The Millie Scarborough ‘Friends for Life’ Program
Owl-Talk. Student Led Groups. Episode: 1
We invite you to join our students Eva, Tayla, Carolina and Nova for a super interesting, lively and informative conversation with Mr. John.
For the Podcast - Listen here.
The program leaders ...
It has been a challenging school year to coordinate a large project, but four of our DP 1 students Eva, Tayla, Carolina and Nova have taken the challenges in their collective strides to energetically facilitate The Millie Scarborough ‘Friends for Life’ program. In doing so, they have once again ensured this welcoming, supportive program has been an integral part of our school fabric whilst honoring the memory and legacy of Millie Scarborough, a former student and one of the program's founders.
This year the program hosted 175 students, 90 of whom were able to complete it as one of their Service as Action requirements. We asked our inspiring program leaders what they enjoyed most about the program.
"I think we have all enjoyed the bond we have formed as a group as well as the experience and skills we have learned from starting the program. We have also enjoyed seeing the friendships develop with the buddies and how some of them have clicked so well with one and other. Even watching some of them outside their meetings and seeing the older buddies help the younger buddies when they see them struggling. It is very rewarding to be able to see the bond between all the buddies."
The challenges …
It is impossible not to be impressed with the creativity, adaptability and reflective nature of these students of ours when asked about their challenges and how they overcame them.
"One challenge that we did face was the launch of the program. Due to the number of students that had signed up it was very hard to do the gym launch with the many complications that came with it. After that first attempt, we sat down and tried to find the best way to launch and have each buddy meet each other. We then concluded to do it in our individual groups which in my opinion was far better than the gym as it was a lot less intimidating and felt more personal with the buddies as they had a smaller and less crowded place to get to know each other. Another challenge was pairing all the buddies as we went based of interests and language. So often we would have interests that did not match with anyone or too many younger buddies had similar interests and there was a limited number of older buddies with those interests. Overall, we did very well with the pairings and most buddies seem to have a good connection and even without the interest they both put in the questionnaire they have found something they both enjoy. For me personally, (Tayla) a challenge that I faced was speaking in front of a large group of people during the group meetings. for the first few meetings I struggled and relied on a friend to help me out when swapping activities however, I slowly started to get more confident with my groups, which I feel was probably a struggle for a couple of us."
What some of the participants had to say …
"The highlight for me was being able to form a normal and comfortable relationship with my buddy. Only at the start we were a bit shy but the awkwardness broke very soon."
"I particularly liked it when my buddy shared a photo of her new dog with me. It felt as if I was one of her best friends. A funny moment we had together was when I had to help her during lunch because people were cutting the queue for the canteen."
"There was not just one part of this program that I found the best part, I've enjoyed all of it. Before we started this program, I was hesitant to join, I feared talking to new people and this program has helped me with learning that it's not always as scary as it seems. I think that the program did not only help the younger buddies but the older ones too."
Did you make a friend in this program?
"Yes! My buddy and I were a perfect pair. We have the same interests and hobbies and immediately felt at ease talking to one another, I suppose it was a lucky pairing, but I know that the leaders of the group tried their very best to pair similar people together."
"Due to Covid-19 my buddy and I have not been able to meet up and do things together like you normally would, but my favorite activity that we did is go on a walk and have snacks in the park in Blaricum. We spoke for just over an hour and had fun. My buddy lives in Naarden and I live in Hilversum so sometimes the distance makes it difficult, but we work it out. At the beginning of the year and during online schooling we had teams meetings together and would talk online."
"The program gives the school a larger sense of a community and home. It lets the most distant grades become friendly and known to each other, and I know that the younger students love saying hi to their buddies in the hallways."
Thinking of putting your hand up to facilitate the program next year ….
Perhaps you’re a student who’s thinking of running with the Mille Scarborough ‘Friends for Life’ program as your CAS your project next year? We asked the girls if they have any advice for you.
"Possibly have an application process for the older buddies as this year we had an overwhelming turnout this year. Also, for anyone who wants to sign up for a leader it is not as easy as it may seem, so be prepared for extra work. The biggest stress is starting the program and it certainly is not launched as easy as it may seem. We were also quite unlucky with the covid situation recently so that brought a lot of planning on what our next strategy would be. But also, just enjoy the program, it is certainly the most rewarding CAS and less demanding than others once you get past the first stages."
Owl-Talk the official ISH podcast channel where Mr. John chats candidly with our ISH community. We are excited to share these conversations with you, so you too can feel a part of the wonder of owl life here at ISH.