Update for American Community School of Abu Dhabi 2022-23

By American Community School

Posted on February 19th, 2024.

Check out all of our projects for the 2022-23 school year. We’ve learned and accomplished so much!!

• Fall Festival- Our students had a fantastic time raising awareness about the service clubs they are passionate about during our annual fall festival. Attendees were able to visit booths and learn about various social issues while taking part in games related to each cause.
  .
  
• Lotus Retal Toiletries- Students collected toiletries for disadvantaged families living in Abu Dhabi. They sorted, packaged and delivered almost 80 bags to an educational center to be distributed to families in need.
     
  
• Clothing Drive- our Red Crescent and Medecins Sans Frontieres high school clubs collected, sorted, and distributed thousands of pieces of clothing for cleaning, security, and cafeteria workers at our school.
  .
  
• PCRF Dinner- Honoring Palestinian culture while also spreading awareness for children’s hospitals and cancer treatment centers in Palestine that serve underprivileged communities.
     
  
• UAE Changemakers- a group of students coming together from around the UAE to inspire and create solutions to local problems.
  .
  
• The Junk Couture Fashion Show – students in Grade 5 were inspired by a visit to the Junk Couture fashion show and decided to organize their own show. They created amazing outfits out of recycled materials to demonstrate the importance of global sustainability.

• Youth Tolerance Association- an ACS initiative to promote tolerance through hands-on learning, community engagement, and cultural exchange. Our team leaders received a 5,000 AED grant from the UAE to further promote their initiatives of inclusivity and tolerance.
     

Viper Ventures- an three to seven-day experiential learning program 

• Nepal- About 50 students went on a trekking expedition to spread awareness and help install water filters in the mountainous regions of Nepal to reduce the amount of plastic waste and encourage refillable water bottles instead.
  .
  
• Malaysia- Students worked with a local tribe to help protect their environment and way of life from habitat destruction and plastic waste, as well as learn how they live off the land. They also helped the Malaysian government in monitoring & recording tracks and markings of endangered tigers, leopards and gibbons.
  
  
• Kenya- renovating local school buildings and promoting a coexistence between the community and the local wildlife.
  . 
  
• Tanzania- students worked with local primary schools to refurbish buildings and assist is teaching conversational English.
  .   
  
• Thailand- During this week-long excursion to Koh Samui, Thailand, students participated in a marine conservation project. They gained insight into various environmental threats impacting our oceans and contributed to local initiatives by constructing an artificial reef and conducting a clean-up of the beaches and ocean.
     
  
• Sir Bani Yas- Students spent three days learning about reef conservation, the animal breeding program, and helped plant mangroves.
  
  
• Mohammed Bin Rashid School- Students spent three days at Mohamed Bin Rashid Center for Special Education learning about the needs of students with autism. They worked with students in classrooms, planned activities, and assisted in National Day activities.

Roots & Shoots- we’ve been busy with other Roots & Shoots activities:

• School supply collection- Students gathered surplus school supplies from around campus to be sent to schools in the Philippines where they can use to improve education.
     
  
• Eid Gift Bags- a community initiative to donate Eid gifts to all ACS workers.
  .
• Waste reduction on campus- aims to promote sustainable practices and raise awareness among students and staff.
• Learning about endangered animals- students learned about the importance of conservation and biodiversity.
     
  
• Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots Awards at DP World in Expo- there’s no better way to learn about Roots & Shoots than from the founder herself! Two students had the amazing opportunity to learn about the various projects that students at other schools were doing and were also motivated by Dr. Jane Goodall’s inspiring lecture.
  .
  

And Finally……

• Impact Celebration-  The Service Learning department launched a new event to showcase the valuable learning and positive influence of various initiatives. Students throughout the school who actively participated in service clubs or personal projects shared their impactful experience through presentations and TEDx talks.