The students of TIS strive to be caring and committed members of the community who grow as individuals to make a positive difference in the lives of others and the environment. Service learning gives students an opportunity to show initiative, notice issues around them, be active citizens and community members, lead change in the community, and find new topics they might be passionate about. We believe that this type of learning promotes kindness, independence and open-mindedness, and helps students to adopt a growth mindset.
The service experience offers opportunities to apply concepts, skills and knowledge learnt in the classroom. Through service learning, students acquire general competences and at the same time bring about real change in the community. The TIS curriculum aims at developing eight general competences in students.
TIS implements service learning in the third stage of study, which means grades 7 to 9. Service learning takes place outside the regular lesson times and can be an independent or group effort. The projects are evaluated by the service learning coordinator, and the main tool for evaluation is a project report that includes a short description of what was done, overview of working hours, and pictures or videos. Every academic year, students must do ten hours of service learning. The service learning coordinator is our principal Kristi Aria and she can be contacted via kristi.aria@istartu.ee.
Some examples of service learning may include:
- Planting a community garden for the whole school;
- Starting a social campaign to draw attention to a problem (e.g. bullying, waste management);
- Organizing interesting outdoor breaks for schoolmates;
- Preparing ornaments or holiday cards for the Lucia Day Market;
- Volunteering to tutor a fellow student;
- Organizing a Valentine’s Day event for the kindergarten;
- Building a bench for the school yard.
