According to Greek Mythology, the first volunteer was Prometheus, the Titan who stole the fire from Gods and gave it to humans, bringing knowledge and art to the world. Volunteering is the skeleton that can serve as an antidote to the crisis and social inclusion. Also, as a factor in creating active European citizens. Greek school recognizing the need to improve the quality of education in active citizenship and supporting pupils'involvement in volunteering, joined a Volunteering Greek Thematic Network, trying to give a holistic approach and cover this gap. STAND BY ME project, will work in making it worldwide and sustainable by forming a European networking group of passionate teachers and pupils. Volunteering is defined as volitional provision of services without being paid or rewarded. Thus, people are called volunteers when unselfishly offer time, knowledge or services. STAND by ME project empowers these values focusing in creating active volunteer citizens. This can be accomplished not only by organizing TARGETED actions, but mainly by EDUCATING pupils- teachers and community. Our project seeks with a simple way to act as a starting point for reflection around volunteering, encouragement for action and motivation PROJECT'S OBJECTIVES: 1-familiarize students and teachers with the concepts, values and principles of volunteering and active citizenship 2-acquire knowledge about the ways of volunteering 3-encourage pupils - communities to be engaged in volunteer actions, providing them the necessary tools. 4-strengthen teachers’ profession, providing them with non formal methodologies, regarding activities that will make them able to convey the values of volunteering, equality and non-discrimination 5-form a NETWORK of European schools/associations promoting European identity 6-develop the digital, linguistic and social skills of our students 7-reduce the early school leavers Just as Prometheus brought the fire to the humans, our project aims to bring the FLAME of Volunteerism across 6 countries, through 6 schools and local communities from Arctic Ocean to Mediterranean Sea.The “Volunteer’s FLAME” will focus on 6 aspects of volunteering that contribute to Culture, People, Sports, Education, Nature and Science. The FLAME will spark in Iceland in Oct 2019 and will run all over Europe inspiring volunteering in many fields and conclude in May 2021 in Romania. Within these 2 years, the FLAME's team, will experience 6 cultures, languages, ways of thinking and acting. In the end of the travel, target groups will have a unique opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the ideals of mutual solidarity and active citizenship. This project, lies at the roots of Inclusion, Solidarity and Active Citizenship, aims to mainstream volunteering and support disadvantaged pupils/ immigrants or with health problems to be involved in order to take over responsibility, get socialized and improve self -esteem. Target groups will be: 4560 students and 585 teachers from 6 schools, parents, institutions and youth clubs. The project will be developed through a variety of subjects: Maths, Language, History, Science, ICT, Social, Cultural, Environmental Studies, Art, Music and Physical Education in order to maximize impact. A wide range of formal, non formal and extra curricular activities will be used in order to get more inclusive schools and stimulate tolerance. Workshops, STEM laboratories, seminars, presentations, simulations, field trips, workshops, eco-games, role-play, brainstorming, Group discussion, world café, image-making, films, drama, sports. Pupils will be able to interact, having fun! Activities will be disseminated through our website, the Erasmus + Results Platform, EURODESK, social groups and media. Moreover, eTwinning platform will be used in all phases of the project. Through raising awareness of the importance of volunteering and sensitization of pupils to civil society support activities, we expect long term benefits as: extended knowledge of English, improvement of the linguistic and ICT skills, development of key competences, reduction of the early school leavers, changes in the curricula, introduce Europass in schools, prevention of social exclusion, discrimination and racism, encourage of critical thinking, integration of people with poverty in the social and school environment, direct contact and communication of pupils with similar social groups. Our project, will be a basis for sustainability, developing a strategic approach to strengthening the links between the six schools and its local environment, deepening concepts of local and European identity. VOLUNTEERING is a Vision and life style, aims to underline deep involvement and commitment. Gives inspiration and motivation to millions of volunteers worldwide. STAND by ME project, will support this vision to set the scene to enable the movement to grow, so the future generations will be able to live a better life!
