By Julie Mesaros | International Volunteer Coordinator
The Half Day School (HDS) Program aims to provide a well-rounded education. Apart from a foundation of traditional academic subjects, students learn practical vocational skills and have frequent opportunities to development themselves and their community awareness, along with other critical life skills. Half Day School students often take educational field trips to learn firsthand about the issues that their natural and social environments face, as these have a direct impact on and can even be threats in the children's daily lives.
In July 2014, students participated in a trek to Wat Phra That Doi Tung, where they studied the ethnic minority communities that they each belong to and about neighboring communities in the surrounding the Mekong Sub-region.
Wat Phra That Doi Tung is a wat (temple) which sits at the peak of Doi Tung (Mount Tung), the tallest mountain in Chiang Rai Province, at approximately 1,400 meters above sea level. The field trip began as students piled into the school bus to make the steep and circuitous journey. They talked and laughed as the bus wound and climbed toward the starting point of their 2-kilometer hike to the base of the temple's naga stairs.
Once to the temple, Half Day School teachers organized the students for group work by grade. The groups were assigned different types of communities to examine: the family, the village, Thailand, Asia, and the global community. The activity emphasized the importance of human rights and environmental conservation, and how these issues are related to the well-being of all these communities.
After a day of hiking, learning, and games, it was time to head back down the mountain. Smiley but tired students were ready to relax and have a quiet bus ride back to each of their villages in Mae Sai. The next day at school, each group presented their work and teachers further discussed with the children the issues which affect these communities.
In September 2014, Half Day School students enjoyed the school's annual nature camp activities. This year's theme was Life Skills Development. Students and teachers camped for 4 days and 3 nights at the Mae Chan Watershed Conservation and Management Center, about 50 kilometers from the Half Day School site.
Half Day School teachers organized a wide variety of camp activities, ranging from domestic violence workshops and lighthearted interactive games, to a nature trek and tree planting guided by rangers from the Center. When students and teachers arrived to the campsite, they settled into their cabins and visited hot springs located nearby the campsite. On the afternoon of the second day, Half Day School teachers and International Volunteers of DEPDC / GMS (Mae Sai) led team games and relay races to get the children moving and enjoying the fresh air.
On Day 3, rangers guided students and teachers on a 2-kilometer trek and taught the students how to plant saplings in the Center's reforestation area. Half Day School teachers discussed and re-capped camp's activities with the children on the final day before everyone returned home to Mae Sai. Students remarked on the things that they liked most about this year's camp, which included that: they felt free and happy to be in nature; they got to observe the local flora and wildlife up close; they enjoyed spending time with their friends; their teachers and park guides were friendly and caring; they felt more responsible while away from their families; they liked the freshly cooked meals, especially around the camp fire.
We look forward to keeping you informed of our Half Day School students' growth and progress, and about the hardworking, compassionate teachers and staff members who teach and lead them throughout theschool year. Many thanks for helping us to make the Program possible!
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
