“A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead

We believe that the most valuable competency we can help our students to gain is to take responsibility in their own learning process, especially in this age where times are rapidly changing, information is easily accessible and people who can re-interpret the information are  highly needed.

Another reason for maintaining our social responsibility projects is our confidence in our students, as well as our awareness of the magnitude of responsibilities which they will bear in the future. We see our students as individuals who will have a say in the country’s management, resources, welfare and development and who will have a wide domain of impact. We aim to graduate young people who will provide a positive contribution to society with their strength and will to fulfill their responsibilities.

For this reason, we carry out social responsibility projects which will increase their awareness and contribute to the development of their conscience, starting from Pre-school to high school, for all age groups. We live and share many educational experiences all together such as; collecting aid according to their needs for the students in the eastern regions, sending them letters, using waste materials to complete our work without using any paper during a day, producing course materials for children with leukemia, preparing music performances for people who cannot leave the hospital, preparing and performing Spring Festival activities with our students for our sister schools, sharing our toys and books with our peers that we never met, welcoming old people living in nursing houses in our school and sharing experiences  with them, meeting the needs of the animal shelter, writing and acting a play to raise awareness against violence against women.

As Açı Pre-school we believe  one of the most important methods to implement our values education program is social responsibility projects. Although social responsibility projects are sometimes abstract for them during these early ages, that they encounter them on a continuous basis, will lead our students to gain more awareness about their environment and the community they live in.

Examples of some projects are; every year in November, in the “Harvest Day” at school, we collect food such as fruits, vegetables, nuts and pasta that we bring to school and share with needy children living in İstanbul; continuing since 2007, each year, we prepare gift packages according to the needs of our sister schools in Turkey’s eastern regions and maintain correspondence with students in these schools.

Social responsibility projects taking place in Açı Primary school are  organized by “Social Responsibility Committee”.

They all aim, by working with a sustainable structure, that our students would face social reality and needs, human touch and mutual learning experience.

Projects; are initiated by students’ initiative and incorporate questioning, planning, production and sharing stages.

Under the heading of social responsibility, Açı Primary Schools implement many projects some of which are as follows:

  • In collaboration with the non-governmental organizations (NGOS), such as Toçev, Çekül, etc, projects and fundraising campaigns are run.
  • Making food donations to shelters each year creates awareness about the lives of street animals.
  • On 23th April, our students run the project of sending books to schools that are predetermined as in need of books.
  • In Child Rights Week, our students organize a toy campaign.
  • Our school which is an Eco school, designs sustainable environment projects each year and put them  into practice.

Times are changing rapidly; now we should prepare our students for a future that we can’t exactly predict the dynamics but where information will be easily accessible and people with the competency of re-interpreting the information will be highly sought. Therefore to raise their awareness about the world and the community they live in, we execute an appropriate social program for all age groups in our schools, starting from Pre-school to high school. The core of this program is based on principles such as; being sustainable, designing with the views and suggestions of students, being connected to the universal values and principles and creating mutual benefits. This program is carried out within the scope of elective courses in Secondary school, all the work is scheduled in a way that would be reflected on all school life.

Some examples of Secondary School social responsibility projects are as follows:

  • Get to know the animal shelters, to provide the materials according to the needs of the animals
  • Preparing dog and cat houses for street animals and placing them on the street
  • Preparing activities to forest our city
  • Invite our elders who stay in seniors home to our school and organize some events with them.
  • Preparing educational materials, learning areas and Spring Festival for our sister school
  • Offer the possibility of an after-school elective course for our sister schools’ students
  • To donate books
  • Use the income provided by our school week activities to meet the needs of other students
  • Invite students of Nesin Foundation to our school events and presentations
  • To vocalize some class novels for our Dyslexic friends by using school radio’s technical resources

A WISH

Responsible Teachers: Melis Baki, Neslihan Tonga

Project Director: Leyla Erden

Vice-presidents: Alita Karaoğlu, Zeynep Otay, Lizi Manisa

Mission: To carry out some activities for children with cancer and have their hearts in living, to let them experience some activities that their peers are experiencing outside hospital in  their own environment and  make their wishes come true,

Project collaboration: Çapa Oncology Hospital School


ASEP

Responsible Teachers: Damla Eryeli, Leyla Altınayar, Maria Abadia

Advisor Students: Zeynep Üner, Aslı Ergin

Project Directors: Vedan Can Düzgezen, Selin Birgen

Mission:  To give English lessons to 5th grade students of public schools in the vicinity;  to support their English education academically; to make a positive contribution by hosting those students at our school, by managing the process of preparation of materials and lesson plans and by creating a knowledge sharing environment.

