Between School And Home

Between School And Home

Half of our life during first 18 years is spent in the classroom. School is the bridge between childhood and maturity, between world of games and dreams and real world. There we form our personalities. Is it like this, however indeed? Having in mind my personal experience and my observations, as welll, I know that students are often either present in class only body (not soul) , or not present at all. This makes me conclude that any essential changes take place outside the classroom - there, in the street, by chance or in extracurriculum activities – clubs, study circles, schools, etc… Maybe because it is

much more interesting, energy consuming, freer and it is not COMPULSORY! The child, the teenager hates this word and it seems that they instinctively seem to run away from anything related to it. Beyond the palace of knowledge - "the wild jungle" - life itself is awaiting. It is where students convert from indoor plants to directors of their adolescence and sculptors of their characters. They touch art in all its various forms and art has always been a mirror of life. They discover the immensities of outer space, of all those thousands of sciences, and sports, and everything… They mature.

The first thing that attracts first year student’s attention is the astronomical observatory situated on the roof of the building. It is as well one of the most impressive observatories in our country, in Bulgaria.

Not accidentally we are called the school of talants. Drama forms are the most numerous. And poets, writers, artists – well, they worked tirelessly during the last two months on "The Paths Magazine", published to mark the 35th anniversary of our school and consisting of students’ poetry, tales/narratives, essays. Two of our schoolmates won second prise on the international competition for web designers in Geneva (February, 2001). The best thing created ever, however, is the "Friends Club" – here volunteer students raise money from schoolmates and spend the funds on charitable and life–saving activities. To strike a balance – creative spirit is not asleep!

Actually, students’ free time is of critical importance. It is not useless under no circumstances. Just the opposite – it is badly needed … Going out with friends, dances, discos, sport. The decision of the young person to grasp a sheet of paper and to express on it emotions and impressions or simply to get lost in a world between the two backcovers of a book is a vital aspiration. This whole research that the child does is mostly scientific – in order to extend their knowledge and to go to the unknown and try to understand it.

I am proud of my participation in the celebration devoted to the 35th anniversary of our school that gatherd its ex-students from all over the Globe. Former students came from the remotest places of the world. It is not that easy to excite and to bring into tears so many different people after all.

Is it me that is exaggerating or is it true that the number of extracurriculum activities in our town is constantly falling down. I want ot have somewhere to stop on my way back home. I simply want to develop. I want future.