The high school students’ film is one of the assignments in the Modern Patriotism Academy project. You can vote for the film on the ANP website.
Modern Patriotism Academy at II LO
The high school students take on the roles of parliamentarians, mayors and city councillors. During the game, in which they set the city budget, the main concern was the lack of money for everything.
For three years, students from II LO have participated in the Modern Patriotism Academy project, carried out by the Klub Jagielloński association. The project was conceived by history and social studies teacher Anna Lisiak.
This year, II Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Janusza Korczaka in Bolesławiec hosted two volunteers, Stefani Niedenhoff and Tomasz Modrzejewski, from the Lower Silesian branch of Klub Jagielloński, a Kraków-based association whose mission is “to sustain and spread a republican way of thinking about Poland as a valuable part of European culture and a common good deserving the utmost care.”
The project’s creators argue that it is not the case that parliamentarians and local-government officials are bad. The classes they conduct in schools are intended to help young people understand what emotions, mechanisms and pressures come into play when one is a politician or city leader.
Two days of classes at the high school allowed students from class II B to take on the roles of parliamentarians, city councillors and the mayor of Bolesławiec. On the second day, the students set the city budget and it turned out that, whatever they tackled, there was no money for it.
“This game is meant to show students how they have to balance investments against thinking about re-election,” said Tomasz Modrzejewski. “Students learn which budget cuts will provoke complications and repercussions in the future. The parliamentary game, in turn, transforms the student. After experiencing the simulation of elections and coalition-building, some begin to understand politicians’ decisions, the strength of party cohesion acting on them, and the loyalty they are required to show toward their political club,” added the programme moderator.