2018
We started out in February with Katona Noémi, a John Maxwell team member, who walked us through the 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, a book by John Maxwell on personal development. On our second meet we discussed our favourite books and watched a part of the Leonardo DiCaprio’s documentary on climate change, entitled Before the Flood. The third edition was actually a Workshop on Fast Reading, with Diana Șugar, efficient learning techniques coach. This workshop was quite amazing since we all got to measure our own rhythm of reading, using an unknown text and we did some interesting exercises for better focus and concentration, and also for quickening our rhythm of reading. The results were stunning, at the end of the workshop, many of the participants managed to accelerate their reading, raising their number of words read per minute by 50-60 words. At the fourth edition we talked about Robert Kiyosaki’s book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” and viewed a documentary on pressing matters, on global warming issues.
In July we invited Bogdan Rațiu, a romanian language and literature professor, who challenged us to see both the language and the process of reading from a very different point of view. He based his very creative workshop on the new book of writer Matei Vișniec: Iubirile de tip pantof și iubirile de tip umbrelă.
In August we watched a documentary about another pressing issue of our times: consumerism, and a possible antidote for it Minimalism.
This summer we were present at two editions of a summer event called Barefoot In The Grass, in June and in August: we had wrapped books and people could come and bring their own wrapped book and switch with one of ours, we called it Blind Date With A Book. We also read stories to children.
In September we watched a deeply impressive documentary on human behaviour and feelings entitled Human. There were many lessons to be learnt, the most important of them all: the fact that we are all human first and we should accept and respect each other, wherever we live, regardless of our living conditions or social status. We feel, we love, we hope, we survive.
We concluded the year with a foreign speaker on minimalism. Jella Jornales, fashion blogger and speaker, former shopaholic is now an adept of the minimalist lifestyle. She came all the way from the Philippines to teach us some practical tips and tricks of living our lives more based on the principles of minimalism and less on those of consumerism. You can follow her english blog here: www.jellajornales.com For those interested in this matter, here you have a blog written in romanian: dianasolomon.blog
2019
First edition of EduClub 2019 took place on a Wednesday on the 27th of February with Laura Borotea as a guest. Laura is a art teacher specialised in drawing, painting and composition study at the Targu Mures School of Vocational Arts and she is also the co-founder of Minitremu association.
Together with the participants we watched a documentary about the great Romanian artist Constantin Brancusi, after which Laura Borotea presented a few works and interventions of the Monotreme association.
We also received information about the Minitremu association after which our imagination got put to the test and we were challenged to recognise some of the animal depicting works of Constantin Brancusi. The night ended with a present from Laura. We received a drawing of the artist Dan Perjovschi to stimulate our creativity.
During the March edition of EduClub we had as guest university professor dr. Vasile Cernat who is specialised in social psychology, professor at the Targu Mures University of Medicine and Pharmacology and also a Fulbright visiting researcher at New York University.
The subject of the discussion was one that receives a lot of public attention, “Diversity – stereotypes and prejudice” . The participants had the opportunity to learn more about the subject by asking questions but also by actively participating in the challenges launched by our guest. It was a very interesting night, the dialog was free of constraints surrounded by a relaxing and calming environment, provided by our partners from the American Corner Tg. Mures. It was a difficult decision to end the night but in the end we managed to say our good nights with the certitude that there will be other EduClub editions just as stimulating as this one.
May – Festival of Lights
We don’t know how the Festival was for you but we hope that everyone had a just as much fun as we did. For us it was a beautiful experience, therefore we decided to share some of the impressions in the following photo series:
Tourist in your city
The project was organised by JCI Târgu-Mureș in partnership with Mureș County Local Council, the „Visit Mureș” Association and the Mureș County Museum, as a result of our desire to bring together lifelong learning and healthy lifestyle, and consequently two JCI Târgu Mureș projects, “EduClub” and “I love my health” (ILMH). The participants took a guided tour of the city, learning about the unknown stories and history of the places they pass by every day. At the end of the tour, we invited a dermatologist who gave the participants advice on preventing and treating different skin related issues. The project aims to develop a united and involved community, but especially to create a sense of belonging to the city we live in.
Mureș #reads
The campaign involved organizing public reading events entitled “Edu Evenings”, where participants discussed the books they read, exchanged books with each other, recommended authors, watched documentaries or just debated on various topics. Also, within the same campaign, we are planning to create mini-libraries in cafes and other public places with the purpose of encouraging reading.
“ Personally I had a nice time along my colleagues, and besides this the most beautiful experience was when together with the children we created the most colourful and creative memories”- S. M.M“ Personally I had a nice time along my colleagues, and besides this the most beautiful experience was when together with the children we created the most colourful and creative memories”- S. M.M
“I really liked the idea of swapping books and to encourage the participants to reflect on the solutions to the problems which they observe in their community “- C.V.
“Last year went by so fast. People who stopped at our stand were very welcoming. It was nice to work with so curious children who wanted to find out how the bracelets are made” – B.M.F
“I liked the atmosphere, the way things were organised at our stand…everything was very natural, children happy that they could decorate the jars and to choose challenges, adults interested in books or the pane. We must repeat the experience! “- M.H.
“The ideas, the thoughts with which you chose the participants was not only creative but also necessary. I hope that everyone who participated to have resonated with you and also understood the message you wanted to transmit. “ T.A.G
The EduClub activities will continue, and we are eagerly and excited looking forward to see you again at our event on May 31, 2019: JCI EduClub – Responsibility – The key to success
2020
Due to the lockdown and the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, our next event took place online. In May we organized, together with Positum4Mures, a series of webinars entitled “Adjust your inner compass”. We invited Oana Cueșdeanu again, along with other members from her team. During the webinars the guest speakers gave advice on how to better manage the situations they go through. Due to the online organization of the event, we managed to gather more than 100 people from our country and abroad.
2021
In 2021, we are also considering organizing workshops for young people (14 years old or older) on career counseling and guidance, as well as on managing emotions or how to make successful presentations and speeches.