Service at EAB
Service is fundamental in the development of the whole child, and as one of the pillars at EAB, we strongly believe in the importance of helping others on our campus, in the greater Brasilia community, and worldwide. This year's Upper School service projects have been growing in number and quality. We believe in the importance of empowering students to not only choose the service activities they would like to participate in but also to give them the opportunity to create new ones as well as to lead other students in diverse projects.
November & December
Service continued steady this past month, and our students have made us proud with their dedication and compassion towards helping the world around them.
EduArtes's final class of the semester was a fun-filled afternoon in which the student-athletes from Gama played soccer with our students on a rainy afternoon and ate ice-cream. The joy on their faces was contagious! Congratulations to all EAB students who taught and helped lead this service group.
"Working with the EduArtes group is truly the highlight of my week. Both the teachers and the students are incredibly hardworking and kind people to work with. Being the vice-president of the club has taught me so much about leadership, commitment, and respect. I can't wait to continue working with this group and to learn even more every step of the way" - Giulia Morro, Grade 11.
EduArtes - Fun Afternoon
EduArtes - Fun Afternoon
The Bulls Community Service (BCS) group sold snacks and drinks at the Halloween Recital and the US Talent Show to help the General Scholarship Fund and the seniors respectively. They were engaged in fundraising efforts to purchase 138 gifts for the children at Creches Alecrim and São Francisco. Not only that, but they also individually wrapped these gifts, made cards for each child, and had such fun in the process.
The visit to Creche Alecrim allowed them to see these children's reality - a daycare that has significant gaps in its ceiling allowing water to leak in every time it rains. They played, danced, colored, and read to the children during their visit. They also purchased and delivered 15 basic needs baskets to the organization.
BCS organized a project, and along with the help of the NHS and MS students, they wrote individual cards to every teacher in the Upper School as a means to thank them for their hard work and commitment to our students and school. Lastly, the BCS students fundraised and honored our maintenance and security staff by giving each of them a basic needs basket. They keep our school safe and functioning, and our students love honoring them!
EAB Goes Green (EGG) continued working on their Pata na Tampa project by sorting plastic caps and the Tire Upcycling project finalizing the spray painting of the tires.
The National Honor Society (NHS) engaged in several projects this past month. They began tutoring Lower School students, and in order to meet the students' learning needs, they met with the teachers to develop lesson plans catered to individual student learning. They also led a successful Blood Drive in which students and teachers donated blood at the Hemocentro in Brasília, making EAB proud! Not only that, but NHS students also volunteered to engage in play and run stations with the students in the Family Program.
Medlife created and posted Prostate Cancer Awareness videos on their Instagram account, sharing valuable information and spreading hope to those in need.
"It was wonderful to see the charity that was there as well and to share their message. It felt very gratifying to be part of something. And I think that's what Medlife is really about for me. It's like knowing you are a part of something when you are working with those people. It's knowing that all the people in that room are working towards the same goal as you, to share the same information as you, to reach the same level of understanding of a specific cause or topic as you. It provides such a sense of community…And it makes you feel like you are a part of something. It's something I don't feel in everyday life, but in Medlife you feel as if you're doing something"
High School Medlife Student
National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) was involved in running activities and engaging with the children and teenagers at the refugee shelter, Aldeias Infantis SOS. They learned about the importance of assisting those who flee their countries and have begun to develop further projects to continue assisting those in need. Not only that, but they also ran a successful toy drive and delivered these gifts to the refugee shelter, bringing the children such joy!
NJHS and Grade 5 Students carrying donations to Aldeias Infantis SOS
NJHS and Grade 5 Students carrying donations to Aldeias Infantis SOS
"I really loved connecting to people I don't usually. One other thing that I wanted to mention was how I talked to some moms there and really enjoyed what they said and understood how hard it can be to move from one country during a hard situation or time for them. One thing that was really deep that a mom told me was 'My body is here but my mindset is still in Venezuela with my older kids.' This was such a sad thing to hear. This whole field trip really made me think and care much more about refugees and how hard it can be for them."
Middle School NJHS Student
Grade 5 students also volunteered at the refugee shelter and were able to make real-life connections to the learning taking place in the classroom as part of their refugee unit. They organized stations to run with the children and teens at Aldeias Infantis SOS, and engaged in playing soccer, jumping on the trampoline, painting each others' nails, and speaking to the adults at the shelter.
"One of the highlights of the trip was seeing all of those kids very happy. I was very surprised how something very 'simple' makes them so happy and I was surprised to see how we have the privilege of having a good home, a good school, good clothes, and a lot of other things."
Grade 5 student
Grade 5 students playing with the children at the refugee shelter
Grade 5 students playing with the children at the refugee shelter
Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) organized a table at the Book Fair in order to inform our community of books that focus on diversity and inclusion!
