At "Hristo Botev" high school in Bulgaria’s Kubrat, pupils, teachers and parents work together and take active part in town’s public life

"The school as a community" is an interesting project of the National Network for Children civic organization, which the Hristo Botev High School in Kubrat has been working on. The project, which takes place in two stages aims at turning the school into a center of creativity that supports and connects the community of students, teachers, parents and other participants in the public life of the town. The aim of the program is to successfully implement the community school model in 33 schools across Bulgaria.

The Hristo Botev School organizes various initiatives, supported by the non-governmental organization "Equilibrium" from Rousse. "The main goal is to increase the activity of parents in school life with the support of the non-governmental sector, creating better links with the local community and a better educational atmosphere," teacher Nurshen Halilova says. She told us more about some of the activities:

"’Parents’ Workshop,’ ‘Does mom know as much as me?’; ‘I know my child well’ and other child-parent fun games are part of the project activities. We have organized trainings in positive parenthood through theater of shadows. We organized training for parents of first-graders so that they are better prepared for school. We have organized a charity concert for children in the children's ward of the hospital in Kubrat in order to buy needed medical equipment and started monthly meetings between students and children in the hospital.”

In June, 12 teachers from the "Hristo Botev" School in Kubrat paid a visit to the innovative school "Lyuben Karavelov" in Varna. The visit was also the creative end of the second stage of the project.

Teacher Nurshen Halilova told us more about practices that successfully consolidate the community:

"Seven-grade pupils have challenged their parents in a game called ‘Does Mom know as much as me’ focusing on things children study. There was a team of students and a team of parents and the score was 1:1. There was also a fun game in which parents make objects out of modeling clay following instructions from children and then children had to recognize the work of their parents. Mothers were challenged to recognize their child with tied eyes by touching their face. There was no mother who failed to recognize her child! We had a day spent together by parents children and teachers and it was a great experience that ended with promises for more such joint activities and meetings."

While children of the elementary classes are involved in the "Merry Workshop" where they make various decorations, 8th grade students challenge their parents in the initiative "I Know My Child Well."

"The teacher asked parents questions prepared in advance by children about stories from their early childhood. All parents recognized the story of their child. This also awakened fun memories, which were shared with a lot of laughter. The teacher then urged parents to recognize the qualities, skills and achievements of their children, which brought tears of joy and pride,” Nurshen Halilova told us.

English: Alexander Markov