The ACS International Schools Foundation was founded in 1997
to advance education and other programmes of outstanding merit,
such as the ACS International Peace Prize, the ACS British Studies
Summer Programme, the Educational Outreach Programme, the Artists-in-Residence
Program, and Orbis International.
These programmes provide significant educational opportunities
both for ACS students and others. The Trustees continue to consider
educational projects to support and invite your participation.
British Studies Summer Programme
The programme, which has been running to enthusiastic acclaim
since 1996, is a highly interactive, interdisciplinary, journal–based
study/travel course for high school students from 15 – 18
years old. The program is limited to 14 outstanding students from
US and EU schools.
The programme is divided into two units covering Shakespearean
England, The Industrial and Romantic Revolutions, and Britain
in the 20th and 21st Centuries. Frequent trips develop firsthand
experiences with the subjects studied and include Country Houses
and Gardens, London museums, WW1 Battle sites in France, Historic
Ships in Portsmouth. A typical day might consist of two classes
in the morning, a trip to a locale associated with the curriculum
in the afternoon, and viewing and discussing a film set in the
period under study in the evening.
"This programme expanded my horizons in all directions
and made me look at England, its history, and people in an entirely
different light – one that makes me more curious about everything
I look at."
Alicia Cardoso, British Studies student from Boston, Massachusetts.
Artists in Residence
The ACS Artists-in-Residence Programme allows each school to
invite guests from outside the academic world into the classroom
to enrich the curriculum. The ACS Foundation supports this Programme
because it believes that education should go beyond the classroom.
Visits from Artists-in-Residence help to prepare students to
think laterally and creatively in an increasingly complex and
competitive world. The Artists-in-Residence Programme gives students
of all ages exposure to professionals with a variety of talents
and experiences who express, through their own work and lives,
ideas that the students are covering in their classrooms.
These artists enrich the academic curriculum as students are
exposed to people who have creatively expressed ideas in ways
that may not be immediately obvious – ways that span many
disciplines.
Sculptor Philip Cox, for example, brought to ACS his unique and
renown ability to create significant works of art from paper and
cardboard. Working with younger children, Cox constructed delightful
dragons, lions and other creatures which now roam the Lower School
halls inspiring young artists. Students learned new respect for
materials and physiology, and developed techniques for shaping
a playful personal vision from everyday items.
"The Artists-in-Residence Programme means students aren't
studying in a closed environment, but rather in an environment
that is open, practical, creative, all-encompassing, inclusive
and charged with real life situations."
Dr. Irena Olejnik,
High School Science Teacher ACS Hillingdon
ORBIS
The ACS Foundation is pleased to sponsor qualified student journalists
for internships with Orbis, as we believe that carefully observing
and reporting on the important medical and social work undertaken
by Orbis in undeveloped countries will encourage students to engage
in crucial world health issues.
Since its inception in 1982, Orbis, a nonprofit, humanitarian
organisation, has been dedicated to saving sight – to eliminating
avoidable blindness from the face of the earth. Orbis responds
to the needs of developing nations, where 90 percent of blind
people live, with hands-on training for eye care professionals,
public education about blindness, and technical assistance to
improve access to quality ophthalmic services.
Orbis’s central training facility is a DC–10 airplane
that has been converted into a fully equipped eye surgery hospital.
It flies to developing countries, carrying volunteer doctors and
the Orbis medical team. Together they perform eye surgeries, while
local eye doctors, nurses and other health care professionals
from the host country watch, learn, and practice.
ACS Foundation–sponsored Orbis student journalists provide
on–line, first–hand reports on the people and countries
served by these flying Orbis hospitals.
"There are few occasions in life when an idea takes off
and leads to achievements beyond our wildest expectations; when
a mission is driven by a vision so clear and compelling that it
literally enables others to see it too. Orbis is one of them."
Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations
Educational Outreach Programmes
The ACS Foundation supports selected educational outreach programmes
such as the project which linked ACS with the Shituwa School in
Namibia. As part of an expedition project to Namibia, ACS students
carried out an extended community service project at a rural Namibian
village school.
Eighteen ACS students spent 18 months fundraising to purchase
an internet-ready computer, fund the construction of a new resource/classroom,
and pay for the shipment of a container of library books and other
supplies for the school.
During their week-long stay at Shituwa School in July, the students
were able to concentrate on another key component of their community
service project – teaching in Shituwa Schools classrooms.
This experience not only provided the ACS students with an opportunity
to share their knowledge of core subjects like English, Algebra,
Art, and Music with Shituwa students, it also gave them important
insights into how education and teaching methods and styles vary
from country to country.
In the words of one ACS student, "I think they were hoping
to learn from us, but we also learned a great deal from them."
"Now that our schools are linked via the Internet, I think
that similar English (and even art) projects should become a regular
part of the curriculum. Given the chance to experience the literary
and artistic styles of the other culture, both ACS and Shituwa
kids can become better students. Other students will hopefully
be able to experience a small part of the wonder that I did when
I was at Shituwa"
Stewart Nielson, ACS student treasurer of Namibia expedition
ACS International Peace Prize
Every two years the ACS Foundation sponsors an International
Peace Prize Contest for students aged 12-18.
The Prize is awarded to the individual student or student group
whose substantial work promotes understanding of different philosophies
and cultures, and instills respect for people, their work, their
beliefs, and their expressions, and contributes to the advancement
of peace.
Applications may include but are not limited to documentation
of work accomplished on a specific project (community service,
peace corps type project, inner city project etc.), or work on
a topic of relevance to the advancement of peace (essay, artwork,
video, research paper). The first two individual winners of the
ACS International Peace Prize were from schools in California
and India. Both projects, as it happened, dealt with the use of
computer and internet technologies to advance the cause of peace.
The projects were entitled "Cyberpeace: Youth on Line for
Peace in the Middle East"and "Nation1 ...the development
of a global on - line 'country' for young people to connect with
each other through the youth movement, an avenue of building world
peace." Additionally, a group Peace Prize was awarded to
the ACS Challengers for their work with the Shituwa School in
Namibia.
"The ACS International Peace Prize Ceremony was an impressive
and thought-provoking event. The speakers were most stimulating,
particularly the two young students who gave one a great deal
of hope for the future." - Cllr. Torq Stewart, Mayor of Elmbridge.
