Student Led Events:
Hayah International Academy’s Model United Nations (HIAMUN) student-led conference was initiated in 2011 and has come to be arguably one of the best model MUN experiences in Egypt. After attending three MUN conferences that same year, Mr. Karim El Dib, HIAMUN Director, became confident that Hayah students had the potential to start their own unique conference. Hence, Mr. El Dib decided to initiate HIAMUN. In 2016, HIAMUN became the third THIMUN-affiliated conference in Egypt.
HIAMUN challenges participants to develop solutions to real problems confronting the world today. At HIAMUN conferences, student delegates represent different countries in a realistic simulation of United Nations debates. They prepare and debate resolutions on a wide range of topics in such areas as international relations, human rights, the environment, and economic and social issues. Through involvement in MUN, students increase their knowledge and understanding of global problems and develop their skills in research and analysis.
HIAMUN starts at grade 8, students can sign up for admin positions to help organize the conference that is usually held in February. Students in grade 8 gain a great experience from the many tasks they are assigned for as admins, it is also a great opportunity for students to observe HIAMUN up close and make an educated choice of whether they want to sign up for the HIAMUN in grade 9.
In grade 9 the MUN class introduces students to the world of MUN. Students learn how to research and write topic reports, country reports, position papers, as well as the rules of procedure that manage MUN conferences. As part of this class students are required to attend HIAMUN as delegates and are also offered the chance to attend AISMUN another conference in Spring. After grade 9, all Hayah students can attend MUN conferences by signing up to the HIAMUN Club.
Each year students can choose to attend one local conference and one international conference along with HIAMUN. In order for a student to sign up for an international conference they must have attended at least one local conference.
TEDxYouth@TheNile is an annual student-let event affiliated with TEDxYouth international, held in November of every year. The first TEDxYouth@TheNile event took place in 2011 and was founded by Ms. Lolita Mansour and Ibrahim ElKazaz (Class of 2013 – then, a G10 student). TEDxYouth is an extension of TED, a global organization built with the goal of sharing ideas worth spreading. TED is home to over a thousand talks and has spread to become an international emblem for innovation and new thought. Hayah also has been expanding its TEDx horizons beyond the schools’ borders; in the second year, the event hosted several speakers from various other schools around Egypt. Talks are both in Arabic and English. Hayah encourages its students to participate in this event to build their confidence, explore and extend themselves, and create and participate in a community that is constantly sharing new and innovative ideas, and engage in globally important discussions.
The first Hayah Annual Career Fair was held in 2017 and has been taking place every year since. The purpose of the Hayah Career Fair is to expose students in middle and high school to the different career paths available for them. Student organizers have been involved in organizing this one-day event and inviting a variety of speakers from diverse careers to present and share with students their experiences and personal perspectives about their career choices, what it is like to work in their field and how they can prepare themselves for entering this career. Past speakers have represented a wide array of professions: from medicine, finance, graphic and interior design to psychology, IT, engineering, sciences, architecture, law, sports, and many others. Due to COVID-19, 2020’s event was held online. Although students were not able to meet the speakers face to face, they had the good fortune to have speakers join online from the States, Norway, and France.
The mission of Servant Leaders is to actively engage students from grades 10-12 in developmental and sustainable initiatives that service the basic needs of less advantaged individuals in their communities by inciting them to use their resources, leadership skills, talents and capabilities to live a meaningful purposeful life and make a difference in their local and global communities.
- Servant Leaders aims at embracing empathy as a governing principle when working with less privileged individuals and communities.
- Servant Leaders aims at promoting development and sustainability.
- Servant Leaders aims at guiding students of all ages to reflect on their privileges and the responsibilities associated with them.
- Servant Leaders aims at promoting purposeful and meaningful engagement and leadership opportunities
MS and HS Student Councils are structures for students, through which they work in partnership with school management and staff for the benefit of the students in specific, and the school in general. The Student Council consists of students who are elected to represent the student body to give a greater chance for students to voice their opinions through the correct channels. Interested students nominate themselves and then each class votes for a class representative who then becomes a member in the council. Each school division has its own student council. The elections and the voting is all organized by the students and supervised by the student council supervisor.
The Student Council enables students to foster soft skills like leadership, communication, organization, and public speaking. Another great benefit of the student council is that students can acquire all these skills in a safe environment with support from peers and teachers. It is noticeable that students who participate in the student council gain the confidence to pursue further development when they enter university, and eventually enter the workforce.
Some of the responsibilities and activities that the council is in charge of are:
- Making suggestions about school life and spirit enhancers
- Organizing social events such as talent shows, the BBQ’s, end of year Summer Bash and more
- Planning fundraising activities for identified projects
- Assisting in the organization and execution of any school wide initiatives like the food drive.
