OU Vasil Levski-Bulgaria
TEACHERS AT PRIMARY SCHOOL ‘VASIL LEVSKI’ VISIT PARTNER TWIN SCHOOL IN ROMANIA
Eight teachers from Primary School ‘Vasil Levski’, Belene town, Bulgaria visited the Secondary Technological School ‘Tiu Dimitrescu’ in Mihaileshti town, Republic of Romania from the 8th to 10th November, 2013. The group took part in a ceremony and witnessed the conclusion of an Agreement for Partnership between the two schools.The beginning of mutual partnership was initiated in June when Romanian delegation visited Belene and a Declaration of Oath between the two Principals was signed along with conditions of twinning negotiation.In Romania Bulgarian teachers had the opportunity to take a first-hand look at the educational process in the neighbouring country, toured the school and met Romanian students and teachers.On the last day of the visit the Bulgarian delegation was given a warm welcome by the Mayor of Mihaileshti Town and joined the town patron traditional celebrations.Cultural itinerary was various including sightseeing tour of Bucharest and visit of The Palace of the Parliament (Romanian: Palatul Parlamentului) and The Museum of the Romanian Peasant (Muzeul Taranului Roman) in Bucharest.All Bulgarian teachers came back to Bulgaria overwhelmed with the hospitality of their Romanian colleagues, new contacts and friendship.Throughout the visit school executives and teachers discussed ideas of future joint projects.
OU Vasil Levski has fraternised with Tiu Dimitresku Technical
School in Mihailesht, Romania
In May 14th 2013, in a very solemn ceremony, Mrs. Rumyana Bogdanova and Mr. Bogdan Kornel, the principles of the two schools, signed an Oath paper and a Protocol of fraternization.The intentions of the two schools are defined as collaboration in the sphere of informal education, taking parts in joint projects, cultural and school practices exchange. The idea of this brotherhood has not come by chance. It is a continuation of the friendship between the schools which has become in 2010 when they started working on Education Up to Date European project under Comenius programme. “ On this day we signed an Oath declaration which promises to sustain constant relationships between the two schools, mutual exchange between the members of the school society, facilitating the relationships between the citizens from our home towns by all means, so that the European relationship to be developed through mutual understanding.” The idea of the school fraternization was welcomed by Mr. Momchil Spasov, the mayor of Belene town. In an informal atmosphere the teachers of the two schools and the members of the school community discussed the ideas of the future common projects.
Teachers from OU Vasil Levski share experience
On the 5th and 6th July 2012 a seminar organized by the project team of Education up-to-date took place in the beautiful town of Tryavna. The seminar was aiming at reporting and disseminating the project results achieved up to the date. The whole staff of the school took place in the event as well as representatives of the other schools, kindergartens and institutions working with children from Belene.On the first day of the seminar ppt presentations related to the activities, the mobilities and the events that had been held were presented. Rumyana Bogdanova – the principle, Maya Dobreva – project coordinator, Diliana Karakasheva – web designer and Simona Kovacheva shared their experiences and impressions.The second part of the seminar consisted of discussions, suggestions and commentaries on the topic.The organizers of the seminar believe that this event will promote the exchange of good practices as well as the growth of new project ideas.
Students and teachers from our school visited Izmir and Bodrum
The third project reunion was held between 25th -31st May when the partner schools from Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey met again and discussed the activities done under the project Education Up-to-Date so far. The host was Buyukcigli Anatolian High School from Izmir, Chili district. The Bulgarian school was presented by 8 students from 6th and 7th grades led by 4 teachers.
After the exciting welcome organized by the Turkish school, both students and teachers were involved into interactive games and activities. The third reunion’s motto was Unity in Sports. The guests were shown demonstrations of Eastern fighting styles and Turkish traditional folk dances.
The friendship between the partners was marked on the “Tree of the Unity” by decorating it with the students’ and the teachers’ wishes. After that they drew pictures of friendship on the school walls surrounding the yard.
The first two nights the Bulgarian kids were hosted by Turkish families. This helped them to meet the lifestyle and the culture of our southern neighbour-country.
The last evening of the trip around Izmir was dedicated to the Bulgarian sportsmen /women. The students from our school presented some short reviews of the Bulgarian national sports heroes and the local school sport activities. The cheerleaders performed their new dances.
During the trip the partners visited interesting historic places and tasted the delicious traditional Turkish cuisine. They walked along the trade streets of Izmir and had unforgettable time at the amazing Aegean resorts in Bodrum and Kushadasa. All the guests were enraptured with the ancient town of Ephesus where one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient world is – the Temple of Artemis.
