1st March 2010
Press Release
North East MEP Welcomes International Guests to Carmel
Stephen Hughes, MEP for North East England, welcomed staff and students from six European schools to Carmel RC College at the beginning of their four day visit as part of an EU funded project.
Since September 2008 students at Carmel have been collaborating with students from schools in Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Italy and Spain on their third international Comenius project, funded by the Socrates branch of the European Union.
The project, entitled “The Relevance of Traditions and Traditional Values for Young People Today”, has involved the students examining their own attitudes towards such topics as marriage, the family, healthy living and festivals, and comparing them with those of their parents and grandparents and with their partners in the rest of Europe.
As well as working through e-mail and a specially constructed Facebook site, Carmel students and teachers have already presented their work to their peers at conferences held at schools in Germany and Spain. Carmel is proud to be hosting the third in this series of four conferences, with the final event being held in Detva, Slovakia.
As part of his welcome, Stephen Hughes, who represents 2.5 million people in the European Parliament, emphasised how important he felt it was that these projects take place giving students the opportunity to work together with their European counterparts to learn and work together to tackle issues which affect us all.
"The EU's Comenius Programme enables partners to bring their different traditions and values together to find solutions and positive approaches to the challenges we Europeans face today” said Stephen, "I congratulate Carmel College, its students and staff who are engaging in this valuable European work."
Over the next three days the visitors will have the opportunity to work with the students from Carmel as well as take in some of the sights and culture of the North East.