Comenius meeting in Góra TURKEY The first meeting took place in January this year in Turkey. During the meeting principles of cooperation, the way of specific themes executing and the leading tasks realization place were specified. The first meeting concerned the fight against cigarette smoking. Between 6-10 th of April 2011 in gen. Sylwester Kaliski Secondary School in Góra we hosted teachers and students from Turkey, Romania, Slovenia and Bulgaria executing a project which slogan was: Bridges of digital content between nations". The project is targeted primarily to students of Information Technical Schools. In its executing Zespół Szkół in Góra has been involved as well as the following secondary schools: English Secondary School "Thomas Jefferson" from Bulgaria, Scoala de Arte Si Meserii Sipotez from Romania, Özel Büyükkoyuncu fen Lissie from Turkey and Marina Anton Zavod Slomska from Slovenia. The project s coordinator is a school from Turkey. During two-year period of the project s execution the mobility of students and teachers is anticipated. Within the project the following themes will be realized: the fight against racism, prejudice and xenophobia and changing of stereotypical perceptions of partners. The project objective is to exchange experiences with teachers from other European countries, the development of language skills among teachers and students and enhancing of ICT competencies among students. 2 Within the project meetings of the partner schools will be held, during which some topics will be discussed and the way of executing them.
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MRS. TERESA FRĄCZKIEWICZ ADDRESSED A FEW WORDS TO GREAT GUESTS She pointed out that,,our school s motto is to invest in the young generation, therefore the participation in international projects has become a permanent part of the vocational school program, and contributed to raising the qualifications of our graduates. Zespół Szkół in Góra since the 2002 carries out international projects. Within the Leonardo da Vinci program our students had the opportunity to have practice in Italy, vocational trainings in England and Germany and owing to them they gained the skills and vocational competences. For many years, we have been also cooperating with schools from Germany, Italy and France, as well as within the framework of the National Cultural Centre - our young people has partnered with a school in Odessa, Ukraine. CEREMONY On April the 7 th, during a ceremony that began with the anthem of Poland and the European Union, a headmistress of Zespół Szkół - Teresa Frączkiewicz welcomed all the guests from abroad invited: Adnan Barut, Hakan Gencol, Mehmed Erosy (Turkey), Barbara Fużir, Jani Duźevec (Slovenia), Cosnita Emilia Felicia, Floretyn Futur-Sorin Marian Paraleste, Michael Chiscareanu, Viorica Puiu (Romania) and Maria Netodieva Genova (Bulgaria) as well as their students. The ceremony was also honored by representatives of local authorities, including educational authorities and the local environment representatives: a Governor of Góra district - Mr. Piotr Wołowicz, District Council Chairman - Mr. Zbigniew Józefiak, Mr. Marek Biernacki - a member of the District Board, Councilors: Mrs. Danuta Rzepiela, Mr. Piotr Iskra, Mr. Grzegorz Alexander Trojanek, Mr. Jan Kalinowski, Mr. Marek Zagrobelny, Mrs. Katarzyna Antolak a representative of the Department of Education, Culture and Sport in the Góra County, representatives of the Various Handicrafts: Senior Guild Mr. Eugeniusz Stankiewicz, Guild - Mr. Franciszek Tomaszewski and Mr. Andrzej Mrajski, The Chairman of DEMI Dairy Cooperative in Góra - Mr. Dariusz Dąsal, the Commander of the Troop Unit - Zofia Świerszcz, Mr Wieslaw Lisowski the Deputy Commander of the Police District in Góra, Captain Maciej Liśkiewicz a representative of the District Fire Brigade in Góra, Mr. Maciej Kołata a Forestry worker of Góra District, a representative of the Trade Union Solidarity "Mr. Julian Kospiczewicz, the vicar priest of the parish church of St. Catherine of Alexandria - Leszek Bajorski, Mr. Bernard Bazylewicz - District Director of the Centre for Teacher Development and Psychological Counseling - Teaching in Góra, Mrs. Małgorzata Patrzykąt - Director of High School in Góra, Mrs. Krystyna Durkowska - secretary of the Center for Practical Trainings in Góra. On this joyful day we were also accompanied by the local media s representatives. Mr. Artur Małecki has read a letter sent by the Provincial School Superintendent - Mrs. Beata Pawłowicz, who picked up a lot of work done by students and teachers of our school. Through the organization of such meetings, as she wrote, we give an example for teenagers in today's world to shape and maintain good relationships with others. 4
The Headmistress gave the floor to students and teachers from our school who prepared the artistic program. Mr. Artur Małecki presented Polish history, illustrating it with an animated film by T. Bagiński. Mr. Bartłomiej Hebel presented a multimedia Polish geography. Great applause received grade students-leaving for the traditional Polish dance - the Polonez. And the biggest applause and standing ovations received preschool children, who performed in the traditional polish folk dances and foreign. At the end of our talented students sang some of the most famous Polish hits. The whole ceremony was carried on both Polish and English languages. All speeches were translated by Mrs. Beata Barna - Dimitriu - teacher of English language. The program of stay of groups from the partner schools in Zespół Szkół in Góra was very rich 5
After the ceremony, students from partner schools in the company of the hosts, visited our school, and participated in the classes. Flowerbed of friendship Outside the school a flowerbed of friendship was designed, to which the participants of the project jointly planted a tree symbolizing the understanding between the people of the partner schools. A similar trees rise in Turkey, which had been planted during 6
