English

School life at the Seval-Ahmet Çetin Science Highschool

Hi! I’m İlayda. I’m a student at Seval Ahmet Çetin Science Highschool. And I’m going to give you some information about my school. First of all my school is science-based which means we mainly focus on lessons like Math, Biology, Physics and Chemistry. Actually my school is kinda young. It’s just three years old! There are only 360 students in the school. 120 students per period.

So let’s talk about some school rules. Firstly we must wear school uniforms ( white polo shirt with dark blue trousers ) . And it is forbidden for us to use our mobile phones. We have special lockers to put our phones. The teachers evaluates our exams out of 100 and we take two exams per semester for every lessons, except Turkish literature and Math (we take three exams for them). Oh and finally, we have to take a really big exam named “LGS” to enter our dream highschools. According to the result you get, the system is showing you the schools you can choose and the schools you can’t. There are 4 types of school, highest rank to lowest rank: Science Highschool, Anatolian Highschool, Art/Sport Highschool, Bussines Highschool. But of course we have exceptions. Sometimes Anatolian Highschools can be better than Science Schools. It depends on the school.

Oh and by the way, I am really curious about your school life, and your countrys’ school system!

Written by: İlayda Başaran, Seval-Ahmet Çetin Science School, Tekirdağ, Turkey

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SAÇFL: Sociality And Creativity From Learning

Seval-Ahmet Çetin Science School, located in Tekirdağ, Turkey, welcomes 120 new students every year. SAÇFL has 3 grades and has not graduated any students yet. Our main goal is to be the most social school around and be known with our intelligent projects.

SAÇFL is located in one of the most silence places in Tekirdağ. So it makes focusing so much easier. Our uniform is made of 2 pieces, a red hoodie along with dark blue pants. Our hoodie has our school’s name on it. Our school was built and commissioned by the founder of Çetin Group, Mr. and Mrs. Çetin in 2017.

The building creates an “L” shape. SAÇFL has 12 classrooms, 1 computer room, 3 laboratories, 1 library, 1 music room, 1 auditorium, 1 canteen, 1 dining hall, and a garden. There are 2 fields and benches.

We currently have 22 teachers and 360 students. All students were in 6% out of all students that took the School Entrance Exam (LGS). Not only the students but teachers were also picked and are the best ones in our area.

Our school focuses on science and math studies in the last two years of high school. Our science lessons doubles and the math gets detailed. In the last year, we mostly prepare for our University Entrance Exam (YGS).

SAÇFL mainly focuses on researches, models and club activities. We have lots of clubs in our school. The most popular one among the students is HUMA, our aviation and space club. They make rocket tests and hand-made planes. There is our Environment Club, it’s main goal is to make an awareness in the school. Our Library Club arranges Library, of course. Social Cooperation Club makes nursing house visits, works on creating awareness for handicapped people. We’re collecting plastic bottle caps to help people in need of a wheelchair.

We have a girls‘ volleyball team, a boys‘ soccer team, a boys‘ basketball team, table tennis players and chess players. We took part in lots of competitions.

We have a social portal to make it easier to reach our school administration. Our students can experience and learn lots of things from presentations made by developers, doctors, lawyers, psychologists, authors, etc. in our school. Even though our teaching system mostly focuses on test scores, SAÇFL teaches students basic but important social skills, teamwork, etc. They are important elements in the working area and students need to learn these basics to be more qualified.

SAÇFL is a great opportunity to take part in projects and be socialized. We may not write our name with many academic achievements yet but we are rising to the top with our creative projects.

Written by: İclal Bengi Perçi, Seval-Ahmet Çetin Science School, Tekirdağ, Turkey

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My School: Secondary School in Baia-Sprie

Hello! My name is Alexandra Tătar! I live in Baia-Sprie, Maramures, Romania. I am studying at Secondary School in Baia-Sprie. I’m in the  8th B Grade, and I love it.

