2. OUR PROJECT IDEA

The aim of our project is to offer our students and teachers the opportunity and motivate them to try out something new and experience volunteering properly by translating into action our shared old values of democracy, solidarity and participation within intercultural learning. 

The project encourages participation and active citizenship and create personal and social skills, intercultural dialogue, protecting the environment. The volunteers’ own culture and their allegiance to the three countries give added value to our project activities. 

We would like to promote the development of students and teachers as well as the development of the entire institution of our schools. This project is an excellent opportunity for exchanging ideas, getting to know our three countries through direct and personal experiences, practising English language and improving it, getting to learn words and phrases in new languages that are less circulated, becoming acquainted with foreigners, promoting social skills for students and teachers, thinking beyond national borders and taking action and, last but not least, having fun together and living unforgettable experiences. 

The present project relates to the theme of the current aces cycle as long as it deals with volunteering activities within our smaller and larger communities; students and teacher will vilunteer in three directions: cleaning and protecting the environment, helping poor students and helping students with learning difficulties. 

"Volunteering Bells Ringing" will encourage students from three schools from different countries to develop and maintain their volunteering spirit through three phases of the project: 

1. Environmental part; students will undertake various actions to clean their environment. 

2. Helping the poor; all schools will collect food, clothes, books for the poor children and their families. 

3. Students with learning difficulties; peers support to widen horizons of students with learning difficulties. 

Our teams identified some needs of our schools and communities: the banks of our rivers are too dirty, some students are very poor and some students have learning difficulties. The planned activities were suggested by the students and teachers within the context of the current aces cycle and their own needs and wishes for cooperation, building relationships, a better everyday life and future. 

By means of this project we want to develop students and teachers necessary skills such as intercultural skills, foreign language competence, openness and accessibility for new perspectives, empathy, commitment and solidarity, independent learning, work and action, teamwork, interdisciplinary thought and action and development of teachers and development of the school culture.