As part of the final year of PYP, the fifth graders held a huge exhibition of projects that they designed, researched, and implemented over the course of seven weeks. The main theme was “Sharing the Planet” and students chose topics connected to this theme, such as public transportation, deforestation, air pollution, child welfare, healthcare access, and racism. Students had to research and interview experts related to their topic, conduct surveys, develop and execute a community action, and prepare a creative performance. All of their information was combined on a large display that, along with the performances, was shown on the Exhibition day. Students added their own flair with food, games, balloons, stickers and more. Overall, it was an extremely fun event and it demonstrated how much the students had learned over their time in PYP. Many parents commented on the changes they saw in their children and how they were more independent, curious, and engaged. Even the students themselves stated that the Exhibition process was fascinating. One student stated that it gave them the opportunity to prove to themselves that they could work hard and succeed. Throughout the process, Exhibition develops a student’s social, thinking, self-management, research, and communication skills, combining not only their academic accomplishments but also the attributes promoted by the International Baccalaureate. It is the first major milestone in a young learner’s journey to become an internationally minded inquirer.

In the frame of unit of inquiry “Energy” PYP 4B grade students visited “Crazy Hall” to transfer their theoretical knowledge into practice and clearly see interrelations between different types of energy. Students could not hide their emotions when they realized that jumping down from climbing walls and falling into foam pit was the result of gravitational potential energy that was changed into kinetic energy; And that gravitational force was the reason of making them difficult to climb out from that foam pit. While jumping on the trampoline they understood that the energy stored in a stretched object was elastic potential energy making them bounce up and down over and over. The students spent (consumed) their mechanical energy during one hour and went back to school with awareness of concept of different types of energy. It was great opportunity for students to mix up knowledge with fun.

Currently, the PYP grade 4 students are inquiring into the unit “Energy”. One of the lines of inquiry is “Renewable and nonrenewable energy”. To take a closer look at wind turbines, and find out first-hand how they generate electricity, the students visited a wind farm, located in Gori which is currently the only wind farm in Georgia. The students interviewed the electrician, who provided them with some information about the onshore wind farms. Our students had a great time and found the trip very enjoyable! Part of their next project will be to design a model for the country, using only green energy.

On the 11th of May PYP organized an ‘appreciation day’ as part of their ‘countdown to summer’ (summer countdown). Each day of the summer countdown is in alphabetical order and is very exciting for our students. For appreciation day, PYP students wrote letters and made cards for their teachers, the administration and all of the members of the European School Staff to show how much they appreciate their efforts and simply to say, ‘thank you’.

On May 10, third graders participated in a special Geography competition. As students have been inquiring the unit “Oceans, seas and river of the Earth” they learnt about continents, oceans and other bodies of water. Students also learned how to work with maps and identify different bodies of water, like rivers and seas. Thus, to summarize all their knowledge, a special Geography competition was held. Students from both grades were divided into 4 groups. The competition consisted of 3 rounds. In the first one, students had to answer the questions about the topics they have covered through the unit. Second round was about map search, kids had to choose a card with a body of water written on it and they had to find it on the map. For the final rounds kids had to create actual maps. In the end of the competition the winning team received certificates and globes for their hard work. Between the rounds, students also had the opportunity to performed songs and dances. All our students enjoyed the competition, and although winning was important to them they displayed great teamwork and used their knowledge acquired during our lessons.

On May 7, 2018, around 150 students from leading universities and schools participated in the annual cyber olympiad - CyberCube 2018. Two teams were representing the European School. The first team brought together students from American High School and IB Programmes: Aleksandre Lomadze-Gabiani, AHS, grade 11, Giorgi Chakhnashvili, IB MYP grade 10, Giorgi Imnaishvili, AHS, grade 10. Last year, the boys finished eleventh among fifty competing teams. This year, however, they’ve improved their performance and finished eighth. The second team consisted of students from Georgian Program: Omar Shekiladze, grade 8, Aleksandre Tvaliashvili, grade 8, and Konstantine Chkhaidze, grade 7. Georgian Program joined CyberCube for the first time this year. Throughout the olympiad, our teachers, Davit Nozadze and Irakli Javakhishvili, mentored our teams.

Our PYP third graders visited the Tbilisi Zoo, as part of their inquiring into the unit “Oceans, seas and rivers of Earth”, They have studied about all creatures that inhabit bodies of water. Our students had the opportunity to see with their own eyes different kinds of animals and fish. During the trip students were greeted by a tour guide who took the students to the Egzotarium where they were introduced to different species of fish, snakes, frogs and other living creatures that inhabit bodies of water. The tour guide explained and provided information about the zoo animals and answered students’ questions. As part of the trip, students also took a walk around the zoo and were introduced to the animals. They also had an opportunity to feed a camel, which turned out to be an amazing experience for our students.

The European School concluded the celebrations of the IB’s 50th anniversary with a marathon around Lisi Lake, on April 28, 2018. About 50 students from Georgian Program, American High School and IB Programmes participated in the race, running 2500 meters around the lake. The purpose of the marathon was to promote sports and healthy lifestyle within our school community.

Within celebrations of the IB’s 50th anniversary, the European School organized Humanities Day on April 27, 2018. The day was filled with different activities, projects and extraordinary classes. Georgian Program Grade 10 students organized a project named “History Revived through Photography.” The students exhibited historical photographs, demonstrating how modern states were formed and developed over the course of history.