TOUR OF AROUND GÓRA After lunch we went with our foreign guests for a walking tour of around Góra, prepared and led by a famous expert of the region Mr. Grzegorz Al. Trojanek. We visited the Water Tower, St. Catherine of Alexandria Church, the Parish Cemetery Church of Christ s Corpus, we also pasted the buildings of local authorities, the hospital, the remnants of defensive walls, Solidarity park, market, parting by the Głogowska Tower. 7
WORKING After the walk we started working on the project. The leading subject of the meeting in Poland was to fight drug addiction among youth. Working groups from different countries have presented the effect of their activities, including: films made by students of Zespół Szkół in Góra, and a young Romanian, posters and pamphlets made by the Turkish and Romanian, and a survey made by the students of the partner school in Slovenia. 8
All these works are available on specially created for the project website: www.digitalbridgest.tk, which administrator is our school In addition, Zespół Szkół in Góra is a creator of the logo of the project. 9
SICINY On Friday morning we went on a tour of the area. We visited the Church of St. Martin in Siciny, which story was delivered us by priest Tadeusz Śliwka. We also heard a mini organ concert prepared by the teacher of our school Henryk Antonicki. The students could try playing the church organ as well. a tour of the area WRONÓW In Wronów we were treated by a local band Wronowianki. Members of the band performed a recital of folk songs from their repertoire and invited us for special refreshments. 10
GÓRA Later on we visited the new headquarters of the District Headquarters Fire Department in Góra. We had the opportunity to learn how the firemen work. We were amazed seeing special fire trucks equipment. At the end of the visit the firemen have done a show going for the rescuing fire fighting action at the time of alert. Luckily it was only a simulation. In Góra we also visited the Centre for Teacher Development and Psychological Counseling - Teaching, at the invitation of the director Mr. Bernard Bazylewicz. 11
WORKING After dinner, we continued working on the project; we detailed principles of further cooperation, and decided how to implement the following topics. We have all decided that the next theme would be tolerance and stereotypes and their negative consequences for society, and the meeting would be held in June 2011 in Slovenia. In the afternoon the students from partner schools took part in recreational sports activities organized in the sports hall Arcadia "in Góra. 12
OWLS In the evening the students from partner schools took part in a national campaign of owls counting, and although the weather was very windy, and they weren t able to see any owls, they came back very satisfied. Certificates PLANS Meanwhile, the teachers discussed the plans for the next meeting and they agreed the scope of the preparations and organization of the next meeting. The project participants received certificates and also exchanged souvenirs. 13
The last day of the visit was a tour of Wroclaw. The walk around the city, which was carried on in English by a city guide, we started with the Panorama Racławicka, then a trail of churches, Ossolińskich library straight to the city market square. Wrocław We were accompanied by dwarfs which are symbol of Wrocław nowadays. We were also able to do some shopping at the Market Hall on our way and later on in the Grunwald Arcade. Late in the evening we watched a musical spectacle Hair at the Impart Art Centre. 14
Tired, but full of impression we came back to Góra. Our guests were leaving the next day early morning and therefore we said goodbye on the way back. 15
FOR THE GOOD MEMORIES... Our friends from the partner schools many times during their visit pointed at the importance of local communities support in the implementation of such projects. They were impressed by the commitment not only the students and teachers of our school, but also representatives of local institutions. Author: Joanna Czyż (Asia) czy_joanna@wp.pl based on texts of: Inga Ozdoba - Stanek Katarzyna Staniszewska Andrzej Bakacz Mariusz Nowakowski Translated by: Beata Barna - Dimitriu Zespół Szkół im. gen. Sylwestra Kaliskiego w Górze We want to thank everyone for their help in organizing the visit and for the common experience of those extraordinary moments. All this undoubtedly was the real value of the project and it will contribute to the dissemination of the results of our operations not only in the local area but also internationally. We believe that the meeting ran in a great atmosphere, we had the opportunity to learn about the diversity of cultures and customs of other countries and religions and to understand the importance of tolerance for maintaining good international relations. Our students are very pleased to participate in the project and they all agree that the effort made in organizing the visit of representatives of the partner schools has paid off. A strong commitment and cooperation made the agenda of the visit was filled up, not only with the official meetings and work, but also a number of entertainments. New friendships were also established. This type of meeting brings together the different nationalities and makes international cooperation. The more such meetings, the less will be the world's conflicts (student s speech). We do hope that the stay in our country will be saved with sweet memories of all participants of the project, while the invited guests had left the walls of our school with reflection and a smile on their faces. ul. Armii Polskiej 15a 56-200 Góra Śląska tel.: (+48) 65 543 26 60 fax: (+48) 65 544 20 70 zespolszkolgora@neostrada.pl http://zszgoras.pol.pl