At the end of the visit in Turkey the guests were welcomed by the mayor of Chili district in Izmir – Mr Metan Solak.
Full with enthusiasm, interesting impressions and new friends our students returned in Bulgaria. Their happiness, smiles and wish to continue the relationships with their foreign friends are the strongest evidence that the main objectives of the project have been fulfilled.
Education Up-to-Date is finishing at the end of July. The students’ friendship between the three partner countries will continue with the hope that they will have the chance to meet each other again.
Rumyana Bogradova – Principle of Belene Vasil Levski School
All the people in love celebrate St. Valentine’s Day on 14th February. They share love cards expressing their feelings. Our Romanian partners from, Mihailesti sent us their handmade Valentine’s cards.
Thank you, dear friends.
We made Valentine’s cards, too. And we want to share them with our friends from Romania and Turkey. As well as with all the people in love all over the world.
According to our school calendar activities, Debora Bayraktarova, a student from 8th grade, made a presentation dedicated to The Bulgarian Patriarch of Literature – Ivan Vazov.
Ivan Vazov
The Patriarch of BULGARAN LITERATUE
1850-1921
From children to children
We, the children of “Vasil Levski” School have a lot of dreams but two of them have already come true.
We wanted to make the children in the special Hospital department in Belene feel better, to bring them some joy. Lead by our desire we drew a lot of colorful funny pictures and took them with the help of our teachers Diana Nikolova and Maya Dobreva to the children department in the Hospital on 20th Dec.2011. We wanted our pictures to carry positive messages and always help the ill and sad children. We saw their eyes smiling and that was what satisfied us most.
Here is our second dream – as many children as possible to meet the winter well dressed, full, and to know that there are some presents meant to be theirs in the Father Christmas’ bag. We collected some books, toys, shoes and clothes, and asked father Nikolay from “St. George” church to help us to share them to the children in need. On 22nd Dec. 2011 we and our teachers – Stefka Svilenska, Diana Nikolova and Simona Kovacheva brought our presents in the church where they will find their owners. Thus we hoped to help the children in need, to make them warmer, make them happier when having their toys and make them feel loved by us.
Our big THANKS to everyone who helped us to fulfill our dreams and organize our charity activities in the frames of project “Education-up –to date” under Comenius programme.
This slideshow was
translated and spread to all our friends
by us, the participants to the 2nd
project reunion , after we took part at the workshop Endangered species ,
because we are …
Friends of nature
Vasil levski Secondary School hosted guests from Romania and Turkey
The second project reunion of Education up-to-date under Comenius Programme, took place in Belene from 29th June to 2nd July. The host was Lasil Levski Secondary School. We hosted 21 students from Romania, 6 students from Turkey and 13 teachers from the two countries. The motto of the reunion was Friends of Nature.
After the exciting meeting of the guests, students and teachers were involved into interactive games and activities. The foreign children were hosted by local families, for the first two days, which gave them the chance to discover the Bulgarian traditional atmosphere. On 28.06.2011 the guests participated in the official opening of the European Days of the Danube in Persina Nature Park. During the second mobility the partners confirmed the established relationships of understanding on The wall of Friendship, where they printed their hands in different colours. The guests were welcomed by the mayor of Belene. They became messengers of the collaboration between the mayors of Belene, Mihailesti and Izmir. Later the children played sport games, an ecological game and made paper models of endangered birds. In order to realize multicultural exchange, a mixed group from the three partners’ counties visited cultural and historical places in Bulgaria. They tried traditional Bulgarian food, demonstrated their folk costumes, sang and danced. The students from each country presented the activities they had done during the European year of volunteering.
By this mobility, by the variety of the extracurricular activities which were held, the main goal of the partnership was achieved in practice – an integration of the informal education with the formal one in our educational system.
Students’ impressions from the Second reunion, Bulgaria 2011
I was very happy that I had the chance to make friends with the Romanian and the Turkish children, who were very friendly. I liked the Romanian evening. It was fun and at the same time there were a lot of things that you can learn and make you think over, especially over the value of Nature.
Debora Bayraktarova
I liked the evenings when we got all together. We talked and had a lot of fun. I learned many things about the habits of the people from our neighbour countries.
