Project Kořeny (Roots)
Number of contract: CA1 - 03 - 11
Name of the project: Roots
Name of the institution:
Gymnázium a Střední odborná škola Klášterec nad Ohří
Allowance organisation, Chomutovská 459
431 51 Klášterec nad Ohří
Names of the partnership schools:
Number of people involved in the works of the project: The main coordinators were 4 teachers and 20 students. Another teachers and students were also involved/ all- school project/
The project was being prepared at the end of the school year 2002/2003 on the incitation of our partnership school Konrad Felix Mueller Gymnasium in Geithain with which we have kept in touch for five years. At the beginning of the year 2003/2004 all teachers of our school were informed about the project which became all school project and was also supported by management of the school. Four teachers and twenty students became coordinators of this action and since September 2003 they met every Friday for two hours. At the first meeting they were informed of the plan and the goal and were divided into three groups according to topics: 1. group - fairy tales and fairy tale characters, 2. group - old stories and characters, 3.group - castles and chateaus. During the following meetings all the information was sorted, the given topic was discussed; all the activities were elaborated and placed into Socrates Internet pages. There was also a folder where all the students of the school could put their own contributions. Our sites were public / our National agency could also visit them/ and every week they were updated. / www.gymkl.cz / There were held many actions inspired by this project all the year round, e.g. actions of tourist club: For Dollar from Jachymov, a trip to ruin castle Sumburk, a trip to Úhost, pre-spring searching for 'Roots'. In arts lessons, students elaborated a project: Inspiration by Gothic. Closely, you can learn about these actions at our web pages. Teachers of particular subjects involved the project also into their plans/ history, literature, arts/. Some teachers and students founded a theatre group that rehearsed their own play 'Žižka' which was performed at the second work shop at our school in April. I appreciate very much the great number of students and teachers involved in the project and I have to admit that the life of the school was really enriched by that.
In November 10-14 2003 some actions arranged by NA were held. We participated in the action called Postcards: students of first and fourth classes sent postcards to other schools involved in this activity. As a reward they got about fifty postcards from all over the Czech Republic. On the 12.11.2003 five our students took part in ON LINE quiz that was accessed on the Internet. The test consisted of 25 questions concerning the entering members of EU. Our group was at the first place and they won a week trip to Malta which was realized in a week of 6.5. - 12.5. 2004. When the students came back, they elaborated an itinerary and held a discussion about Malta. They talked about the local inhabitants' celebration of the EU entry, about a visit of local school, about cultural and historical monuments and sightseeings that they had visited.
First workshop took place in October 27.-29. 2003 in Geithain. Two teachers and four students went there. Here, we specified the goals and objects of the project, the students introduced their work and results, we visited the city Geithain, the partnership school and a castle Gnadstein. What I appreciate is that students used their language knowledge; they came back enriched of friendships and new knowledge of facts about Germany, mainly Saxony. Both teachers and students visited some lessons and they could compare the German and Czech schools. At this meeting we liked the conception of Icelandic students who focused on film elaboration of the topic. The coordination school focused on fairy tales, Italians worked on a castle and a story Francesco and Sybila which was tied to the castle. We came back with new ideas and began to get ready for the second meeting which took place in Klášterec nad Ohří in a week of 10.3.-13.3.2004 and was connected with an art exhibition of all the participated schools. At this exhibition we chose three best works of each school and these works create our calendar which is enclosed. After the vernissage our guests could see the performance of Žižka play. Then the representants of our partnership schools met our mayor and town hall members at the town hall. We also visited the chateau in Klášterec which we also wrote about in our project. We visited a king town Kadaň, too, a nearby ruin castle Hasistein and also the capital city, mainly the Prague castle. Foreign students and teachers also saw some of our lessons. Icelandic colleagues were surprised that directors and vice directors teach as in Iceland they only manage the schools.
From May 13 to May 16, 2003 two teachers and two students took part in the third workshop in Italian Fermo. The main work was to introduce all the final results of the particular schools which were very voluminous. We discussed the layout of the handbook about our work; each school was limited for twenty pages. This manual was printed under the coordinating school and the other schools could buy some copies, one of which is enclosed. For this meeting each school brought T-shirts designs, two of which we chose for the final product. We picked Icelandic and Czech design. One of the T- shirt we also enclose. We were certainly saw the school, we could see the city Fermo, St. Pietro and castle Montana. We even made some contacts with the Gymnasium and from the next school year we would like to make student exchange programs. One of our participating students is going to spend a summer month in an Italian family. It is a very valuable result since making contacts, learning and understanding were some of the important objectives of this project.
On 29.6.2004 a visit to the coordinating school to Geithain was held. There we discussed the final report, finished our handbook, agreed on the concrete terms for the next meetings and solved the financial affairs.
I think that the cooperation on this project was held in a very friendly atmosphere and with a great enthusiasm. When I evaluate all year work, I must admit, that without the help and enthusiasm of all the participants and without the financial support of Socrates agency, we could not realize our work.. We all are enriched of the feeling of belonging in Europe with the common roots. We could recognize new cities; compare habits, school systems, regions. We could use our language knowledge which was the most difficult as our students do not have such big knowledge to communicate fluently without help from teachers.
I really liked the cooperation with the national agency in Prague. We took part in two lecturers which concerned accounts. They were prepared really well and helped us very much. As a conclusion I would like to thank to NA Socrates for help and for financial support. I am convinced that this project was a great acquisition for us.
Czech version