Starting in the Fall of 2018, St. Stephen’s students can take part in a very unique experience as part of their Service Learning or IB CAS experience; they can learn the skills needed to become a “Volontario del sorriso”.

This is a very unique course offered only at St. Stephen’s in which students will meet once a week from October 2018 through April 2019 and learn from local clown doctors from Gemelli Hospital and La Casa di Andrea how important it is to work with children who are suffering from life threatening diseases. The skills students will learn can be applied directly to their volunteer work at La Casa di Andrea.

There are 15 places available and lessons will take place on Wednesdays in the Cultural Center from 4pm to 5pm. If you are interested in signing up for this course, please send an email (parents) to organizer Ms. Jacquet at annie.jacquet@sssrome.it before September the 14.

Please note: As the clown therapists who teach the course are volunteers, students who register for the course may off a donation to the Casa Di Andrea of 160 Euros for the year for 20 lessons.

The following is a short explanation of the experience from 10th grade club member Maria Gabriella C.

“Clown therapy has been a really special activity. It helped me to understand how difficult it is to imagine what these children have to face on a daily basis. It has been a stress releasing activity and it helped me to forget about any insignificant problems in my life. Clown therapy made me discover how beautiful it is to see the world with different eyes and to develop respect towards each other. I discovered that I live better without judging anything. I understood, thanks to some exercises, how to travel with my mind, using only my imagination. In the course, we always play with emotions, we open up to other people, and it's reassuring to know that we are not alone, that there's always someone out there to help and to make us feel better. Clown therapy has been an amazing experience because it teaches us how to live a life full of joy and unity and how to apply those feelings in order to help others.”

For more information about the methodology, click here.