Over the years AIESEC Romania has concentrated its projects on the educational sector, mostly because we felt the need of offering an alternative support to the formal educational system in the country. 

We felt the need to complement the education of the high-schoolers because we noticed that they didn't know anything about themselves or what to do with their lives after finishing high-school. Then we went even more back in time and we approached the students in the middle schools, because we noticed that education starts shaping the character of the children even sooner, so we thought we would have better chances to "get to them" and better participants in the high-school. We aproached the elementary school afterwards because we got the idea to create a full educational cycle for the youngsters in Romania. At the same time we started collaborating with the kindergardens because we wanted to offer a live full of multiculturalism to our young generations and to educate them in the spirit of tolerance.

All in all what we intend through this full educational cycle is to EDUCATE ROMANIA, but more than that to educate the people that form Romania. We start soon, because we know that it gets harder to change a person when they already lived a lifetime in their own way. But it's easy and impactful to shape a person, or more exactly to help them shape themselves by being there in the most important years of their lives. 

I & THE WORLD - explore the world -- DIVERSITY

INTERNATIONAL KINDERGARTEN

Frist, they start by exploring the limits of their realities, when in kindergarten they see for the first time a person from another continent. The communication is not that sofisticated yet, because children don't know English in kindergarden, but the simple visual impact and the signs they use to communicate, and the games they play are things that make the children explore and wonder to the limits of their past realities that now break loose. Everything is possible. How did he traveled across the sea? Why does he have his eyes so small? How come he doesn't speak my language?

LET'S GO

(1-4 graders)

Then, in elementary school, they get to communicate better, using also a translator, and they explore the world through the culture of the international students which substitute the teachers in some classes. They get introduced to basic notions about politeness, multiculturalism, international holidays, ecology, healthy life-style and get new perspectives about them since they are presented through the eyes of a foreigner and they are full of local examples and games. Kids become proactive towards meeting new people and they get familiarised with the idea of travelling the world to see different cultures and traditions.

I & THE OTHERS - explore the differences -- TOLERANCE

SUMMER VITAMINS - WINTER VITAMINS

(5-8 graders)

Middle school is all about getting to know each other, the fact that everybody is different and the challenge to tolerate and respect each other. The students already know English well enough to communicate for themselves, they CHOOSE to participate to the project and they get in touch with the internationals outside of the formal class-room. In their sessions they talk about diversity and cultures but slowly bridge to connection to future plans and career development, approaching subjects like values, creativity, team-work, ecology.

CULTURAL MIX

(9-12 graders)

Complementing the GROW project which has the purpose of offering personal development and career orientation, in Cultural Mix project we are trying to offer the highschoolers a cultural education, therefore the project offers trainings of language and culture with natives. Apart from learning basic elements of the language, the students also receive a new perspective on the cultures they are studying, they learn local dances, taste local cuisine, understand local traditions. They open their mind becoming more cultural sensitive and therefore more prepared to enter AIESEC and go in an internship after they finish highschool. 

I & MYSELF - explore yourself -- SELF AWARENESS

GROW

(9-12 graders)

HIghschoolers grow alot in the 4 years of study. But they also need to orient themselves in the career, and make it fast, so they can focus their efforts in the right direction throughout the high-school. This is where GROW project fills the need and provides them personal development and career orientation. We do this by helping them explore themselves, their abilities their fears and their future. GROW is a 4 year program which has a continuous curriculla for each year of study approaching subjects like personal values, diversity, tolerance, career posibilities, communication, self-expression, self-management, proactivity.