The results are now known for the sports competition between schools and counties of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship in events organized by the “Lower Silesia” School Sports Association in Wrocław during the 2014/2015 school year. Bolesławiec’s Janusz Korczak II General Secondary School took fifth place (out of 194 institutions). This is the highest ranking ever achieved in this competition by a Bolesławiec secondary school run by the County. Importantly, II LO finished ahead of, among others, two sports schools from Wrocław.
The ranking’s authors took into account, among other things, the top 10 places in individual events and results in zonal and voivodeship competitions (team sports).
What is more, a gala will be held on October 8 in Olszyna (Lubań County), during which the eight best school teams in the voivodeship will be honored. The Bolesławiec “number two” team will certainly be among them.
“During the past school year, we managed to mobilize a huge number of students,” Edyta Kwiecińska, a physical education teacher at II LO, says in an interview with “ii”. “There were 270 of them, more than half the school. This makes us very happy. And it wasn’t that we forced them to do anything—they wanted to take part themselves. They represented the school at competitions with enormous commitment and later, as proof of that commitment, posted photos of injuries on social media, for example.
The fifth-place finish in the voivodeship, as the “number two” PE teachers emphasize, is primarily thanks to the track-and-field athletes and those who took part in team-sports tournaments, as well as table-tennis players, swimmers and… chess players.
“We have excellent students,” Edyta Kwiecińska says. “They did extremely well in primary school and lower secondary school, and at our high school we managed to bring out their best sporting qualities.
In June, the school said goodbye to many outstanding athletes whom we had written about repeatedly: handball players, basketball players and track-and-field athletes, including Dawid Kopała and Monika Chmielik).
“Cooperation with the school administration, which enables us to travel to competitions, remains very important. The Parents’ Council allocates substantial funds for this purpose,” the teacher adds. Parents also fund awards for the school’s best athletes.
“Intellectual development is very important. But it is even better when it is accompanied by sporting development,” says Piotr Bodzioch of class III e, one of the students who are very actively involved in the school’s sporting life. “When it comes to competitions, we have a wide range of opportunities. And we can be sure that we will be well prepared for them,” he adds. “And besides, it is a great way to spend our free time,” adds Sylwia Proć from the same class.
And indeed. The PE teachers themselves admit that in their free time, young people go to the gym, run at the stadium, and play volleyball, basketball, table tennis or tennis. They recognize for themselves the need to develop not only intellectually.
“The Ministry of Sport and Tourism launched the ‘Stop Exemptions from PE’ campaign. I suppose it was aimed at other schools, because we do not have that problem here,” says Krzysztof Malina, a physical education teacher. “We have managed to develop such a form of classes that there are no benches filled with students who are not exercising,” Edyta Kwiecińska adds. “Ninety-nine percent of students take part in the classes. Those who are not exercising do not sit around, get bored or get sent home.
The PE teachers give students a choice. Would you like to join the aerobics group? Go ahead. Don’t like football? You can use the gym. “The point is for them to enjoy taking part in our classes,” says Edyta Kwiecińska. “Maybe that is precisely the reason for our success?” adds Krzysztof Malina.
“The school runs a program supporting talented students. Thanks to it, we identify the most gifted students and give them the opportunity to develop their interests and passions,” says the institution’s head, Mirosław Sakowski. “The program will be reviewed on September 18, when a committee from the Wrocław Education Authority visits the school. I think that on that day we will receive the Certificate of a School Supporting Talents.
He adds: “My sincere thanks go to the teachers: Edyta Kwiecińska, Krzysztof Malina and Piotr Napiórkowski. I thank the students for their commitment to school life. I think we will repeat the result mentioned above, and perhaps even improve it, during this school year. I also thank the Parents’ Council, which provides financial support—at my request—for both trips and awards for our athletes. And it is a considerable sum.