Let me tell you about my school. It’s a small and cute school, and it’s actually an old one. It dates back to 1981. My parents said that they had friends who studied here. Then, they had to wear some uniformes, with the school’s logo on them. They had as principal a math teacher, and he tried to make every kid to feel special. I never saw this school special, but the last years made me change my mind. Now, being in the 8th Grade, I can see the things a little different. Our principal is a sport teacher. He is smart and he really knows how to talk with students, and how to make the activities funnier. Last year he started a new project in our school’s backyard, at the begining of the school year: a beautiful green park.

Inside the school, we have the classrooms. They are big and are specially created to keep 30 students in good conditions. We have 2 blackboards in every class, and a place where we keep the materials that we need for courses. We always have there napkins, pens, books and other things, because there is always someboy that needs them. We don’t have special places to keep our books so we keep them in our schoolbags. We have a classroom where you can find an old piano, sometimes a guitar, and a smart blackboard. We go there from time to time and we have some interactive games with our classmates and in some courses. Upstairs, at the 2nd level, we have two laboratories. One is full with computers and there we learn how to use them and also how to use different computer programs and it is called AEL, and the other one is for biology. In the biology room, we have plants and animals, and projects about humanity, about animals‘ life, and how they survive. Enough with the classes! I forgot to mention the rules. In this school, the teachers are strict. First, we have a dressing code, which doesn’t allow us to wear short pants and T-shirts. We can’t wear ripped jeans and we can’t dye our hair. We also can’t colour our nails and  let them grow very long. But the best thing, from my point of view, is that we don’t have to wear uniforms. We did, but now things have changed and we are not wearing them anymore.

The truth is that this school maybe had some better times in the past regarding the number of the students, but it is developing day by day, and it becomes more popular and  interesting, and year by year you find something new, really impressive, that makes us proud of our lovely school!

Written by: Alexandra Tătar, Baia-Sprie Secondary School, Baia-Sprie, Romania

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A Seven-Star Story at My School

Let me introduce myself: I am Tudor Hegheduș, a student of  Baia-Sprie Secondary School and I want to tell you a story. It’s not just about me in this story, but about all the other students in the 8th B Grade,  which I am a part of. I am proud that I can tell my story to all of you , school colleagues, teachers, parents, that we, if we think and work together, we can do great things.

My story is about how we started a project that we will carry out this school year and the title of the project is “Want It, Buy It, Help”. How did it start? Well, very simple … We want to go on a trip, to be just us, to have no worries, to have fun, to feel like home. And some more, we like to be explorers, but who does not like to see new places, to open their minds, to be in contact with the world … This was the „engine“ that put us on wheels. But where do we get the money from? –  the question followed. I thought for a while and the idea came up. To make money you have to sell some products, or to offer some services. What could we sell? A glitter in my mind! We can create hand-made products and sell items that we no longer use and that some people might find useful. But,  making the plans for this activity, we reached the conclusion that we will open a small business. We loved the idea of doing grown-ups things, of managing like adult people, of becoming responsible. Said and done! Now start working! Every good job begins with the organization. We first thought of all the steps we need to fulfill our purpose, e. g.: where we will sell, what we will sell, how we will present our products, how the world will know us, how we will manage our money, how we will advertise our products …

We chose an owl as our logo, because we have always tried to make wise choices and to balance what is good and what is bad.

Then we had to divide our roles in the organization. How did I proceed? We tried to make a short description of each of us to see our best traits and in what we are the best in and we realized that we all found a place and a role in our business. Amalia and Alexandra are good at communication and IT, they are responsible for the Instagram and Facebook page. Rafael, Vivi, Dani, Alexia and Gabi who are doing well in the calculations will handle the financial situation of the business. The hand-made products are manufactured with great care by Cristina, Darius, Melisa, Amalia and Denisa. The products will be transported to the destination by Andrei C., Alex, Iulia, Andrei P., Lucas and David and the presentation of the products: Iza, Eni, Florin and Denisa. I, myself, will have an overview of the activities of the project and I will make public our ideas and the way we are working  in our small business. Good, good! We know what our role is, but do we know every step that each of us has to do? This is how the so-called tasks were born, and we have to fulfill the tasks according to the role we have. The tasks, to keep in mind, that there are many: collection and manufacturing of products, organization of products by categories, production of inventory and sales cards, pricing, product price labeling, project presentation poster, a Facebook account, Instagram account, organizing the participation in fairs, communicating with potential buyers …

