Reports

The Comenius Meeting in Wroc??aw

On the 26th of October 2011 in the afternoon 18 teachers and 25 students arrived in Wroclaw as part of program Comenius, at Private Salesian High School. They came from six different countries: Lithuania, Italy, Bulgaria, Croatia, Turkey and Hungary to work on a project about National Parks in Europe. The students were invited by Polish families to stay at their houses, and the teachers stayed at hotels. On Thursday the visitors came to the school building to meet in the school auditorium with the headmaster and to see a presentation about the Salesian School missions in Africa, Siberia and also about the school’s history. At nine forty-five the students and teachers went to the school recreation room to taste traditional Polish foods and to drink some tea and coffee. Afterwards, the teachers went to classroom to work on a project, and the students were assigned to work together on different projects in English. Teacher mad some plans about the future of the project. They fixed the dates of next meeting. Polish coordinator Mrs Magdalena Szewczyk presented web site of the project. 

The planned data of next meetings:

Hungary- 08-12.02.2012

Italy – 28.03- 01.04.2012

Lithuania – 07 – 11.05.2012

Later students worked on the National Parks project in international groups. At one o’clock the students and Polish students from their host families all went sightseeing. Meanwhile the teachers met at 2 o’clock in the Wroc??aw Town Square to see all the historical places in Wroc??aw. They saw the Town Hall, the Wroc??aw University, the Ostrów Tumski, the Cathedral and the 2-story church.

'On Friday morning again the teachers and students gathered in the school auditorium to listen to a lecture about “Alien invasive species – the special case Harmonia axyridis Pallas”. The lecture was given by Mr. Jacek Twardowski from Department of Plant Protection. After the lecture finished the students went to the school recreation room to present the results of their work on National Parks in Europe. At twelve thirty the entire group from the exchange program – and some Polish students as well – went to a meeting with the Wroc??aw President, Rafa?? Dutkiewicz in the Town Hall. The group was shown the newer part of the Town Hall, for instance, the meeting place of the governors and senators in the history of Wroc??aw. Later the students went to eat lunch and were free for the rest of the day. Early on Saturday morning the entire group gathered in front of the High School to go on an excursion to the National Park: Góry Sto??owe. The main destination was the highest peak in the Park, Szczeliniec Wielki, 919 meters above sea level. The group found its way through all the mysterious rock forms and mountain passages. At the top of the mountain they could see a beautiful view below. During their journey home, the group stopped in Duszniki Zdrój, to drink some fresh spring water and to see the building were the famous Polish composer, Frederick Chopin, performed when he was 16 years old. The group arrived in Wroc??aw at about 6 o’clock in the evening. The teachers went back to their hotels to freshen up, while the students went out to eat dinner. The group met up at the Wroc??aw Fountain to see a performance with water, light and fire. Afterwards, the teachers went to a banquet hosted by the Headmaster, Fr. Jerzy Babiak. On Sunday morning the group departed to return to their native countries. The “Comenius” exchange program had been a big success!