Dear Families and Friends,

Welcome back to our House Blog!

We are very proud to announce that this evening we started with our boys a “21 days Vipassana Meditation Challenge”. It will last until the Winter Holiday. 15 minutes every day. Bedtime.

Since the beginning of the school year, we exposed our kids to a meditation practice, which in the last years has become an essential part of our daily routine. The boys decide to join the two meditation sessions (morning, bedtime) voluntarily and since August they have practiced some very basic breathing techniques for few minutes every day. We gradually increased the meditation time, and by the end of marking period 1, we reached a 15 minutes bedtime practice.

So, what is the need to start a 21 days meditation challenge then? What is Vipassana meditation and why out of many different meditation techniques we chose Vipassana?

Those are legitimate questions that will certainly get an answer in our next blog post on this topic. The option to get a swifter response? Ask our kids! Challenge them with your curiosity! Your interest will certainly boost their determination to learn a vital life skill… and, by the way, why don’t you join our challenge?

“Self-Portrait” by Richard Z.

Over the weekend a group of students participated in a photography workshop taking some pictures of our beautiful surroundings. Congratulations for these wonderful shots!

Over the past 21 years schools, companies and individuals have donated gifts to thousands of needy children in orphanages, schools, hospitals and to many children who have just been abandoned or are living in appalling conditions. These Gift Boxes will go to help children in Moldavia, Belarus and Ukraine. For most it was the first gift they had ever received, a very special unexpected present, bringing a sparkle to their eyes and unimaginable joy.

The gift boxes include items our children would probably not appreciate, such as toothbrushes and toothpaste, soap and school supplies but to these children they are all very important items that make their lives a little easier.

Well done to our Kevin who probably knows by instinct that giving to others means enriching oneself!

Marking Period 1 is now over and it’s always surprising to notice how time escapes us here at Collège du Léman. There are always so many things happening and to take care of and the boys in our House have had very hectic weeks!

The end of the Marking Period offers, therefore, a good opportunity to slow down and to take stock of the work done so far and discuss the great achievements, fun memories, difficult moments and aspects that need improvement.

In the specific case of our boys, during our last House assembly of this Marking Period, we simply took the opportunity to let them know how proud they have made their parents and us for being such a great example of diligent students. There are indeed countless reasons to praise our kids and it would be impossible to list all their virtues in a blog post. We do want to share a few remarkable traits of their personalities which have left us astonished on many occasions.

One of the most sensitive and challenging aspects of our job is to gain the trust of our students and to make sure House rules are followed with a relaxed and positive attitude. The Champ des Bois boys have often proven their remarkable maturity understanding that the rules we have in place are there to provide a sense of order and reassurance, help them with their social skills and keep them safe.

Our kids do not enjoy wasting their money! They are thrifty and wise with their spendings and they clearly do not mistake the satisfaction of their desires with “happiness“… pretty remarkable in a world where children are increasingly regarded as customers, bombarded with commercials, where branding is becoming a religion and where there are endless variety of disposable goods and leisure products designed specifically for them.

Some of them, in particular, have volunteered every single week to participate in our ongoing environmental project, picking litter up around our neighborhood and helping with the recycling of the materials found, embracing with their effort one of our most valued cause. For these kids, community service have simply been part of their weekly routine since the start of the school year and soon we will publish the results of this extraordinary efforts.

For all this and many other reasons, we would like to offer our most heartfelt thanks to our wonderful boys: Arush, Agastya, Aitik, Kevin and Richard!