CAS - Al Faris International School
The Al Faris mission has always been to create a holistic curriculum which promotes not only the acquisition of knowledge, but the development of the emotional and physical well-being of our students. The CAS program, part of the IB DP Core requirements, enables students to gain skills and experience through activities that unleash their creativity, promote their physical and mental health, and help to address the needs of the community both local and global. Our CAS activities have included:
Azraq Refugee Assistance
Our sustained, award-winning project to assist refugees situated in Azraq, Jordan has been a cornerstone of the FIS CAS program since Spring 2016. Each year, groups of our students visit Azraq bringing supplies and ready to help. Initiatives have included improvements to school facilities, volunteering at the school and coordinating activities for the children, providing healthy meals for the kids, providing needy children with eye glasses, constructing a new toilet facility and in 2019, renovating a bakery which will provide jobs for four refugee women and benefit the community. Please click the link to our video about this amazing experience for our participating students.
Healthy Lifestyle Initiatives
High school students have conducted projects about health and healthy lifestyle choices. Activities included oral presentations, stations and games. Participants gained an understanding of how to read food labels and learned about healthy snack choices and food portions. Another emphasis was weight management, including the dangers of fad dieting, healthy weight gain and weight loss.
To emphasize the importance of daily exercise, middle and high school students participated in a long-distance (2 Kilometers) walking/jogging activity. Winners were awarded medals, and participants were then given an opportunity to reflect on the importance of sport and exercise in their lives.
Our fitness fun continued in February 2018 when Al Faris students participated in the Riyadh International Half Marathon.
Cancer Awareness
During the month of October, FIS students are active participants in the global Breast Cancer Awareness campaign. Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer affecting women worldwide, and according to the 10KSA organization, Saudi women have a higher mortality rate than most because of low screening and late diagnosis.
Fundraisers for local centers have demonstrated student creativity with stations of products (T-shirts, mugs, pens, calendars, pink ribbons, etc.) and literature promoting breast cancer issues.
In 2016, Al Faris International joined hands with 10KSA to promote awareness, and volunteers took part in the world’s largest humanitarian ribbon formed on December 12, 2016 at Princess Noura University
For our recent fundraisers, our high school girls created a fun fair for primary children with stations of games and activities.
Other activities include a used book sale project to promote reading and add to the school library; visits to hospitals and community centers for children and the elderly, health awareness campaigns, creating an art gallery in the school’s basement, and tutoring younger students who need more assistance and the lauch of ‘FIS Pulse’, a student-created school newsletter.