Halcyon CAS Project Q&A: St. Lucy’s School for the Blind

This school year, students Silvia (G11), Yonca (G11), Lauren (G11), Tilly (G11), Mikhail (G12) and Alex (G11) have been working together on their CAS (creativity, activity, service) project. Their specific CAS project involves raising money to support St. Lucy’s School for the Blind in Kenya and develop an authentic school to school relationship. Through a Q&A with the CAS group we learned a bit more about their service efforts!

How did you choose St. Lucy’s school in Kenya for your CAS project?
We chose St. Lucy’s School as it is a school close to the heart of our ESS teacher, Mr. Steiner, and as supporting visually impaired children is a cause we find especially meaningful and impactful. As an international school based in central London, we are incredibly fortunate to have access to resources and fundraising opportunities that many  schools in developing countries do not. Through this project, we hope to use our privilege in a way that supports St. Lucy’s School and help improve the education available to its students. 

What kind of activities did you do to raise money for the school? 
In order to raise the money we decided to do a variety of different activities. Our first fundraiser was a bake sale, where both teachers and students could purchase home made cookies. We also presented our project to parents who could donate directly if interested. We then did a raffle, where students could pay to guess the amount of jelly beans in a jar. For our next activity we had students guess teacher’s baby pictures in order to win a prize. Finally, we created a holiday activity where students could pay one pound to send a candy cane to their friends.

Are you still in the process of raising money for St Lucy’s? What is your target amount?
We have officially finished raising money for St. Lucy’s School for the Blind. After generous donations and the money we raised from donations we have come up with the sum that has reached our target amount! We are super grateful to everyone who donated and participated in the activities we hosted and we are glad to say Saint Lucy's School will now have enough money to build themselves a satellite connection system. 

How did you work together as a team to get this project off the ground?
As a group we efficiently communicated, persevered and worked together in order to plan and host successful fundraisers almost once a week. Each week we were assigned a different role in order to successfully bring everything together. 

What other sorts of projects do you have in mind to continue to build an authentic relationship between Halcyon and St. Lucy’s?
To continue building an authentic relationship between Halcyon and St. Lucy’s, we would like to move beyond fundraising and focus on more connection and communication. For example, we could exchange letters, voice notes, or short videos so students from both schools can learn about each other’s lives and cultures (this will also increase the international mindedness of Halcyon students). We could organize annual fundraising or awareness events to keep supporting St. Lucy’s long-term. In the future, we would like to stay updated on how the funds are being used and share this with the Halcyon community, so the relationship feels ongoing and meaningful rather than a one-time project. 

What is something you learned from this project? 
From this project, I learned how important teamwork, communication and organization are when trying to make a real impact. Working together as a group taught me how to plan effectively, share responsibilities, and persevere even when things get challenging. I also learned that small actions, like weekly fundraisers, can come together to create meaningful change, and that supporting a cause is not just about raising money but about building awareness and responsibility within a community.