General information about the GASP
PROGRAM “SCHOOL AS A CENTER OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT” BY THE “STEP BY STEP” FOUNDATION
“Schools should help young people become confident and active citizens; if no one is interested in politics, it will become the domain of those who are least suited for it.”
Vaclav Havel
Program goal: to develop a model of community-based schools that promote partnerships between schools and communities; develop students' active life position, activate citizens in solving their own problems, and implement the concepts of community education and lifelong learning.
The realization of the program's goal ensures the development of communities whose resources and structures are designed to serve the interests of every member of the community where they exist:
- common beliefs of educators, entrepreneurs, community leaders, and other citizens about education as a lifelong process that should be accessible to everyone;
- beliefs that education should move beyond its traditional role and be accessible seven days a week, involve other community members in school management, and make school resources available to all community members;
- a common voice in identifying the needs and resources of the community, involving business structures and entrepreneurs in cooperation;
- the opportunity for parents to be involved in decision-making about the quality of education for their children and participation in school life;
- desire to be innovative, flexible and creative in defining a new vision of school and education development;
- Recognizing the role of all community members in education and community development, improving life for every member of the community.
Target groups:
- School staff, children and students
- Parents
- Public organizations
- Local authorities
Special attention is paid to:
- For the elderly
- Unemployed people
- Adults and children with special educational needs
- Adults and children of national minorities
- Young people with social problems
A socially active school is an educational institution where there are:
- striving for wide involvement of resources of local communities, public organizations, parents, and businesses in school life;
- creation of conditions for the education and practical manifestation of civic activity of students;
- a tendency to increase the openness of the school itself as a social and pedagogical system.
The basis of the model of a civically active school is the concept of community-oriented education. The program promotes the development of civic engagement of all members of local communities and the development of civil society as a whole.
A community thrives when its members plant trees in the shade
of which they will never have to sit.
Ancient Greek proverb
Information about the gymnasium's GAS
Director:
Sergiy Ivanovych Sayenko
Coordinator of the GASP:
Larysa Shaposhnikova, practical psychologist
Address:
68, Svyatotroitska St., Cherkasy, 18001
Phone: 0472 33-71-21
Fax: 0472 33-71-21
Email: serte@i.ua
Website: www.fcg.ck.ua
Information:
The gymnasium is a multilingual school where 12 languages are studied and humanities subjects are studied in depth. The gymnasium has been a UNESCO Associated School since 1994. The school publishes 2 newspapers: “Gymnazist” and ‘Unique Gymnazist’, and a website that is updated 365 days a year. The First City Gymnasium became a laureate of the All-Ukrainian action “Flagships of Education - 2011” and has been among the top 100 schools in Ukraine for two years in a row according to the results of external independent testing. The gymnasium has unique FCE and DELE centers, an Interact club, an international education center, etc. Since 2010, PMG has been a participant in the All-Ukrainian experiment of the Ukrainian Academy of Pedagogical Sciences.
Number of students: 664
Type of community:
A high-rise neighborhood with a large private sector in the central part of the city. The type of community is mixed. A large part of the population is made up of civil servants and government employees, with a significant layer of pensioners. Due to the emergence of several large residential new buildings.
Philosophy: The philosophy of the school is to use the possibilities of influencing the parents of children studying at the First City Gymnasium to become a link between the community and the authorities, and to mobilize their resources to solve community problems. An important element is the elimination or leveling of problems between the private sector and residents of large panel houses. It is essential to use the premises of the First City Gymnasium for the needs of the community (meetings, recreation, information center, etc.).
Projects:
Local initiative: “Serving the local community”
The essence of the initiative is that, being located in the central part of the city, where there are no places where community members could gather and solve their immediate needs, the First City Gymnasium could become such a unifying center. In addition, having the status of a gymnasium, not all children of neighboring houses have the opportunity to enroll, which causes certain contradictions and negativism, because school-age children have to go to somewhat distant neighborhood schools. This situation has been going on for years, and no one paid attention to it. I believe it is necessary to change the community's attitude towards the gymnasium and other municipal structures and organizations to a positive one, involving kindergartens #21 and #29, music school #2, the self-government committee, and TSAAF.
Project “Take care of clean water!”