GSA Instagram posts
GSA Instagram posts
The Lower School Service Ambassadors helped the BCS students collect money and donations during the Jeans Day events. They also created the themes and slides for the LS Spirit Week.
The Middle School students participated in an on-campus Service Day in which they were involved in a choice of three activities such as: an environmental clean up around the school's grounds; assembling hygiene kits for the refugees at Aldeias Infantis SOS; making blankets for the animals at Sociedade Humanitária Brasileira animal shelter; writing gratitude cards for teachers; helping in the Upper School iCommons; engaging with and teaching kindergarten students; and upcycling arts and crafts materials in the makerspace.
September & October
These past two months have been busy ones for Service Clubs at EAB, and we are excited to continue helping our internal community as well as the larger Brasilia community.
EduArtes is finally back on campus after three years of online learning and teaching! EduArtes is a project in which our students create lesson plans and teach underprivileged student-athletes from Gama. The hope is that these student-athletes will learn enough English to help them with future jobs as well as possibly assist them in applying for soccer scholarships abroad. Our students successfully ran the first month of classes on campus, and it was a beautiful sight to see!
The Bulls Community Service (BCS) has been active in a variety of projects. They assisted with selling baked goods and popcorn at sporting, arts, and Sábado Legal events in order to raise funds to help the animal shelter, Sociedade Humanitária Brasileira, and a public health clinic, Adolescentro. At the beginning of October, they went to the animal shelter to play with the cats and dogs and delivered ten bags of dog food that were purchased with Jeans Day proceeds.
BCS members made and delivered blankets to the children at Creche São Francisco in Estrutural, and the visit to the daycare in late October was an eye-opening opportunity for our students to learn about these kids' reality. They were also able to engage with the 23 children by eating snacks, playing, and coloring with them.
BCS students also sorted donations to deliver to both Adolescentro and Sociedade Humanitária Brasileira.
BCS selling baked goods
BCS sorting lost and found items
BCS blankets
Animal Shelter visit
Animal Shelter visit
Animal Shelter visit
BCS Creche São Francisco visit
BCS Creche São Francisco visit
BCS Creche São Francisco visit
BCS Members also began working on a joint project with EAB Goes Green (EGG) to upcycle car tires by turning them into pet beds. This initial phase involved spray painting the tires, which was quite fun!
Other than the tires' project, EAB Goes Green has also continued the Reciclapet project in which they collect and repurpose milk cartons to turn them into houses for street dogs and the Plastic Cap collections in order to not only help the environment but also to sell and use as a means to purchase dog food for shelters. Not only that, but several community members also came together and collected a tremendous amount of trash in an hour worth of work!
EGG and BCS making pet beds
Supermarket Clean Up
The National Honor Society (NHS) has been engaged in repurposing school uniforms, and all proceeds are used to fund service projects in the larger Brasilia community. Since July 1st, they have successfully made R$2,410. NHS members began tutoring LS students in the after-school Family Program, in which they develop a tutoring program with the children's teachers. They also created a "You Belong Board" in which community members were able to write caring messages to each other encouraging positive mental health and spreading kindness.
Medlife and NHS members worked together to create posters to spread mental health awareness during the month of September, and Medlife made yellow ribbons for our community.
NHS Uniform Drive
The You Belong Board
Medlife making ribbons for Yellow September
Medlife ran an incredibly successful Walkathon in which community members came together to walk in honor of those who have fought cancer in support of Pink October. We would like to thank all community members for their participation in the event and for their generous donations, which will help our students purchase head scarves, bras, and prostheses for women. Medlife is currently working with Recomeçar, a clinic that supports women who are undergoing breast reconstruction, and the proceeds will assist these women.
Pink October Walkathon
National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) fundraised for Reciclando Sons, an institution in Estrutural that focuses on the social inclusion of children and teenagers through education and music. Not only did they have the opportunity to meet the children from Reciclando Sons, but they also had lunch with them when they visited EAB's campus this past week.
Grade 5 students volunteered at the sabado legal event and successfully sold popcorn. All proceeds will be used to purchase items for the refugees at S.O.S. Aldeias Infantis. The Lower School Service Ambassadors in both grades 4 and 5 were chosen by their peers. Congratulations to: Ariana, Josiah, Kaya, Jax, Hiroji, Pedro, Alice, and Arthur. These students are beginning to brainstorm ideas for service projects they would like to run, and also participated in the lunch gathering with the children from Reciclando Sons. All Grade 4 and 5 students participated in an initial service meeting and are in the process of choosing an institution they would like to assist for the remainder of the school year.
Our students are also actively engaged in running and leading Upper School (US) clubs, helping our internal community. They meet teacher supervisors to organize meetings, they develop projects, teach other EAB students, and meet weekly to engage with their peers. At the moment, there are 30 clubs in the US, and our students have done a tremendous job of running and leading these groups!