What is so important about hope? This was the question for Middle School and Primary Students from Wells International School On Nut and Bang Na.
On October 19th, the primary students in the Bang Na campus launched a “Festival of Hope” workshop and invited the middle school students from the On Nut campus to discuss this topic, an initiative taking place in the IB World School community. Hope is universal, it’s a concept that touches all of our lives and hearts, from young to older students. Starting a conversation around “hope” helped our students engage in activities across grade levels as well as campuses, getting to know new people and students from the school community. Our students spent the entire day discussing their perspectives on hope and its connection to their everyday lives at school and at home.
During this event, students moved through a variety of activities that helped them consider how hope is grown and given. The students created artwork, poetry, music and songs that expressed their own hopes and aspirations. At one station, they wrote hopes for the school, the community and the world.
Before the event ended, we reflected on our learning together. The students were invited to speak up during an open-mic discussion. Being the risk-takers that they are, the primary students spoke about how much they enjoyed learning alongside middle school students for the first time. The middle school students communicated beautifully about the importance of hope in their lives. Some students used symbolism and metaphors to express their understandings. All of our students mentioned how fun it was to work together.
Our hope for building a strong community was realized through this day together. The teachers’ hope of developing our students’ self awareness and emotional needs is an important part of this celebration,too. The Hope Festival will continue throughout the next semester, connecting Wells to other IB World Schools around the globe.
Through this exchange, we could fully appreciate what a powerful tool hope really is. Hope can change our outlook, relationships and even impact our community.
