2019 – 2021”School that unites us”

Date / Estimated period:              1^st of January 2019 – 31^st of December 2021

Main objective:                                 Supporting the development of the life skills of children in schools from Satu Mare

UPDATE 08 martie, 2019:      Three schools from Satu Mare County were selected to participate in the project “School that unites us”.

After the launching of the announcement in January 2019, 14 schools from Satu Mare County applied to the project implemented in partnership by Rotary Satu Mare and the “New Horizons” Foundation.

The otherwise difficult selection was realized by the experts of the “New Horizons” Foundation. The schools that qualified in this first round of the project are:

General School  “Bălcescu – Petőfi” from the municipality of Satu Mare

General School  No. 1 Carei from the municipality of Carei

General School  Pișcolt from the village Pișcolt

We wish to thank the schools who applied and we remind them that this process is only the first step in sustaining the schools from Satu Mare in an integrated manner. We, the members of the Rotary Club Satu Mare, want that each of the applying schools join the program in the near future, so we will undertake serious efforts to find the necessary resources to further support this project.

January 29 2019:     Short description of the project

Arising from the desire to support the development of today’s children and tomorrow’s leaders of Satu Mare’s society, Rotary Satu Mare started in January 2019 the project “School that unites us”, in partnership with the “New Horizons” Foundation, with the support of the County School Inspectorate of Satu Mare.

Through this pilot project, Rotary Satu Mare will “foster” and practically support three schools in Satu Mare, in order to sustain the development of pupils’ life skills, thus learning to be active citizens (capable of appreciating and capitalizing on local resources), to acquire values that lead to a healthy development of society (perseverance, responsibility, courage, initiative spirit, integrity), and last but not least to be adaptable to a global economy and a transforming labor market.

The project will be launched in January to all the schools in Satu Mare County, the three “fostered” schools being selected following an open and transparent process between the schools submitting an application, showing their interest in participation.

Through this project, members of the Rotary Satu Mare and experts of the (New Horizons) Foundation will develop activities within a three–year lifespan, together with children and teachers from participating schools, for instance:

• Training courses for middle-school teachers to use the community-based learning method in order to facilitate learning through real-world experiences. As a result, students’ ideas will be transformed into projects that support the community, which they actually put into practice.
• Emotional and relational development program for the schools to better understand children’s behavior and possible causes generating such behavior and to learn how to deal with it so that children feel safe and eager to learn through exploration.
• Developing effective partnerships with parents and other key actors to support the learning process so that students can achieve their best, showing positive attitudes and behaviors, being useful in their community.
• Common activities Rotarians – teachers – children – parents:
  • renovation / embellishment of the school
  • advice and/or material help for planning and implementing community-based projects
  • ”internship” of children at workplace/ firms of Rotary members
  • supporting presentations for children: Career models.

Expected outcomes:

• about 1.000 involved students who understand a project plan, know how to manage a budget, how to build a product or service, how to build partnerships, how to solve complex problems, how to use creativity, know how to appreciate perseverance, initiative , courage
• approximately 30 teachers with increased skills and confidence to provide the new curriculum adopted by the Ministry of Education through the use of experiential education with increased collaboration skills, trust and support relationships with students
• approximately 9 participatory school leaders with increased capacity to collaborate with community members to identify and engage community resources to a better learning for all
• 3 better communities who will benefit from student-led learning projects through which small local issues will be resolved. Community members will provide students appreciation and support in the learning process.

In the third year of the project, we will re-launch the project with a new invitation to all schools, another three of them being selected and “fostered” by Rotary Satu Mare. The first 3 schools will have the role of transferring experience to newcomers.