Young people from the Henryk Sucharski General and Vocational School Complex in Bolesławiec had the opportunity to go to a Summer Science Camp organized as part of the “School of Key Competences” project, aimed at raising the level of Key Competences among secondary-school students by December 2013 in the following voivodeships: Opole, Kuyavian-Pomeranian, Lower Silesian and Greater Poland.
The camp took place in Poronin (Małopolskie Voivodeship). Among those taking part were Pola Rachuna, Karolina Zarzycka and Paweł Sak. Pola and Karolina attended entrepreneurship classes. “We learned what a SWOT analysis is and how to be a great manager,” says Pola. “And what to do to make a company develop successfully,” adds Karolina.
“Each group also prepared a presentation summarizing the classes,” says Paweł, who attended information technology workshops. Paweł’s group prepared a presentation devoted to the dark sides of the Internet and social media, while Pola and Karolina’s group made a video:
The students also spent their free time actively. The young people from ZSOiZ visited, among other places, Zakopane, took part in sports competitions and enjoyed discos. “I am very happy with this camp. We did not even have time to get bored,” Pola emphasizes.
We have written many times in our pages about the special “Save Your Great-Grandfather’s Grave from Oblivion” campaign. In July last year, a group of volunteers from ZSOiZ once again travelled to Ukraine to clean up the cemetery in Sieniawa near Zbarazh. The school’s students once again helped save Polish cemeteries in the eastern borderlands.
Ten people connected with Bolesławiec took part in this year’s campaign: two teachers (Barbara Smoleńska from the General and Vocational School Complex, Barbara Sykulska from II LO), four female students (three from ZSOiZ: Ewelina Bochenek, Ewelina Woźniak and Wioleta Nizioł, as well as Aleksandra Siembida from II LO), ZSOiZ graduate Edwin Żygadło, two drivers (Wiesław Lasota, Volodymyr Zamoroka) and Azart-Sat television editor Bogdan Mazurkiewicz.
“Last year, the idea of creating Polish schools in Sieniawa was born,” recounts Barbara Smoleńska, the campaign coordinator on behalf of the General and Vocational School Complex. This year, in addition to cleanup work, the volunteers also ran such a school. They brought around 100 books written in Polish for the children of Sieniawa. It turned out that the Ukrainian children are becoming increasingly proficient in Polish.
The volunteers stayed with Ukrainian families, who treated them like royalty. “I felt at home,” admits Wioleta Nizioł. “We met many new friends. I think this year was even more interesting than the previous one,” adds Ewelina Woźniak.
“Around 30 Ukrainians worked with us at the cemetery every day, and sometimes there were as many as fifty,” says the project coordinator. “This time it was a little easier because we brought a petrol-powered brush cutter and more pruning shears. The tools remained in Ukraine. They will serve us next year.”
Although work at the cemetery was certainly not easy, the ZSOiZ students unanimously emphasize that it was not the work itself that stayed in their memories most, but the events that took place afterward. The entire group had the opportunity to visit Kremenets, Pochayiv, Lviv and the picturesque castle in Wiśniowiec. What is more, the residents of Bolesławiec took part in commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the massacre in Volhynia.
“This project combines educational, teaching and living-history elements that we are unable to convey at school,” says Barbara Smoleńska, who is already planning further trips to Ukraine. Starosta Cezary Przybylski announced that he would support next year’s campaign so that more older people could travel to the eastern borderlands. It is also worth adding that there is a chance that the residents of Sieniawa will visit Bolesławiec in return.
More information on the ZSOiZ website in Bolesławiec. We will return to this topic.
(information: ZSOiZ in Bolesławiec/ii)