Stamford American International School Supports The World’s Big Sleep Out

SINGAPORE -�Media
OutReach - December 11, 2019 – Stamford
American International School – Sleeping Out in Solidarity. To raise awareness of homelessness and
the refugee predicament worldwide, a pioneering group comprising of 16 Grade 11 and 12 students
as well as 4 teachers took part in their first ever Sleep Out on school
premises as part of The World’s Big
Sleep Out.

 

 

World’s Big Sleep Out at Stamford American
International School Singapore

The World’s Big Sleep Out
is now an annual global event to help raise awareness and funds to help the
world’s homeless and displaced. The Sleep Out was held across 52 cities, with
over 50,000 people taking part. Even celebrities such as Will Smith and Dame
Helen Mirren read bedtime stories to
participants who braved the winter weather to sleep on the street in New York
and London respectively.

 

The Stamford students
participated as part of the Creativity, Activity and Service Program (CAS). CAS
is one of the three essential elements that every student must complete as part
of the International
Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.

 

Stamford’s
CAS Coordinator Ms. Sharon Newman, who organised the Stamford event, said, “The
students all volunteered their day and night to help bring attention to what is
a worldwide epidemic. I’m really proud of our students who made a choice to get
involved by sleeping out in solidarity with those who have no choice where they
sleep at night.

 

We
know that research by the Institute of Global Homelessness shows
that figures have reached a new level with more than a 100 million people homeless and displaced around the world. In New
York alone, more people are now homeless than at any time since the Great
Depression, and the number of homeless people and refugees in cities around the
world continues to hit record highs with each passing year.”

 

After setting up ‘camp’ on the school tennis courts, the
Stamford students settled in to what was an uncomfortable insight into what it
was like to sleep in the open.

One
of the participating students, Veera, said “Although we didn’t experience homelessness
to its full extent it was confronting to experience even just a part of it. I’m
very grateful for the luxuries I have which seem normal to us like beds and
showers.”

Another Sleep Out student, Phillipa, said participating in the
event really challenged her perceptions of homelessness. “When I was 10, I saw
a girl about my own age outside a restaurant begging for money but also using
the light of the restaurant to finish her homework. Last night I had a small
look into what she experienced every single day. But the difference is, I was
safe and I had the option of just going back inside. I’m very grateful for this
experience as I now have a much clearer understanding of what homelessness is
really like.”

In addition to
participating in the sleepout the students also volunteered their time to run
events at the Stamford’s annual Winter Wonderland
festival, held on the evening of the sleepout.
Students sold hot chocolate gift bags and ran a virtual reality experience
called “Becoming Homeless” designed by Stanford University students.

About Stamford American International School:

Stamford American International School is a leading international school in Singapore for children aged 2 months
to 18 years. At Stamford American, our vision is to inspire students to create
their unique future. Our students not only have the opportunity to choose a
sought after education pathway to help realize their academic ambitions, they
are also provided with life skills reflective of the IB Learner Profile as
adaptive, thoughtful and principled young adults, with a fostered inclination
to design, innovate, problem solve and communicate. We offer the full
International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme integrated with US Standards,
combined with the College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) courses.