Effective communication between schools belonging to the Marist community seems to be essential as it helps create innovative learning experiences and builds strong community ties.
Such encounters are truly valuable, as they help us realize the universality of the Marist mission and strengthen the spirit of brotherhood that unites us.
The partnership between Instituto Fratelli Maristi Giugliano and Marist Leonteios School of Nea Smyrni (Chrysostomos Smyrnis Primary School) now reaching a successful conclusion, is an example of such communication. It brought together 3 teachers and their 109 students from both institutions as they participated in jointed projects, had pen pal correspondence and explored their schools. Through these activities we all had the opportunity to learn from each other’s perspectives, develop new skills and create long lasting connections that extend beyond the classroom.
The project was aiming at promoting knowledge, communication, collaboration, sharing, creativity and fun under the umbrella of Marist Global Network of Schools.
Here are the steps we followed:
Step 1: Following the Italy-Greece exchange of students of 2024 organised by Despoina Tsaousi – General Director of Marist Leonteios School of Nea Smyrni and Regina d’ Alterio , Mrs Chrimatopoulou communicates with the Italian school English teacher, Martina Iodice. They agree on a collaboration, deciding on the school year project plan. Three English classes, Mrs Chrimatopoulou’s 5A, 5C and Mrs Novi’s 5B are paired with Martina Iodice’s 5A and 5B and participate in the specific project.
Step 2: Getting to know your penpal via letter writing. Students write letters presenting themselves, their families and hobbies and receive letters from their penpals.
Step 3: Christmas Correspondence. Now students share Christmas wishes, traditions and holiday plans.
Step 4: Presenting Schools project. Students use Padlet, an online tool, to talk about school classrooms, facilities and teachers. Greek students see the Naples school project and explore and compare schools.
Step 5: Next comes “A journey to Italy through flavours”. A project presenting Naples traditional food and recipes allowing the children to discover Italian taste. The Greek school project has three parts: Presenting school snacks by 5A, traditional Greek recipes by 5B and cooking and sharing breakfast at the school kitchen by 5C, all created with Storyjumper online tool.
Step 6: Online meeting. It is high time students met their penpals. There are so many questions to ask, and great enthusiasm on both sides. Students collect information and a discussion about our schools’ similarities and differences follows.
Step 7: As the school year draws to a close, students write the ‘Last Letter for Summer’. In this part of the project they reflect on the experiences they have shared, cultural insights they have gained and their plans for the summer ahead.
That was a fruitful and successful collaboration between two Marist schools, Leonteios School of Nea Smyrni (Chrysostomos Smyrnis Primary School) and Instituto Fratelli Maristi Giugliano which everybody enjoyed.
We hope that building bridges between different civilizations and creating a sense of belonging to a big community spreading around the world can inspire us all.