CAS Students Create a Christmas Party Set-Up
For our CAS project, we decided to decorate a hall at Lisbon University with eco-friendly ornaments for the annual Christmas dinner organised for the homeless. Our punctual attendance portrayed our commitment due to our tight schedule, as we had to have everything ready before the event's set-up, which would be on the 15th of December. Each afternoon we met, we would split into different groups with the younger students and explain to them what to do.
As we wanted to involve the maximum number of students in our project, we decided to invite primary students from the Bilingual Curriculum to join us. Since there are many students, we decided to create four different Christmas-related ornaments, one for each year group. We each took one of the shapes home and decorated it using eco-friendly materials such as strings, bottle caps, paint… These would work as example templates to inspire the students to be creative as they would have to decorate their own. During our tutor time, we presented the project to an assigned year group and gave them the previously cut shapes. A few weeks later, we went back to collect the art pieces, and we were impressed with how creative and committed the students were! We then used all the shapes to decorate the windows around the hall.
Another one of our goals was to make this project as sustainable as possible. Therefore, we not only encouraged the primary students to use eco-friendly materials but did the same. During our weekly sessions, we reorganised the decorations made in previous years. We created new ones, such as snowflake patterns from cut coffee pods, star shapes made from sticks that we then attached to strings so we could hang them in the hall, Christmas crowns made from roll paper, reflective disks made from old CDs…
On decoration day, we met at the school gate and loaded the bus with all the decorations and equipment needed. Then, we went on a half an hour ride to the university. At the canteen, we took our things upstairs to the hallway we were responsible for. Once everything was ready, we started planning how to set everything up. We decided to decorate the first two windows with handmade sleighs made of cardboard and little stars of different colours around them. The next window was decorated with Christmas crowns, and all the following windows had one of the four shapes (circles, squares, stars, and Christmas trees). We then hung the strings across the ceilings, where we attached the red bottles we collected and the reflective disks made from old CDs. Lastly, to decorate the pillars we hung the coffee pod patterns.
Overall, this project was an enriching experience that brought forth valuable lessons and insights. As a team, we delved into the heart of community service, and the outcomes were heartening. It opened our eyes to how privileged we are to be blessed with a joyful Christmas, and we appreciate the process behind organising events, which we normally take for granted. Also, by wanting this project to be as sustainable as possible, we understood it is attainable to achieve a more eco-friendly Christmas, which is something we can all do in our own homes. Lastly, through this project, we realised how easy it is to engage with the younger students and get them involved in helping our community.
Sofia, Helena, Kayla e David, Year 12 students
Coordination: Ms Maria Pinto, CAS Service Coordinator
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