2nd Junior High School of Amaliada
press release December 2018
Erasmus+ Programme
“European Schools Go Green”
2017 – 2020
2nd Year of Collaboration 2018 – 2019
“Science Year”
2nd Junior High School of Amaliada – Goethe Gymnasium Kassel, Germany – Galileo Galilei Technical High School of Genova, Italy
Renewable Energy Sources – Sustainable Development – Climate change
December 2018
The second year of the three-year collaboration of our school with the Goethe High School of Kassel in Germany and the Galileo Galilei Gymnasium in Genova, Italy, under the Erasmus programme continues with great success! From September to December 2018, our Erasmus team of students and teachers prepared our work and proposals for this year and the 2nd Transnational Organizing Meeting of the teachers of the three schools that took place in Genova in October.
In September, our students prepared cards, among other things, depicting their thoughts and condolences on the longest tragedy of the collapse of the bridge in the summer of 2018 in the beautiful city of Italy.
At the same time our school, through Mrs. Salvanou, has asked for recycling bins for electric appliances and lamps and we are expecting them. Additionally, on the initiative of our School Director, Mr. Gounaris, we have changed all outdoor lighting equipment of the school complex with led technology lamps, which ensure 90% less energy consumption . We are slowly but steadily entering a new orbit!
In October, the Director of the School Mr. Gounaris Antonios and the teachers Andreou Aikaterini, Vassilopoulos Grigoris, Spyropoulos Charalambos and Charda Eleni travelled to Genova, Italy, invited by the Galileo Galilei Technical High School.
There, they had a very successful and productive working week with all the Italian teachers and representatives of the German School Goethe-Gymnasium Kassel, Christina KAUFFELD (coordinator), Thomas WEIDNER, and Mrs Marion KÜHN who have committed themselves to do the scientific and technological part of the programme of the German school this year (as in our own school, Mr. Vassilopoulos and Mr. Spyropoulos have committed themselves respectively).
For three consecutive days, on the 23rd, 24th and 25th of October, from 9am to 5pm, they were hosted, shown around and held sessions in the warm and welcoming places of Galileo Galilei. At this 2nd intergovernmental meeting of the teachers of the three schools (last year the first meeting was held in Kassel at the Goethe Gymnasium in Germany), the teachers discussed the results of the first year and planned the next steps of this year’s cooperation based on the original design and our adaptation to new data and the exciting differences and similarities of our students.
Last year’s programme focused on the problems and the need to update, reflect and revise using art and creating works of art and art magazines (“Art Year”), and this year we focus on science and solutions (“Science Year”).
The hospitality of the Italian colleagues and students, the School Director Mrs Carpaneto and the project manager Mrs. Monzeglio, as well as the staff of the Italian school, was warm, exquisite and generous. So, we prepared our students’ trip to Genova in April 2019!
Gifts were exchanged, and besides what we were carrying there on behalf of our school, we had the pleasure to offer gifts about our region and Ancient Ellis from the Mayor of Amaliada, Mr. Christodoulopoulos. We also visited the Municipal Library and we were informed by the staff about the activities of the Municipality of Genova in relation to ecological issues, renewable energies and actions in cooperation with the schools of the city.
In addition, the Greek team had the honour and joy of being invited to the City Hall of Genova, where they handed gifts from Mr Christodoulopoulos to the Deputy Mayor of Genova Mr Balleari.
At school, the Greek team was fascinated to be shown around and work in places, workshops and halls fully equipped with state-of-the-art technology, as well as machines and appliances that cover the whole range of traditional and new applications. In the hospitable Aula ,where the school teachers meet, we worked and exchanged digital material by organizing the timetable and methodology of our students’ collaborations for the school year 2018 – 2019 that focuses on science and technology.
Another pleasant surprise was that a special notice board, with photos and material from the visit of the students of the Italian school to Amaliada where they were hosted, was hung up in a prominent position, and that filled us with joy and pride.
Also in the evenings we went to the historical centre and harbour of the city, as well as to the beautiful areas of Bocadasse and Camogli.
After our return from Italy, we delivered the gifts of the Municipality of Genova and Galileo Galilei Technical High School to Mayor Mr. Christodoulopoulos, who accepted us at his office and discussed the course of the programme and our concerns. We also informed him about our next actions that include, besides the energy modernization of the school that started with lighting, and the design and implementation of models and designs of our students about reconstructing the school building with the addition of renewable energy facilities and trying to propose and implement it !
At the same time, our students have begun processes of interviewing scientists and creating a scientific journal, as well as having conferences and acquaintances with specialists by means of teleconferencing in the specially designed “Erasmus” room of our school!
We also organized a presentation of our trip to the other teachers of the school in our school Erasmus Hall, after the celebration of November 17, with … Italian finesse! We offered Italian Genovese traditional products and sweets as well as warm Italian cuisine (homemade by the teachers who travelled and their families using new recipes from Genova) accompanied by Italian music and pictures from Galileo Galilei Technical High School and our entire trip so that the rest of the club can be transported for a while to the magnificent coast of Liguria and the impressive city of Genova with its historic centre and harbour and get to know the colleagues and students of the school that hosted us better.
In November, meetings and briefings of parents and guardians took also place on the course of the programme and the names of the eight Erasmus students participating in the programme at the transnational student meeting in April 2019 were also announced (after a draw attended by teachers, pupils, parents and the 15-member school council) .
In addition, we had the honour and great joy, within the scope of the communication of our school with authorities on the subjects of our programme, to accept the warm greetings and the sending of relevant material by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which is fully active and sensitized in environmental matters, and has also offered a rich work of this kind. We warmly thank the Patriarch, Mr. Vartholomaios, and the Archbishop of the Church, Ioakeim Billi, for sending a letter and greeting, as well as the book “On Earth as in Heaven” –“Ecological Vision and Initiatives of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew” and the rich printed material on the environment, ecological disaster, climate change, biodiversity, etc., as well as the great work of the Patriarchate. This material includes, among other things, a joint letter from Patriarch Vartholomeos and Pope Francis on the Global Day of the Environment and Creation in Greek, Italian and German, a move that strengthens our cooperation with foreign schools and the joint effort for environmental protection in addition to political and educational institutions, through also the religious institutions of our countries.
Among other things, in December, the Italian school students presented our programme and spoke very warmly about their experience in Amaliada last year at a special event at Palazzo Rosso in Genova, always with the guidance of Mrs Franca Monzeglio, followed by a similar article in Italian Press (La Republica) too.
So, with enthusiasm and energy, we continue our scientific study and research this year with the students and teachers of our school during the second phase of the programme of this wonderful collaboration!
Andreou Aikaterini
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