Service as Action: Visit to Retirement Home

On Friday morning, March 4th, Mr. Brian and Mr. Rafael’s MYP 2/3 English class visited Xi Yang Hong Retirement Home near Qingdao University as a part of their unit on communication. This unit explores the various ways and contexts in which people communicate and how methods of communication change over time. The purpose of the class’ visit was to provide service as action back to the community while also exploring an important Global Context concerning people, boundaries and exchange and interaction.

One of the first aspects of communication QAIS students engaged in was a symbolic one: they provided the home with blankets, soap, and milk as a sign of caring, integrity, respect and thanks. Afterwards, the home’s staff and residents gave the students a warm welcome and were very gracious in allowing our students to be their guests. The students then had the opportunity to meet and sit down with residents to conduct their interviews, play games, and listen to their stories and life experiences. For this unit students also have been creating video diaries to reflect upon their meetings with the retirees where they will communicate their thoughts, feelings, and what they have learned from these interactions. Every Friday these meetings at the retirement home will take place so that QAIS students can continue to build meaningful relationships within the community.