CAS Convention 2016

  CAS (Creativity Action Service) is the core element of the IB programme. It encourages (forces) students to step out of their comfort zone and do something they do not have the time or guts to do. Schools in Lithuania which offer the IB programme communicate and work together in order to improve the implementation of CAS. One way to do that is CAS convention, which happens every year in different IB school in Lithuania. This year Šiauliai Didždvaris gymnasium had the honour to invite other IB students from The American International School of Vilnius, Vilniaus Licėjus, Tauragės ‘Versmės‘ gymnasium and host the convention which‘s topic was ‘Diversity‘.
The convention started on 18th of November. The guests were greeted by the Principal of Didždvaris gymnasium Vitalis Balsevičius, then the CAS convention was introduced by school‘s CAS coordinators Paulius Baranauskas and Simona Česnaitė. After that Sonata Dedūraitė, EVS volunteers Johannes, Nino and Tabea introduced EVS, talked about their experiences so far. Then IB students had a lecture from Jolanta Šiūparienė (city council) about children rights. Later participants had a dance lesson from IB Alumni Liudas Nekrošius, made postcards and toys for children, elders and lonely people. The 1st day finished with a debate on the topic ‘THW give equal pay-out to Lithuanian athletes for both olympic and paralympic victories‘ and the brain battles.
The 2nd day started with a treasure hunt around Šiauliai, where teams had to take photos of specific objects in the city. Then, when the winners were announced forum theatre was organized. 3 different discrimination/diversity issues were presented, other IB students could change any person who was acting and try to solve the issue in some type of way. The CAS convention ended with students filling in reflections and Paulius Baranauskas thanking the participants for a great and productive interaction during this event.
All in all, CAS convention was a great opportunity for IB students from different Lithuanian schools to get to know each other, make connections and compare learning styles, share experiences and better ways of doing CAS. We hope that our guest left not only with new facebook friends, but delightful memories too.
See you next year!

Food Bank 2016

 In October, 21st and 22nd and October 31st and November 2nd and 4th, our school‘s volunteers contributed to Food Bank initiative and encouraged people to donate food for poor families. Students volunteered in several grocery shops and warehouse in the town encouraging and collecting food from people who bought long-life food for the families in need. Even though it is said that the rich doesn’t feel empathy for poor, people were very generous and donated a lot of food, which will make poor children’s’ winter easier. For volunteers it was very rewarding to talk with people and ask for their help to support families. Sometimes it is hard to ask for help and that’s what you can learn from this activity – to not be afraid to ask for support and help when needed. Also every time someone donated food it was very heart-warming to thank those people and feel their genuine willingness to help. It is very important to contribute and do one’s duty for the society and people in need because poverty can hit anyone, doesn’t matter one’s age, gender or race. So showing empathy for others and taking action to fight social inequality was very rewarding to IB student volunteers.