The Local History project is one of the global projects offered by IEARN(International Education and Resource Network).


Novopolotsk, Belarus

Novopolotsk
Teachers Liudmila Danilovich  and  Svetlana Shavlygo
the students of 10"B", 10"V", 11"A" and 11"B",
gymnasium No 1, Novopolotsk


    We live in an young industrial town in the northern part of Belarus located near one of the oldest towns and historical sights of our country (the town of Polotsk).
We are from gymnasium No 1. Our school became a gymnasium in 1995 and it has both a primary school for 6 - 10 year old students and a gymnasium for 11-18 year old students. We have 777 students and 104 teachers.
Our school building is nice and comfortable. We have interesting school traditions and make a school newspaper.

I'm an English teacher and a headmaster's deputy. I teach senior students (15-18 years old) who are fond of English, History, Geography, Science, Programming and a lot more. Our History teacher Svetlana Shavlygo is taking part in the project too.

Denis Makedonov, form 11 “B”   is proud of his country. If you read his essay you will understand why.
    "Our country is a not large state. Its population is about 10 million people. It borders on   Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and the Ukraine. The central location is our advantage and disadvantage at the same time. In peacetime it has a positive effect on the economy.  But in wartime our land was the scene of battles. So it became a sovereign state only in 1991. Before that it had been a part of different countries like the USSR, Rzecz Pospolita and the Russian Empire.
The central location also influences the mentality of our country’s people. Belarusians are peaceful, tolerant and hospitable.
We have beautiful nature: lots of wonderful clear lakes, large and dense forests. Also we have lots of great monuments and buildings.      The most famous buildings are castles in Nesvizh, Lida and Mir, Saint Sophia Cathedral in Polotsk and the National Library in Minsk which has a shape of a diamond. And they’re really wonderful! We have several memorial complexes devoted to events of the Great Patriotic War.
   Our country is famous fot its great citizens: Francisk  Skarina, the first publisher in Eastern Europe, Ignat Domeiko, a famous geologist, mineralogist and educator, Piotr Klimuk, the first Belarussian spaceman, Zhores Alferov, the  Belarussian scientist who received the Nobel Prize, Vasil Bykov, a Belarusian writer and others. There are some outstanding athletes in Belarus. They are Olga Korbut, Alexander Medved, Ekaterina Karsten, Darya Domracheva, Victoria Azarenka and others."
                         About Novopolotsk State Gymnasia
   Our school is the sixth of fifteen schools in our town. Also our school is the first gymnasia in the town. It became a gymnasia in 1995.
There are about 800 pupils and 100 teachers in our school. There are three floors in the building.  The hall, the  cloakroom room, the  library, the  canteen and primary pupils’  classrooms are on  the ground  floor; the  teachers’ room, the  cafe, the  assembly hall, the  conference hall and senior pupils’  classrooms are on the first  floor; laboratories, computer classrooms and senior pupils’  classrooms are on  the second floor.
   Our teachers are very creative people, so our school has a nice interior design. When you enter the building, you can see all our rewards and symbols of our school and town: sunflowers and water lilies. If you turn left, you will  see a table for ping-pong  where pupils always play ping-pong, and comfortable benches  where pupils can relax or revise  their hometask before lessons, and a big stand, where you can see photos of all of our teachers. If you turn right, you will  see two more tennis tables and cozy sofas.
We a have big canteen. Every week one  8-, 9-, 10- or 11-formers  are on duty in school. Four pupils help in the canteen during the school day, so they haven't lessons this day. Other pupils are on duty in  the corridors during breaks.
Near the gym there is a stand which shows the achievements of pupils in different sports competitions.
       There is a very comfortable atmosphere in our school library. There is a big round table  where pupils can discuss some of their problems with difficult topics or read something,  two computers with connection to the Internet, and a printer. So pupils can find and print some interesting facts for the lesson. Also there is  a mini-exhibition оf works by  talented pupils of Novopolotsk in the library.
Corridors on  the first  floor are decorated with mosaic, paintings by  our teachers and some quotations by  famous people. Also you can see cozy furniture here. The cafe "Tetris" opened in 2005. There is  a very quiet atmosphere here, so pupils and teachers can relax, have a cup of tea or coffee and watch TV.
In the laboratories on  the second  floor there are stands with useful information, such as a periodic table, physical values and so on. Also there are many shelves with equipment, minerals and models.
There are some traditional activities in our school   such as the Day of Health and days of self-government.
On  the Day of Health all forms from 5th  to 11th  go to the park where teachers and 11-formers  have  already made an obstacle course to overcome. Also there are many contests in jumping, singing, playing football, volleyball and so on.
Days of self-government are  interesting: pupils of 10 and 11 forms become teachers  and teach other pupils. Also some of them  become a headmaster  and his deputies.
   Last year in our school we  created an agitation brigade "Youth for Sustainable Development". We  go to villages and towns to  agitate people to save energy resources and environment.
Also, last year our school won a computer contest connected with hi-tech.
 Vlad Kuksinski
Form 11 “B”

  Ann Kritskaya is sharing photos and information about her "Alma Mater". She is inviting all project participants to make a tour around the school where she studies.

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Thank you Ann, it has been  an interesting tour!