Project collaboration: Türkan Efe Primary School


SAGEM

Responsible Teachers: Merve Can, Sinem Yaklav, Nazif Ay, Serdar Gençer

Center Managers: Haluk Ali Camcıgil, Kayacan Turgut, Sassan Vahapzade, Ömer İlbak, Yasmin Pardo, Ela Yalman, Emir Kalkan, Kaan Katipoğlu

Coordination: Haymi Kohen

Mission: To prepare contents and activities for the students of the public school in the same district, who follow the after-school study hours, to help with their development in the fields of “sport”, “science and nature”, “art” and “language skills”, and with the development of cultural and social aspects.

Project collaboration: Sarıyer Municipality Youth Education Center


ROKA

Responsible Teacher: Savaş Yıldırım

Project Directors: Moris Tariç, Rona Utku

Vice-presidents: Ömer Uğural, Serra Beyazıt

Mission: To create the opportunity to reach information which is today’s most valuable and unlimited source, for all disadvantaged groups whose access to information is restricted, to schools and to foundations, by supplying podcasts, books, learning materials, tools and such like.


HEALTH & SAFETY

Advisor and Trainer: Ayşe Şengel

Responsible Teachers: Nurseda Altınkaynak, Ajda Güngör Gümüşay

Project Director: Ela Erciyes

Vice President: Selim Tara

Mission: To learn about and prepare presentations on healthy living, disaster management and first aid applications; to transfer information to primarily Açı Schools’ students as well as the students of other schools and thus contribute to raising awareness on these topics.


A LITTLE TOUCH

Responsible Teachers: Ceyda Gürhan, Orçun Muş

Project Director: Ela Bilen

Vice President: Nicole Mano Tranos

Mission: To design art work that will color and visually enrich the internal and external areas of government schools in the region, creating and applying projects in this direction

Project collaboration: Sarıyer district sister schools


SENIORS

Responsible Teachers: Neşe Türkeş, Nathalie Beuret

Project Directors: Defne Kutay, Eliz Aviyente

Mission: To visit on a regular basis the veteran adults who live in a nursing home to share their experience, produce ideas that will give a novel touch to their lives and learn about their needs and try to make contributions in this sense.

Project collaboration: Nezih Nursing Home


BEST BUDDIES TURKEY

Responsible Teachers: Gökçe Arıcıoğlu, Sema Duman, İpek Odabaş

Project Directors: Zeynep Ergüder, Asya Vural

Vice presidents: Çiçek Arayıcı, Kaan Sütlaş

Mission: To hel individuals with mental and developmental disabilities to establish one-to-one friendships with their peers and enhance their level of engagement in life; creating awareness in this regard within our peers and ensure development of sensitivity around us

Project Collaboration: Şehit Üstteğmen Ali Büyükdicle Education Practice School


THE SOUND OF THE FINGERS

Trainers: Mustafa Çil, Şeyma Uzun

Responsible Teachers: Meltem Dedeoğlu, Gülşah Perçimli Ay

Project Director: Teoman Özaydın

Mission: To understandthe challenges of deaf people, create awareness and willingness to learn sign language; to provide hearing aids to those who can’t afford, by financing through projects

Project collaboration: Academy of the sound of the fingers


WAC

Responsible Teacher: Aslı Hacımuto

Project Directors: Dafne Naz Selimoğlu, Ece Hamuloğlu

Mission: To ensure that the people around us become more conscious about the sustainability of the world ecosystem; for this purpose, prepare presentations, develop ideas, organize campaigns and contribute to the awareness of environment among people.


CIVE-TECH

Advisor and Trainer: Cevat Ezgin

Responsible Teacher: Gülşah Fırat

Project Director: Ali Kazmaz

Vice President: Kerem Böcügöz

Mission:  To transfer information under the headings; “3 dimensional design”, “Arduino programming” and “electronics” to the students of the public high school, by using our school’s technological resources; as well as developing collaborative projects and providing the necessary technological sharing environment to enable their peers to experience the conversion of design into product.

Project Collaboration: Ali Akkanat Anadolu High School


VAW

Advisor and Project Director: Terry Eskinazi

Advisory Assistants: Melisa Güçlü, Başak Baykara

Responsible Teacher: Gila Bilben

Project Director: Pia Behmuaras

Mission: Although the young population constituting a large part of the population of Turkey is aware of violence against women, they do not assume a solution-oriented duty to achieve a fundamental change. “Put an end to violence” project’s mission is, by using the younger generation’s motivation and energy, to create a fundamental change and to propagate this momentum to the community.


A FILM

Advisor and Trainer: Ulaş Beşoklar

Responsible teacher: Alejandro de Gregorio Piqueras

Project Directors: Cem Dilaver, Mert Oşar

Mission: To produce short films to introduce the vision, the work and the goals of the social responsibility projects run by students within the school body.