ESC: VOLUNTEERING IN A SECONDARY SCHOOL- URGENT CALL

The secondary high school IES Rei En Jaume is not only the oldest high school in our city, but it is also the oldest in our region. Nowadays, we are providing high quality education for around 800 students in secondary and high education as well as in vocational studies. Our high school fights for equal rights, freedom and opportunities for all students in the school and the municipality. We educate and socialize students in a happy, safe and stimulating learning environment, which means that we support the individual development of the students as well as the professional development of the teaching staff. Our high school is constantly adapting to the needs of our students. Therefore, we create and adapt our teaching methods to motivate and enroll all our students in a satisfying learning environment. Actually, we have a special department for children and teenagers with special needs. This special education is provided to some specific students who are sent to our high school from towns all over our province. We also have a high commitment for preparing students for their entrance in college and university. This preparation is hard but we are proud of being one of the leaders in high quality students. The number of personnel is 85 teachers, one educator, 3 psychotherapists and 2 psychologists. The total number of students is 760. The age range of our students is 12–18 years. Our high school is in the South-East of Alzira, which is a city with around 43 000 people, in the East of Spain. Our students come from families with different socio-economic characteristics. The motivation to join the European Solidarity Corps is taking the advantage of meeting young European volunteers from different countries and cultures.,who may bring a different cultural background to our school ,with a different language, religion , traditions and customs . This extraordinary educational environment will make us better as students, educators and just humans . Sharing the difference makes us more open- minded, more tolerant and more empathetic in a global society where communication provides us with the great advantage of learning from others and sharing our own national and local heritage as citizens of Europe and citizens of the world. This can be a great experience for our teens coming into adults very soon, and an important part of future generations. Volunteers will find an educational environment to develop their motivational skills , their personal growth and their personal curriculum vitae. They will benefit from the great opportunity to get to know another education system and play an active role in educating new generations of volunteers for the European Solidarity Corps. The coordinator of the projects in our school, Pilar Diana Espí, expert in creating, coordinating and implementing projects. She is an experienced professional not only in educational projects but also in teaching English. The head teacher, Ricardo Fabra Cuenca, and the Secretary of the High School, Isabel Zanón Hernández, are also experienced teachers in the English language and ICT skills respectively.