Academy for Innovation and Change through Education

in collaboration with
North Carolina-Moldova Bilateral Partnership

North CarolinaMoldova
Service Learning School
Partnership Project
The project aims to connect 25 schools from Moldova and North
Carolina in order for them to collaborate when implementing various community development projects. Project participants will
lean how to introduce community engagement pedagogies in their
daily instruction and enhance state curriculum with civic engagement related methodologies.
This project will be made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Department of State. Its contents are
the responsibility of the Project Team and do not necessarily reflect the
views of the Department of State or the United States Government.

Teacher goals:

encourage interactive teaching methods and reciprocal

learning;

add new insights and dimensions to class discussions;

promote students' active learning and engage students with

different learning styles;

develop students' civic and leadership skills;

foster relationships between faculty and community

organizations, which can open other opportunities for
collaborative work;

improve school climate and positive school-community

relationships.

Student goals:

develop both interpersonal sand leadership skills as result of

international collaboration;

develop a sense of meaning and purpose in their academic life;

experience different cultures and as a result, reduce many

negative and unnecessary stereotypes;

develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills;

enhance various skills in the areas of communication,

collaboration, and leadership;

gain deeper understanding of themselves and empathy and

respect for others.

American and Moldovan students

will communicate:

Via project blog

Using Skype and Viber

Through Facebook

On project forum

By email

American and Moldovan teachers

will learn how to engage students in service
learning initiatives while:

being guided by project coordinators and mentors;

participating in bi-monthly webinars;

completing bi-monthly online assignments;

exchanging email with colleagues and partners;

collaborating with project strategic partners: iEARN

(International and Education Network), Youth Service
America, Ministry of Education, US Embassy to Moldova

Project Schedule

October 2016Participant registration

20-25 schools from North Carolina and Republic of Moldova

will register to participate in the project. A project blog will be
created to link all international teams. Each school will publish
a short profile to include school info, website, Facebook link,
logo, plus a few student group pictures. Schools from North
Carolina and Republic of Moldova will be paired up according
to school profiles and student preferences. Students from both
sides of the Atlantic will be introduced to each other via photo
and video introductions.

November 2016Investigation

Project participants will participate in two webinars to learn

about the benefits of service learning to students, schools and
communities. Online instructional modules will be posted on
the project blog. Participants will be guided along the process
of planning, conducting and implementing service learning
initiatives which are also linked to their school curricula.

December 2016Preparation and planning

American and Moldovan educators and students will work

together to plan several service learning initiatives in their
local communities. Students will exchange ideas and feedback
on the project blog and via Skype sessions.

January 2017Action

American and Moldovan teachers will learn how to integrate

service learning initiatives in their school curricula. Two
webinars will be organized to introduce participants to such
concepts as experiential learning and critical reflection as part
of service learning. Educators will develop rubrics that assess
and evaluate aspects of the project, including collaboration,
teamwork, presentation, etc.

February 2017-March 2017Action and Demonstration

American and Moldovan students will work together to implement

various community serving initiatives in their local communities.
They will create video reports to reflect on their involvement in the
project. All reports will be published on the project blog. In March
students will vote for the most creative and inspiring video reports.

March 2017Reflection, assessment and evaluation

Project participants will reflect on the implementation of their

service learning initiatives. Students involvement will be evaluated
according to the rubrics created in January. Skype sessions will be
organized for American and Moldovan students to exchange
feedback on their experience.
PROJECT THEMES

SAMPLE STUDENT ACTIVITIES

Conduct a survey to learn about the needs of their communities;

Organize a local campaign to raise funds to support the poor or

the socially vulnerable;

Plan a flash mob to prevent drug use among young people in the
area;

Interview a senior citizen to find out what the needs of the elderly
are;

Raise awareness about land, water or air pollution and encourage

communities to protect the environment;

Coordinate a recycling initiative for children and youth;

Manage a volunteering event to encourage students be actively

engaged in their communities;

Help local authorities clean a local park or plant trees and

flowers;

Partner with a local NGO and get involved in a community

service activity as volunteers;

Contributions: The students will get an opportunity to engage in

experiential learning and make a difference in their communities in
collaboration with their peers from over the Atlantic.
Outcomes: At the end of each of the projects American and
Moldovan students will share their project details, experiences and
outcomes in the form of simple reports, Power Point presentation,
pictorial report or short 2-5 minutes videos. The project outcomes of
the students will be displayed on the project forum. We will also vote
for the most creative and powerful video reports.

