School’s out for summer but students and advisors have been busy facilitating CIP projects around Turkey - and this year internationally as well!
RKANEP (Robert College Alternative Education Program)
A total of 7 RKANEP projects are being facilitated in Çorum, Ünye, Kartepe, Vezirköprü, İlgaz, Bilecik, and Keşan. While each project has a unique focus, they all share the common aim of igniting primary school students’ creativity, curiosity and engagement with the arts, sciences, social sciences and sports to widen their perspectives and become more aware of their own talents and interests.
The interdisciplinary spirit of RKANEPs has also been integrated in projects engaging students in science experiments at a primary school in Üsküdar and teaching entrepreneurial skills to kids in a village in Kaynarca.
Children with Special Needs
In Afyon, Adana, and Samsun, Robert College students socialized with and facilitated creative activities with kids with special needs.
A Culture-focused Program
In Boğatepe Village near Kars, students lived with local families, sharing in their daily lives while learning about their livelihoods, and culinary and cultural traditions. They even tried their hand at making erişte (pasta).
In the afternoons and evenings, students facilitated creative reading, art, and music workshops with the children of the village and organized an exhibition of their work at the end of the project.
Training and Hands-on Learning
Peer-to-peer training was the focus of two projects this summer. In Avanos, RC students led a two-day training with peers from Gaziantep and Nevşehir on developing and facilitating community involvement projects. The students then facilitated a RKANEP project together at a local primary school, giving them all valuable hands-on experience leading projects. In Eskişehir, RC students facilitated peer training in debate, social entrepreneurship, and coding with the aim of helping participants develop their problem solving skills.
CIP Goes Abroad
CIP went global with a new project in Romania, on July 8-18. In partnership with Transylvania College (Romania) and Cape Henry Collegiate (US), students were immersed in Romanian culture while working side by side to build the Tasu Deepsky Observatory, which will serve as a base for future astronomy projects on the grounds of the Tasuleasa Social Pedagogic Forest in the heart of the Carpathian Mountains. The CIP office is looking forward to facilitating more international projects in the near future.