Ioanna Genova
All my worries about the understanding between me and my Romanian friend disappeared at the very moment when I saw her smiling in front of me. My grandparents came at home in the evening and they talked to her in Romanian. I realized how important is to learn foreign languages. Each foreign language is a chance to enlarge the list of your friends even beyond the boundaries of Bulgaria.
Stefani Kirilova
I didn’t want them to leave, but they had to. I was sad when we said “Good bye!. I hope we will see each other again. Yes, I started crying. Those three days were fantastic. We were together all the time, talking and having fun. I kept for myself very nice moments which will miss me very much. I’m looking forward to go to our next destination – Izmir.
Simona Genova
The idea of this project is wonderful. Thank the teachers who organized this big event. We make great friends who I hope will meet again. We spent fantastic moments with the Romanian and the Turkish children. We would be happier if they stayed longer. I want to see my friends soon. Those two days left in my heart great memories. I love Romania and Turkey.
Lora Petrova
The students, the teachers and the friends of Vasil Levski School respected the European day of the Voluntary work by launching an action of cleaning the school yard. It was done on Saturday, 30th April 2011.
On 28th April 2011 the students of our school celebrated the Day of Vasil Levski School. All the children showed their skills and abilities. There were a lot of songs, dances and plays on the stage.
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church marks Saturday the traditional St. Lazar's Day. On Lazarovden all those named Lazar, Lazarina celebrate their name day.
The Orthodox Church connects that day to the resurrection of Lazarus (brother of Martha and Maria), whom Jesus raised from the dead. The holiday is celebrated each year on the eight day (last Saturday) before Easter with typical ceremonies called Lazaruvane. The day is a festival devoted to young girls, pastures, fields and woods. The young girls gather in groups of about ten and start with their songs to make a round of the village. At the end of the ceremony they throw a wreath into a river. Whoever's wreath sails farther, that girl will be the happiest. The second graders from Vasil Levski Secondary School celebrated the holiday on 12th April 2011. They sang traditional songs, danced and threw their wreath in the river Danube.
On 29th March 2011 a Spring Ball took place in our school. All the kids dressed in fancy costumes were dancing and having lots of fun.
All over the world peolpe meet spring with joy and new hope but it is only in Bulgaria where it is saved as an ancient custom.
If you are walking along the streets in Bulgaria on the 1st of March you will witness many smiling faces. But first of all your eyes will be captured by martenitsas. Everyone has decorated their clothes with them. Moreover, you can see decorated dogs and cats. In the small villages in the mountains people decorate their domestic animals: lambs, kids, young horses. Houses have their own martenitsa, as well.
Maybe you are wondering what this decoration looks like. The classical "martenitsa" is made out of red and white weaved threads.
In ancient times "martenitsa" was accepted as a ritual sign – an amulet for protection from evil spirits. Nowadays, almost all these functions are forgotten and it symbolises the coming of the spring. But even now Bulgarians believe that they will be healthy during the whole year if they wear "martenitsa" in March. There is an ancient saying that "If you don't wear your martenitsa, Baba Marta will bring evil things to you".
According to the national belief Baba Marta is an old lady. She is an old lady and she is limp. That's why she carries an iron stick to learn on. The national beliefes define the temperament of Baba Marta as very unstable. When she was smiling the sun was shining; when she was mad st somebody cold weather was firming the ground. The majority of the rituals aim to make her happy and merciful.
People wear martenitsa for a certain period of time. Usually the end of the period is connected with the first signs of the coming spring – blossomed trees, meeting of the first spring birds like storks, swallows or cranes. Then people remove their martenitsa and tie them to a blossomed fruit tree.
The students from 5th – 8th grade of Belene Vasil Levski School make martenitsi and spring cards with great willingness and joy. Their art teacher Diana Nikolova helps them in the art classes. Thus, the students keep the old Bulgarian traditions to meet the First day of spring decorated with white and red martenitsi.
Report on the visit to the Parliament House in Sofia
On 21st February 2011, a group of students and teachers set off for Sofia to visit the House of the Parliament and lay a wreath at Vasil Levski’s monument on the occasion of the Nationa l Day of Bulgaria, which is coming soon, as well as to commemorate the death of the Apostle.
Here are some of the students’ impressions
“I took part in the trip to Sofia on the 21st Feb,2011. First, we visited the House of the Parliament. The building wasn’t big, but it was nicely decorated. We learnt some interesting facts about the deputies and their role in the parliament…There is a rostrum with a microphone in the lobby for statements for the media. I made a short “speech”. We also saw the Presidency building where our president Georgi Parvanov spends most of his time. The two guards who were standing motionless were very interesting.
