II LO Bolesławiec Receives 98 Points for Supporting Student Talents

Many of us remember our school years and still struggle with the label attached to us by one teacher or another, as high school teachers were once called “professors.”

At II LO, every student is talented, according to the program supporting gifted young people. During an assessment of how students’ talents are identified, the school received 98 out of 100 possible points. Such a high score qualifies II LO to receive the elite certificate of a School Developing Interests and Supporting Talents.

This may be the definitive end of labeling and pigeonholing children. We know it from our own experiences: pretty but stupid, talented but lazy, from the countryside (which meant “worse”), or with the wrong parents (too rich, too poor, in the “wrong” jobs). The opinion a teenager received from a teacher during the first days of school often stayed with them throughout their entire high school education, despite their efforts and the genuine changes taking place within them.

Elite schools with certificates supporting gifted students—there will be 54 of them in Lower Silesia, including II LO in Bolesławiec—have a different approach to young people’s education. The primary goal of the talent-support program developed at II Liceum by Beata Ulatowska and a team of nine teachers is to create suitable conditions for discovering and developing every student’s potential and for their comprehensive development. Teachers assume that their students possess intellectual curiosity, creative motivation and aptitude for a chosen field of knowledge, as well as a passion for artistic, sporting or social activities.

The school audit was conducted by Halina Nawrotek, coordinator of the Lower Silesian System for Supporting Gifted Students (DSWU), Mariola Kolan, an inspector from the Lower Silesian Board of Education, Joanna Kaczmarska (a DSWU consultant), Ewa Wierbiłowicz (a DCWU consultant) and Paweł Nowak (a DCWU consultant).

– This is a high score; we saw all the goals included in the program, and the school really does support students in an egalitarian and elite manner – says commission chair Halina Nawrotek. – Every student can discover their talents, as was evident in the methods used during and outside lessons. Students told us that they can develop their passions and interests at various times. Meetings with students proved that the school creates conditions for them to spread their wings to the extent of their abilities. This is very valuable. We also asked teachers how far their skills enable them to help students develop. Here we discovered something exceptional that is not found in other schools. At the high school, physics, mathematics and chemistry classes are taught in English. Teachers are working toward special language certificates so that they can develop themselves as well. We can clearly see that the conditions for developing interests exist here and, above all, that teachers support students—in mathematics, the arts, social fields and many others. This is the 54th institution in Lower Silesia to receive such a certificate, and the superintendent always says that these are elite schools. Many schools apply to join the network supporting gifted students, but not every school meets the high standards. What matters is how to discover that something special in a child. After all, talented children already enter schools, and then their abilities are merely polished; here, the aim is to work with all children, including those who do not know they are good at something. And the more opportunities students have to touch, try and discover what they are talented at, the better – explained the coordinator of the Lower Silesian System for Supporting Gifted Students.

A performance by high school student Jacek Przystarz at the Talent Gala organized at II LO

A performance by a group from II LO

– This is an important examination for us, and a score of 98 out of 100 is an exceptional reward – says Mirosław Sakowski. – In the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, 53 schools have such a certificate. We will be the only secondary school in the county with such a certificate. For two years, the high school has had a Team Supporting Gifted Students, led by Beata Ulatowska, who has achieved great success in identifying outstanding students – adds the headmaster of the high school.

Our sincere congratulations to II Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Janusza Korczaka on this excellent result.

The editorial team of the Istotne.pl portal and newspaper