With a series of events and activities, the students of the 1st Primary School of Agia Paraskevi celebrated the message of this year’s information and education campaign for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities with the theme: “YOUR TURN”.
The students were informed at school about the simple daily life, the problems, but also the needs of our fellow human beings with disabilities. They found that there are also invisible disabilities such as mental retardation, autism, various syndromes. For this reason, a distinctive badge has been designed that can be worn by parents, chaperones, caregivers or trainers of autistic or mentally disabled children, teenagers and adults so that they are given priority at the sight of it, without having to enter the uncomfortable position of explanations in third parties. They understood the need for us to gain inclusive thinking and empathy as an educational community and as a wider society.
For the Greek campaign “YOUR TURN” the badge is in two versions (pin and pendant) which was designed by an artist, mother of an autistic child, and will be worn by parents and those who care for people with invisible disabilities.
After the education of the students, our own campaign followed with joint actions with the beneficiaries of the Ptolemais Special Laboratory.
On Wednesday, December 6, 2023:
the students of the 1st Primary School of Agia Paraskevi went to church together with the beneficiaries of the Special Workshop at the Holy Church of Agios Nikolaos in Agios Christophers.
Parents were then informed by the children themselves in an event held at the Primary School of Agios Christoforos at 10:30, wearing the “YOUR TURN” badge to parents, grandparents and the President of Agios Christoforos, Mr. Vangelis Sichounidis, who distributed to children christmas treats. The students stuck stickers on those who attended the event, informed about the brand’s philosophy and danced to Christmas tunes. Then at 11:30 the students visited the Ptolemais Special Workshop and introduced the beneficiaries to the musical fairy tale “Nutcracker”. There the students:
they danced to tunes from the magical work of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and
they sang the carols in sign language with the teachers Dimitris Bisiris and Kallirois Mitkas, delighting the beneficiaries and their caregivers.
We would like to thank the Principal, Athanasios Kourtis, the Physical Education teacher, Yiannis Papoulidis and all their partners for their hospitality, as well as the artist Karamanis Lefkothea for the wonderful Christmas constructions she made with the beneficiaries and gave to teachers and children!