Joanna Genova 7th grad
“When we left the Parliament we went to Vasil Levski’s monument to lay a wreath there. The first thing that drew my attention were the big number of the flowers and wreaths which had been laid there.
Debora Bajraktarova 7th grade
“First we visited the BulgarianParliament building. It wasn’t as big as the Romanian one. We were showed the Council chamber, where our deputies discuss the lows. We enjoyed sitting on the chairs where Tsetska Tsacheva(the chairwoman) and Bojko Borisov( the prime minister)sit during the sessions. We stoond at the speeches rostrum and even tried the vote desks.
Victoria Pacherazova 6th grade
“I found out that each parliamentary group has exact places in the chamber. The House of the parliament is visited once a week by the prime minister and his ministers.”
Emilia Blazheva 6th grade
“We had fun with ringing the bell which announces the beginning and the end of each parliamentary session. It was exciting. They gave us some interesting books about the history of the Bulgarian Parliamen
Gabriela Sabeva 5th grade
“The time spent at the shopping center was great. We had a wonderful walk there. There was a lot of laugh and joy . We tried a funny way of walking on the escalators in a back direction. Some people there were looking at us strangely but we didn’t care about that. Thus the free time flew by and the moment of our departure came. We had a wonderful time in Sofia. All that we saw was new and interesting.”
Borislava Petrova 7th grade
Hapyy New Year!
The Christmas traditional celebration took place in Basli Levski School on 23th December 2010. All the students at our school took part in it. At the end of the Christmas show Santa Claus gave presents to everyone.
On 22nd December 2010 a group of students of Belene Vasil Levski School visited the local kindergartens and greeted the little kids with a short Christmas performance. Each of the future first-grade students got a coulor book called “Grandma’s stories”. The best Bulgarian, Romanian and Turkish legends can be read in the book collected by the students at our school working on “Education up to date” project.
Students planted trees in the school yard
The Comenius project Education Up- to -Date activities continue being run in Belene Vasil Levski School . On 25th November 2010 a tree planting action took place in the school yard. All the students and teachers working on the project participated in the activity, as well as the other kids from the school. The action is going to be run around the same time in the three school partners – Romania, Turkey and Bulgaria. It is aiming at forming positive students’ attitude toward the environment since the activity is closely related to the ecological education.
The first project reunion in Romania
(25.10. – 30.10.2010)
After a long e-mail correspondence between Romania, Turkey and Bulgaria, the big day came – the day of the trip to Romania. We got on the bus very excited.
During the journey the kids behind me were laughing, singing songs and even dancing. I was smiling but dеeply inside I was a little worried for the things that were about to happen as I knew nothing about Romania and the Romanian people. Well, we got to Mihailesti and my heart started beating fasterJ. The first thing that I recognized was the stone bird on the monument in the school yard. I knew it from the pictures which Laura sent us to be published in this site
From that moment on everything happened so easily that I didn’t feel like I wasn’t at home at all. The first thing that calmed my heart down was Laura’s smileJ. I saw her finally. She’d been my pen pal for almost a year and now I saw her smiling in front of me. She behaved as if we had been friends for a long time. There were hugs, flowers, and kisses.
Then we were invited in the school where some ice-breaking activities were carried out, which helped the kids to be involved in the atmosphere very quickly. There were three friendship trees on which each child had to write his/her expectations or impressions related to the first meeting.
In the evening after we’d met the school authorities, we had a kind dinner at a restaurant. The kids were taken by their home families and the first day ended full of emotion
On the second day there were friendly matches of rugby tag and handball. They were preceded by the Bulgarian Cheerleaders show:
The Bulgarian kids wanted to join the matches so they did it although it was their first time they had played rugby tag.
Then we went around Mihailesti and visited places of interest such as Draganesku Church and the Church in Popesti. For a while we felt Bulgaria in Lepuresti museum where we saw an exhibition of old Bulgarian items from the wars before and from the life of the people living there at that time.
On the third day we had to part our new friends from Mihailesti. It was a sad moment when our kids were saying good bye to the Romanian kids who became friends very quickly. Romanian people are very, very kind, warm and nice. THANK YOU, FRIENDS!!!
Then we got on the buses again with our Turkish friends and some of the Romanian ones. We all headed for Predeal. We stayed at Predeal hotel and had dinner at Robinson hotel. The evening was called the Bulgarian one. There was a short presentation of Bulgarian traditional costumes and dances. We arranged a small exhibition of typical objects presenting the Old Bulgarian people’s life.