According to Greek Mythology, the first volunteer was Prometheus, the Titan who stole the fire from Gods and gave it to humans, bringing knowledge and art to the world. Volunteering is the skeleton that can serve as an antidote to the crisis and social inclusion. Also, as a factor in creating active European citizens. 4th primary school of Lamia Greece recognizing the need to improve the quality of education in active citizenship and supporting pupils' involvement in volunteering, joined a Volunteering Greek Thematic Network, trying to give a holistic approach and cover this gap. STAND by ME project, worked in making it worldwide and sustainable by forming a European network of passionate teachers, pupils, communities. Volunteering is defined as volitional provision of services without being paid or rewarded. Thus, people are called volunteers when unselfishly offer time, knowledge or services. STAND by ME project, empowered these values focusing in creating active volunteer citizens. This was accomplished not only by organizing TARGETED actions, but mainly by EDUCATING pupils- teachers and community. Our project seeked with a simple way to act as a starting point for reflection around volunteering, encouragement for action and motivation for 6 countries. The project's OBJECTIVES were: 1-to familiarize students/teachers with the concepts, values and principles of volunteering and active citizenship 2-to acquire knowledge about the ways of volunteering 3-to encourage pupils-communities to be engaged in volunteer actions, providing them the necessary tools. 4-to strengthen teachers’ profession, providing them NFE methodologies making them able to convey the values of volunteering, equality and non-discrimination 5-to form a NETWORK of European schools/associations promoting European identity 6-to develop the digital, linguistic and social skills of students 7-to reduce the early school leavers Just as Prometheus brought the fire to the humans, our project aimed to bring the FLAME of Volunteerism across 6 countries, through 6 schools and local communities from Arctic Ocean to Mediterranean Sea. The “Volunteer’s FLAME” focused on 6 aspects of volunteering that contributed to Culture, People, Sports, Education, Nature and Science. The FLAME sparked in Iceland in 10/2019 and run all over Europe inspiring volunteering in many fields, even during Corona pandemic. It concluded in May 2021 in Greece. Within these 3 years, the FLAME's team, experienced 6 cultures, languages, ways of thinking and acting. In the end of the travel, target groups had a unique opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the ideals of mutual solidarity and active citizenship. The project, lied at the roots of Inclusion, Solidarity and Active Citizenship, aimed to mainstream volunteering and support disadvantaged pupils/ immigrants or with health problems to be involved in order to be responsible, social and gain self -esteem. TARGET GROUPS were: 4560 students and 585 teachers from 6 schools, parents, institutions and youth clubs. The project was developed through a variety of subjects: Maths, Language, History, Science, ICT, Social, Cultural, Environmental Studies, Art, Music and Physical Education in order to maximize impact. A wide range of formal, non formal and extra curricular activities like workshops, STEM laboratories, seminars, presentations, simulations, field trips, eco-games, role-plays, brainstorming, group discussions, world café, image-making, films, drama, sports, used in order to get more inclusive schools and stimulate tolerance. Pupils were able to interact, having fun, even during online teaching! Activities disseminated through our website, the Erasmus + Results Platform, Facebook page, EURODESK, social groups and media. Moreover, eTwinning platform used in all phases so as to involve more schools around EU. Through raising awareness of the importance of volunteering and sensitization of pupils to civil society support activities, we achieved long term benefits as: extended knowledge of English, improvement of linguistic and ICT skills, development of key competences, reduction of the early school leavers, changes in the curricula, prevention of social exclusion, discrimination and racism, critical thinking, integration of people with poverty in the social and school environment, direct contact and communication of pupils with similar social groups. Our project, succed to be a basis for sustainability, developing a strategic approach to strengthening the links between the six schools and its local environment, deepening concepts of local and European identity. VOLUNTEERING is a Vision and life style, aims to underline deep involvement and commitment. Gives inspiration and motivation to millions of volunteers worldwide. Our project, supported this vision to set the scene to enable the movement to grow, so the future generations will be able to live a better life!