Event: Essay writing and drawing competition

by Svetozara Petkova, Dimitar Draganov, Martin Ivanov

As part of the project aiming to integrate Bulgarian students of different social backgrounds, in the spring of 2006 ABCS announced a competition for students’ compositions and drawings in schools in the towns of Mezdra, Troyan and Mirkovo.

The objectives of the activity were:

* To facilitate the development of critical thinking and of integrated education;

* To sensitize participants to the problems, needs and interests of students;

* To help ABCS establish lasting contacts with the selected schools with a view to designing future programmes and joint activities;

* To present the best students’ works in the framework of a discussion on integrative education to be organized by ABCS.

The students could choose between two topics:

* What brings us together in the school we go to?

* What divides us in the school we go to?

Representatives of ABCS visited each of the selected schools and established contacts with the management. After the announcement of the competition the students had approximately one month to prepare their works. Students were divided into three age groups, from 7 to 9, from 10 to 12 and from 13 to 15. The deadline for submissions was April 10, 2006. The Review Committee, composed of ABCS members, reviewed the students’ works and announced the awards in May 2006.

Event: Children from Mezdra visit the British Council in Sofia

by Dimitar Draganov

This competition was followed by a visit to the British Council in Sofia on October 25th, 2006.

The visitors – 12 children from the Ivan Vazov School (Mezdra), winners in the competition, the director of the school and two teachers, were invited on a tour around the British Council in Sofia. They attended an English language class led by British teachers. All participants visited the British Council library and were acquainted with the available resources – newspapers, magazines, video and audio discs, and internet resources, available through library membership. At the same time, the British Council initiatives in the field of education were presented – more specifically the available testing and certification schemes for English language. After that the guests had lunch at the British Council. The children were divided into two groups and had an English language lesson given by British teachers.

The visit aimed to acquaint the participants with modern methods, techniques and facilities in foreign languages learning and teaching, as well as to promote ABCS and British Council activities.