It has been a crazy and wonderful 5 days in St. Petersburg! It's about time for an update :)
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| Beautiful Sunrises from my window --- although late ones. 10:00am, here. |
One of my colleagues arrived two days ago, and we have been on the go since then. First stop: Epischool, a private school of only 50 students in grades 1-11. I was able to visit before my colleague arrived, and sat in on a class. This is not a typical Russian classroom, in that there are very few students (being a private school) and they have wonderful amenities. They play music on loudspeakers to announce the beginning and end of classes, they have extremely creative students, and the teacher here is very relaxed with her students.
Two days later, my colleague had arrived and we presented to the 5th-11th grade classes about NGOs and how they can benefit students: How young people can get involved, what types of NGOs are out there, and our own experiences with NGOs in America. I then lead a discussion on what NGOs students were aware of in their community --- not surprisingly, very few. Volunteerism is not as common in Russia as it is in the US, and most young people don't take the time to get involved in their community. We talked about the benefits of volunteering, and proposed a new project for students to investigate their city and seek out organizations, community leaders, and businesses that are doing good, making a difference, and supporting positive change! I will keep you updated on this side-project, hopefully we will have some willing participants and something to show from the student's perspective.
To get to Epischool, we had to brave the frosty St. Petersburg climate, which is even frostier when you are crossing an immense bridge over the river Neva. You can see the path in the ice- and snow-covered river where ice-breakers have created pathways for boats on the river:
We are exhausted, but having a ball! Can't wait to see what this week will have in store for us. I'll leave you with an image that captures our feelings towards St. Petersburg right now: Our faces were completely frozen, but we can't help but smile!
In this video, the students are getting ready to read a comic from their textbook and translate it. They argue in the beginning about who will read which roles, and who will translate them:
Two days later, my colleague had arrived and we presented to the 5th-11th grade classes about NGOs and how they can benefit students: How young people can get involved, what types of NGOs are out there, and our own experiences with NGOs in America. I then lead a discussion on what NGOs students were aware of in their community --- not surprisingly, very few. Volunteerism is not as common in Russia as it is in the US, and most young people don't take the time to get involved in their community. We talked about the benefits of volunteering, and proposed a new project for students to investigate their city and seek out organizations, community leaders, and businesses that are doing good, making a difference, and supporting positive change! I will keep you updated on this side-project, hopefully we will have some willing participants and something to show from the student's perspective.
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| My colleague, Bonnie, talking with students about NGOs |
To get to Epischool, we had to brave the frosty St. Petersburg climate, which is even frostier when you are crossing an immense bridge over the river Neva. You can see the path in the ice- and snow-covered river where ice-breakers have created pathways for boats on the river:
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| A view of the Neva from the bridge |
We are exhausted, but having a ball! Can't wait to see what this week will have in store for us. I'll leave you with an image that captures our feelings towards St. Petersburg right now: Our faces were completely frozen, but we can't help but smile!
More news coming soon!
Sarah
