As planned, following two earlier workshop meetings during which the children learned about the history and folklore of their picturesque village, a large-scale outdoor game was held! The young detective-researchers had to complete a series of checkpoints located at historic sites in Ocice.
There, the students learned about the history of each place, but it was presented in a surprising way. Culture animators working with the “Tratwa” Association, as well as … teachers from the Primary School in Ocice, took on the roles of guides through the nooks and crannies of the mysteries.
The costumes, professional stage makeup and the teachers’ dramatic flair must have made a tremendous impression on the children. And the sight of their astonished faces when they saw a woman playing a penitent soul or a spirited housewife in an apron was priceless! The children enthusiastically completed the successive tasks, surprised to discover that their village—which they had thought was boring—was not boring at all. And that, in a nutshell, was presumably what the project’s authors had in mind.
As the proverb goes: “You praise what is чужое, but do not know what is your own…” Thanks to participating in the “School of Tradition” project, our pupils had the chance to discover how much their hometown has to tell. And it will be happy to “tell” its stories, provided that the youngest generation is willing to listen… The first step in that direction has been taken!
Edyta Sienkiewicz