PROJECT TEAM
Dr Daniela Munca-Aftenev
A transformative leader in Moldovan cross-cultural education and
exchange programs, with more than a ten year expertise in
managing educational projects, online teaching methodology,
project-based inquiry, global classroom development, diplomacy,
service-learning, alumni development, and ESL/EFL (teaching
English as a second / foreign language). The go-to person for U.S.
organizations, the US Embassy, American Councils Moldova, IREX
Moldova, and other agencies wanting high-quality, creative, and
impactful youth and teachers programs in Moldova. Coordinated the
following projects: iEARN Moldova Global Youth Service
Day and EFL Blogging School (financed by US Embassy to
Moldova), i-Engage: Ukraine-Georgia-Belarus-Moldova Online
Teacher Network (financed by US Department of State), Web 2.0
Tools for Institute of Education Sciences Experts (financed
by IREX International Research and Exchange Board), Teaching
Foreign Languages for Specific Purposes in the 21st
Century International Conference (financed by IREX
International Research and Exchange Board), iEARN-Moldova
network for K-12 teachers (ECA Alumni Small Grants
Award, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the US
Department of State).

Olga Morozan
An expert with extensive experience as project coordinator and
trainer in various national and international projects and programs
connected to education and social sciences. Has expertise in cowriting projects financed by U.S Department of State, American
Councils for International Education (International Outreach
Funds). Advanced skills in designing and teaching e-learning/faceto-face courses in Education and Social Sciences, Management and
Leadership for all age students, pre-/-in-service specialists in education, psychology and management, future leaders of Moldovan society. Curently coordinating thee Access Microscholarship Program
financed by US Department of State, serves as the iEARN-Moldova
Country Coordinator. Has successfully coordinated and implemented various cross-cultural, educational and civic engagements programs and projects, such as Make the Change through Civic
Engagement and Make the Change through Social
Theater. Involved in various international academic and research
projects, such as Student Active Learning in Science, financed
by Tempus Tacis, Developing standards of learning efficiency and standards of quality in secondary general education institution from the perspective of child-friendly
school in partnership with Ministry of Education of Moldova,
UNICEF Moldova and Institute of Educational Sciences of Moldova.

Corina Ceban
One of the most active iEARN-Moldova teachers, expert in
integrating blogs in second language acquisition, holds an MA in
Education and is currently working at the Vasile Alecsandri
Lyceum from Bli. Has worked as an Acccess
Microscholarship instructor, EFL Blogging School and EFL
Youth Voices Project trainer. Holds 1st didactic degree in teaching
English as a foreign language and a superior didactic degree.
Graduated the E-teaching Program with a focus on alternative
assessment, University of Oregon, USA in 2013 and the SUSI
Academic
Program, U.S. Inst itutes for Scholars
and Secondary Educators , Montana, USA, 2015.

PROJECT PARTNERS

iEARN is a non-profit organization made up of over 30,000 schools

and youth organizations in over 140 countries. iEARN empowers
teachers and young peo-ple to work together online using the Internet and other new communications technologies. Over 2,000,000
students each day are engaged in collabo-rative project work worldwide.

Founded in 1986, YSA supports a global culture of engaged children

and youth committed to a life-time of meaningful service, learning,
and leader-ship. With half the worlds population under age 25, our
mission is to help all young people find their voice, take action, and
make an impact on vital community issues.