The experience the children learned outside of school will touch their hearts. It might even change their career ideas, and hopefully start their own community service in their own company when they are older.
Do you have any messages to tell to our reader?
Parents should value community service projects in their child’s school. Learning also takes place outside the school. The community service encourages the children to understand and learn more about others. They need to find a balance between their lives and learn more about the world around them and that is through community service. |
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| 2010-06-06 | Donor's Voices | เปิดอ่าน 6428 |
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