Charity Work, Mentoring & More: Student Personal Development Activities

Each Wednesday, students in the Secondary School gather for Community Time, one of the many activities that make our school special. For two hours, students take part in custom-designed activities that help them develop academically, socially and personally outside of the classroom environment.

Here’s what our students tackled in Community Time this week:

Middle School Transition Workshop

Led by our Year 7 Transition Leader, Mr. Lewis, students in Year 7 took part in organizational workshops to support their move from Primary School to Secondary School. Students worked alongside their advisors and support teachers to reflect on their first four weeks in Middle School. They analyzed their challenges, organization skills and ability to manage homework, and then developed solutions for improvement.

Charity Food Packing

Students and teachers in Years 8-9 traveled to Libertyville, Illinois for an afternoon of volunteering at the charity Feed My Starving Children. They spent the afternoon packing food into boxes to be distributed to people in need worldwide. We’re proud to report their efforts will feed 85 children for one year! Students in Year 7 will be taking part in this activity next week…can they surpass this achievement? We’ll see!

World of Work Exploration

Year 10 students participated in the first round of World of Work visits, organized by Business Teacher Mr. Johnson. The World of Work program enables students to visit with companies across Chicago, providing insight into different career paths. This week, Barrister Beverly Scarr visited the school and shared her experiences in the legal profession. Barrister Scarr’s husband Stephen also joined and spoke about leaving his job in the stock market to work in the Internet search classification industry. The visit fascinated our students, who particularly enjoyed learning more during the Q&A session.

We’re always seeking professionals to visit our students as part of this program. If you have an interesting story to tell about the world of work or would like more information about the program, please email adam.johnson@bischicagosl.org.

Speech-Writing Workshop

Students in Year 11 developed their speech-writing skills in a workshop led by Miss Gurney, Head of English, learning techniques for engaging an audience. Next week, they will be delivering speeches, which are part of their coursework for the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) curriculum.

Geography Fieldwork

Students studying Geography as part of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program ventured into the Loop for fieldwork with Geography Teachers Mr. Stone and Ms. Palmet. They completed an urban geographic profile of the Central Business District as part of their internal assessments.

Music Mentoring

Other students in Year 12 returned to the Academy for Global Citizenship (AGC) for a second week of mentoring Elementary School students through music. Alongside Director of Music Mrs. White-Hunt, our students have been working in small groups at school to develop lesson plans. This week’s lessons incorporated one of the 12 core works of The Juilliard-Nord Anglia Performing Arts Programme, “The Rite of Spring” by Stravinsky. Once at AGC, BISC students demonstrated interpretive dance, body percussion and musical movement.

Cookie Baking at Ronald McDonald House

Another group of students in Year 13 visited Ronald McDonald House, which provides a supportive home away from home for families while their child is being treated at a nearby hospital. We flexed our culinary muscles, baking dozens of cookies to sweeten up the parents’ and children’s day.  

Animal Assistance at Anti-Cruelty Society

We also volunteered at the Anti Cruelty Society, where High School students made toys for cats and dogs waiting to be adopted. The star of the day was Guy, the resident cat who was very friendly and enjoyed spending some quality time with our students.