“Meeting with our beliefs: An Educational Journey to the Odyssea with the 6th General Lyceum of Kallithea”
In February, our partners at Odyssea had the pleasure of hosting the 6th General Lyceum of Kallithea. The children, accompanied by their teachers, Afroditi Fourtouni and Stellina Christopoulou, visited our premises. After a guided tour and being informed about the actions of the Organization, they participated in the 5th SENSE Lab, organized in the framework of the Horizon Project, SENSE (https://sense-steam.eu/).
After getting to know each other, the activity started with the children working in groups to draw a map of their school and its surroundings. Their enthusiasm exceeded our expectations! We then asked the children to focus on themselves for a few minutes and draw one of the two figures they were given so that the drawings and colours reflected their current emotional state. After completing the first figure, we asked the children to observe the portraits of 10 important scientists. We ensured that they did not know them and so we moved on to the next stage. We talked about the narrator and their importance in creating a story, we asked the children to work in groups and put themselves in the shoes of the person in the portrait they chose. After observing him, they wrote a short autobiography of him. The groups read their autobiographies in plenary, and then we read the actual biographies of the people depicted in the portraits. We tried to identify our beliefs around the professions of women and men. As one student remarked, “We all have stereotypes; we make boxes for people, we put all these into the biographies we wrote, we classified people according to the boxes we have.” The children completed the activity by drawing another figure so that it reflected their feelings after completing the activity and placed it on the map of the school they had drawn at the beginning. Finally, they expressed their reflection on our discussion of ‘female’ and ‘male’ occupations.
But their visit to Odyssea did not end there. As happens every 2nd Wednesday of the month, volunteers were cooking in our professional kitchen, preparing meals for those in real need. The children prepared the accompanying bags given with each portion of food – each bag contained cutlery, napkins and bread – and helped pack the portions.
As this exciting experience comes to an end, it leaves us with the best impressions and renewed hope for the future. Our interactive session turned into a journey of exploration and discovery as the students enthusiastically and creatively tackled the challenges of the 5th SENSE Lab. We conclude with the conviction that this experience leaves significant effects, not only on the student’s knowledge and skills but also in reinforcing the values of collaboration, openness and mutual understanding.
