Located in the Agia Triada neighbourhood, 1st Experimental Primary School of Thessaloniki sits very close to Helios School, a facility for blind kids. So close that they even organised shared music lessons for their students. It was therefore no surprise that, when asked to think about problems in their neighbourhood, their attention quickly shifted to the difficulties of visually impaired people.
Once topic was clear, teachers and students – together with our SIP Alex, from Boroume – started thinking on how could they help. However, they didn’t want to start doing right away: they felt they needed to understand visually impaired people and empathise with the difficulties they experience in their daily lives.
Thus, according to their ages, they resorted to literature, cinema, and arts to learn about other’s experiences; took walks around the area and noticed all difficulties for disabled people -like non-adapted crossings or car owners parking on the wheelchair ramps-; and started working together with the Helios School students, learning Braille and playing sports together (goalball, a sport specially designed for blind and visually impaired people).
Children guiding others during an empathy exercise in the 1st Experimental School of Thessaloniki
Project is now moving onto the stage of planning actual interventions. Students are now getting organised to interview disable people in the neighbourhood to understand how they cope with problems and what would they need to improve the quality of life. They plan real life observation and intent to map the problematic points of the area, plus an informative campaign to other neighbours during the open market day.
Visit the school web
Visit the school’s blog on the project
Location
Thessaloniki, Greece
Number of students
110 students from 6 to 12 years old
SIPs involved
Stimmuli
Boroume
Do you want to contact with this school? Write to nickaman4[at]gmail.com