Anatolia College’s i-GEM in Christmas Bazaar
The Anatolia College High School Christmas Bazaar, which took place on December 15, 2024, is one of the most significant Christmas festivities over time. This year not only was the college's centennial in Thessaloniki celebrated, but also the event stood as an opportunity to promote the Christmas spirit as well as the feeling of helping the others through social contribution and the charitable purpose of the event. This annual event successfully united students, faculty, alumni and parents for another year in a row since 1930, enhancing the Christmas spirit while promoting a sense of unity and collaboration within the Anatolia College community. This event’s goal is to take some time to reflect on the year passed and feel the warm atmosphere while participating in various funny activities organized by high school students.
Thus, the bazaar was a showcase of student creativity and talent. Various clubs and organizations participated by selling handmade crafts, baked goods, and holiday decorations. This not only allowed students to express their artistic skills but also fostered teamwork and collaboration among peers. The festive atmosphere was enhanced by performances from student musicians and dancers and the Christmas tree lighting, creating a joyful celebration that resonated with the spirit of Christmas.
Among them, this year we got the chance to participate as the Anatolia’s i-GEM team in the bazaar having our own booths that were attracting the event’s visitors. Our team had set up beforehand an organizing committee particularly for the Christmas Bazaar, which had as a goal to coordinate the initiative in both the outside and the inside. On the outside, we were promoting our team by selling funny biology and Christmas related T-shirts that we had created with our team’s budget. Some other members of our team were walking around, attracting the public’s attention and bringing them to our well decorated booth in the heart of Anatolia College’s campus! They were even wearing Christmas sweaters and headbands resembling the bacteria, to attract the younger kids attending the event, which was adding a funnier glimpse to the event while also promoting our team’s work and preparations and the object above which we work, synthetic biology. The members of the Human Practices and the Marketing department who were attracting the public were assigned to guide them to the Green Lab in case they are interested to learn more on our team’s initiative and the i-GEM competition as a whole. In the STEM building where our team was organizing various activities for the young visitors of the Bazaar, we had prepared many games and activities for young children, but also high school students of our school that were likely to become members in our team.
Another exciting round of preparations was taking place inside Green Lab, where a series of interactive science presentations designed for various age groups, including both younger children and high school students, was held. These demonstrations showcased the innovative projects the team has been developing, presenting the work and roles of each one of our departments, emphasizing the importance of science in our everyday life and sparking curiosity among attendees. However, apart from the informative part, we couldn't have skipped the fun of this event! This is exactly why as a team we had organized various games that were blending biology with christmas. These interactive games, both virtually and on hand, were giving the chance to students to enhance their organization and memory skills and to test their knowledge on biology based on the presentation that the human practices department has already shared to the public. Some of the activities that were held included; memory games for matching concepts of synthetic biology with the correct word describing them or even matching the two identical images together (for younger ages). The final game that we had demonstrated was a new, innovative addition, called “We Are Europe 2” that was combining the aspects of sustainability and environmental responsibility found in our team’s vision with the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The Marketing and Public Relations department also played an important role in the Bazaar in engaging with families and more broadly the community to communicate the team's efforts over the past months. Their outreach aimed to encourage possible financial support through donations or even mentorship opportunities that the attendees could offer us, essential for funding the team's participation in the i-GEM competition and actions within the period of our participation.
The primary goals of the i-GEM team's involvement in the bazaar were fostering the students and families’ interest in STEM activities, promoting our team’s awareness, our vision and accomplishments, while generating excitement in our local community about the i-GEM competition as a whole. By being part of this event, our team has aimed to spread the word for the competition and inspire more students to engage with science by setting the fundamentals for future teams to also get involved in this prestigious competition.
In summary, the Anatolia College High School Christmas Bazaar was more than just an event; it was a heartfelt celebration of community, creativity, and charity. The contributions from the i-GEM team enriched the experience for all attendees, combining science with holiday cheer while reinforcing the college's commitment to social responsibility. Together, participants celebrated not only the joy of the season but also their shared values of generosity and support for those in need.