Scholarship Program
Established in 2019, the Ali Ghandour Center for Leadership, Diversity and Civic Engagement (AGC) marks the first community-based learning center of its kind at the secondary school level in the region.
Jointly funded by IC and the Ghandour family, the AGC offers a scholarship program and an intensive leadership and dynamic citizenship program through a Community Engaged Learning (CEL) model.
Spread over three years, starting with the 10th grade, the program mentors students through a sequenced journey, beginning with extensive volunteering with an array of grassroots organizations and culminating with students leading Community Service Projects (CSPs). The program also exposes enrolled students to national, regional and international competitions in a wide range of fields, among them social entrepreneurship, project design, implementation and evaluation and public speaking, all with the aim of providing students with the skills and tools to become active agents of change.
Applications for the scholarship program for the upcoming three academic years are now open. For more information, please click here to be directed to the below flyer.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
The Ali Ghandour Center for Leadership, Diversity, and Civic Engagement Center
The program exposes enrolled students to national, regional, and international speaker events, training programs, and competitions in a wide range of fields, among them social entrepreneurship, project design, and public speaking, with the aim of providing students with the skills and tools to learn the ethos of leadership, values of civic engagement, and active citizenship over three years:
● Grade 10 – Level 1
● Grade 11 – Level 2
● Grace 12 – Level 3
Level 1 of the AGC program will build on students' soft skills through tailored training and workshop sessions. These sessions aim to help students successfully reach leadership and civic engagement milestones, which focus on the Sustainable Development Goals. Students will also volunteer in carefully selected civic engagement initiatives.
Level 2 of the AGC program will continue building on the soft skills of student leaders; however, this level will allow students to begin experiencing a more practical approach to their new skills. They will have to assess the needs of their communities and the communities around them, plan their Community Service Projects (CSPs), pitch their project ideas, and start implementing them. Students will master project cycle management skills and design their interventions with and for the communities through a mutually beneficial relationship.
Students at this level will also pitch their project ideas to their classmates and peers, who could then join them in their missions as they implement their CSPs. With more students on board, social action projects will have the opportunity to grow and impact.
Level 3 of the AGC program is all about creating a vision and ensuring the sustainability of students’ projects. At the beginning of this level (in grade 12), students will assess the progress of their projects, communicate the recent outcomes to their peers at IC and their partners in the communities, and involve both parties in building long-term sustainability plans for their projects.
In parallel, the AGC program will expose students to local and international opportunities, encourage prosocial behaviors, and empower them to become agents of change. This will not only give them the needed skills and expertise to fulfill the admission requirements of the best universities in Lebanon and the world but will also provide them with the needed soft and personal skills to build their characters and instill in them a sense of leadership.
