Mens Sana in Corpore Sano - Finding your balance by leading a healthy life to cope with daily challenges Increasing stress levels in all fields of work and life is a problem in most industrial countries. School students are as affected as adults and student burnout has become more and more common at European schools. As a consequence, students drop out of school early without a degree. Another observation is that an increasing amount of students have been in psychological care due to stress symptoms and even depression. Discontent about one’s body culminates in eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia. Pupils have even taken to hurt themselves, to misuse alcohol and/ or to take drugs in order to cope with unhappiness and dissatisfaction with themselves. Students have long realized the cause for their discontent and have started to take action. Many are highly interested and well informed in the fields of fitness and sport, nutrition and wellness and aware of the fact that activity and knowledge in and about these realms can accomplish relief. The partnership between Georg-Büchner-Schule (Darmstadt, Germany), Petrus Canisius College (Alkmaar, the Netherlands) and Lycée polyvalent Les Lombards (Troyes, France) has persisted for more than ten years and various projects have been conducted together, enjoying the patronage of the Comenius Programme. In addition to that, all three cities are twin cities of each other. Just like with Comenius, we are planning on conducting three face-to-face exchanges per school year: one visit of German and French students to the Netherlands, one visit of French and Dutch students to Germany and one visit of German and Dutch students to France. The participants will be 27 interested students between the ages of 15 and 17 per year. The hosting country will take care of the organization of the exchange. In between the actual exchanges, the partners have online meetings and communicate via eTwinning and Europass. During the exchange we will undertake all kinds of activities that will raise an awareness of one’s own physical condition and one’s stress tolerance level, which will hopefully lead to a change of lifestyle. The students will keep a health diary by means of which they will reflect on their habits. There will be physical exercises and measurements of the physical constitution of the students. After researching concrete themes and conducting questionnaires, communication games, role plays and discussions will guide us in ways of how to manage stress. Carefully planned cooking according to nutrition plans will help to eat healthier in the future. Students should profit from taking part in the exchange. They will not only learn for life in a long run (better performance in school, increased fun in physical activities (sports), minimization of health risks) but they will also practice their communication and presentation skills. The exchange will enable students to share knowledge, experience and ideas with students from other countries. The English language being the target language, they will also work on their English. Teachers will get an insight into other school systems and into other cultures and ways of life. By building up a network of European schools, they will improve their language and ICT skills. They will also develop new educational material and new class management skills. They will try to find solutions to make the students (but also their colleagues and the parents) feel better in class and at school. We aim for education initiatives to increase health awareness and to establish new practices in lessons and at home. The Third Health Programme 2014-2020 by the European Commission addresses health themes. European schools should contribute and in a first step establish health consciousness. Moreover, to develop strategies of how to deal with mental overload in a healthy and sensible way is an essential objective for schools because it is our duty to raise young people to grow up satisfied and self-determined individuals. European schools are therefore compelled to create school programs that focus on a more active but balanced school routine, not only in terms of regular playful exercise as a part of lessons and breaks, but also in order to encourage students and teachers to sustain and spread newly-achieved concepts and methods to deal with the daily challenges mentioned above. Embedding the project in the school curriculums of our schools and making our work public will hopefully have a multiplying effect on other schools in Europe and hence, the project could help solving a shared problem. Healthy people create a healthy world. Being health conscious has an influence on yourself and your social environment. An international exchange will enhance this social environment and make us more open-minded and connected.
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