The fourth day: Bran Castle – Dracula’s Castle. Brrrrrrrr !!!
Nobody was eaten up there J so safe and happy we set off for Brashov.
Sightseeing.
The Turkish evening was full of dances, songs, and smiles – unforgettable:
On Friday we visited Peles Castle in Sinaia. WOW!!! I can’t find the words that can picture exactly how I felt and what I saw. Only the one who’s visited it could understand what I mean. It’s a very impressive castle:
The last evening came. The students shared their impressions written in their trekking diaries, read Grandma’s stories which they had collected. They showed their own pictures related to the legends:
Farewell dinner. Photos were taken, final words were said, and presents were shared. The big surprise? Here it is:
What do you think? Was it delicious? Yummy!!!
On the last day of our Romanian trip we visited the Houses of Parliament in Bucharest. I would not live there if I could. You know, I would need hundreds of servants to clean the house, otherwise – no thank youJ.
We had lunch in Bucharest where Laura gave us our certificates of attendance, and there were again – lots of hugs, kisses, wishes, gratitude words…
We got on our bus waving, and headed for Bulgaria, bringing great memories of Romania and the warm people of this interesting country.
By Maya Dobreva – Project coordinator
Shared impressions from the students’ travel diaries:
“When we entered the Palace of the Romanian Parliament, I got the feeling that I could lose my way back. The building was enormous and beautiful”
Lora Petrova (12),
“I felt proud of my nationality when I saw how interesting the Turkish and Romanian friends found our presentation in the Bulgarian evening. Thank you, guys! “
Kristian Dinov (13
“From the moment we went over Danube Bridge I saw the first landscape of Romania. I was very happy and eager to get to Mihailesti as soon as possible. When we arrived there the Romanian students welcomed us very nicely. I felt like I was in a reality show. I was a little scared but when I saw the smiling Romanian kids my worries disappeared. Then the fun started.
I found out for myself that the Turkish and Romanian boys were real gentlemen. I will never forget the Turkish evening when we had so much fun. We danced and sang. I got a rose from a boy”
Yoanna Genova (13)
“The Turkish evening was one of the best. We all danced and laughed. We had so much fun. I liked the Rumanian dance, too… steps forward, backward, sideward… fun.
Peles Castle was the most beautiful place we had visited to that moment.”
Todor Panov (12)
“The way we were welcomed by the Romanian kids was very interesting. We did some activities that helped us to make new friends very quickly.
I was very impressed by the Black Church in Brashov. I have never seen such a building – beautiful and a bit mysterious.”
Simona Genova (12)
“My dream came true.
I like the way Romanian kids welcomed us. It was my first time I had danced Romanian dance. It was very interesting. I had so much fun. I liked the Romanian festive programme at school. There were kids dressed in white traditional shirts. What I noticed was that during the dance they didn’t stop smiling.
I liked my host family. I had a lot of fun there, too.”
Mihaela Shankulova (14)
“Bran Castle was very big and beautiful. I can’t find words to explain it. I will remember the castle forever.
When we said “Good Bye” to our friends our eyes were wet with tears but our hearts – full with great memories.
Romania is such a beautiful and friendly country. It is very interesting, too, since there are so many beautiful places to visit. I will remember Romania connected with all these sights. I will never forget this experience.”
Aylin Marinova (14)
“I had a great time, full with nice memories, emotions and fun.”
Veronica Yordnova (14)
“ Bran Castle was very interesting. We took a lot of pictures. I was impressed by the beautiful forest that surrounded it.
Peles Castle was incredible. Unforgettable wood decorations, statues, paintings, etc. I haven’t seen anything like it before. The castle was enormous and its garden was very beautiful, too.”
Georgi Lyubenov (14)
“I liked my host family very much. It was Andrea’s family. They were so kind and nice people.”
Stefani Kirilova (13)
“We were welcomed by the Romanians in a hearty and cordial way, inherent of the people of this country. Each child was hosted by a local family which left very nice memories in the kids’ hearts. They liked their host friends.
During the trip around Romania I was impressed by the old imposing castles we visited and the incredible architecture of the buildings we saw.
When we were leaving Romania we felt mixed feelings inside – sadness because of the separation with our Romanian and Turkish friends; joy – we were going home; and impatience – to see our school partners again in June 2010.”
Simona Kovacheva – teacher of Maths