Not so easy, isn’t it? And we feel it isn’t, but we like it. The time has come to get on the market. I found out about the Yard Sale fair that had been held here in Baia-Sprie. How could we miss the opportunity, it was just under our noses. We gathered our products in our bags and on November 18 we became sellers for the first time in our lives. This time we asked ourselves, how it is that some of our parents, trade workers, do not go to work with great pleasure and do not look forward to Monday. We, after the 5 hours of intensive sale, would have wanted an extension of the program even more as we saw the first money earned by us. What else did I do? I made an exhibition for sale in the chemistry lab where I exhibited some of the products to be seen by the students of our school. From these we have rounded up the funds for the fulfillment of our purpose – the trip. As an idea, not that we would like to boast, but we already have 250 lei ( = 52,46€). It’s true, I didn’t do everything myself. We had help from our teachers and parents. The teachers have guided and supported us in designing and organizing, in carrying out the accounting documents and the entire financial part, in making the presentation poster and the badges. The parents were with us, helping us with the products intended for sale, organizing the presentation stand and attending us at our first fair. Of course, as we know them, they will be present in our future actions.

We want to thank our parents and teachers for being a part of our lives and supporting us in every effort to become responsible people.

Written by: Tudor Hegheduș, Baia-Sprie Secondary School, Baia-Sprie, Romania

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Our school in Baia-Sprie

We are Bianca Pregun and Beatrice Kurti and we are students in the 7th A Grade at Baia-Sprie Secondary School. We want to talk to you about our beautiful school where we are learning. The atmosphere at the school gives us a good mood, because every teacher it’s trying hard to explain us, help us and support us in everything we do. Teachers always help us and try to make our lessons as attractive as possible.

Our school is older and different from other schools, with its long, straight, twisted and mysterious corridors. We have laboratories, several classrooms, a gym, special workshops, a library, and a yard. All these make our school alive, attractive and rememberable. The soul of the school are the students and teachers, whose results represent the training and hard work from both sides.

We, the students, together with the teachers and the school’s principal, have organized a show to raise money to make a park in the school yard. We planted flowers, trees, shrubs etc.

At our school we have several teams: a football team, a rugby team and cheerleaders. We are very happy because this year the IMPACT-SPRIA CLUB was founded by the school’s principal and other teachers.

We do different outdoor activities or in the library together with the V-VIII classes.
Last year, together with the French teacher, we made different decorations and arrangements for Christmas, and the money raised was donated to the Special School for children with disabilities.
We are in the 7th A Grade and we have two more years to say goodbye to everything that is good and so precious for us at this school: teachers, classmates, laboratories and wonderful activities done together. But we will take with us something important: a lot of information gathered over the years, memories and experience.

Honestly we are afraid of what will happen after leaving this school, but we are sure that we are not the only ones who feel like this, that we are not yet ready to say goodbye to our modest and unique school.

Written by: Beatrice Kurti, Bianca Pregun, Giulia Zaharie, Baia-Sprie Secondary School, Baia-Sprie, Romania

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Comprehensive School „Uroš Predić“

The Comprehensive School „Uroš Predić“ in Pančevo is one of the oldest educational institutions in Serbia. It has existed since 1863. The school changed its name several times, and from 1958 to the present it bears the name of the great Serbian painter Uroš Predić.

In 19th century, Serbian people who lived in Pančevo, which then was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, wanted to open a Serbian gymnasium in their city. The problem was money, so financing was supplied by Toma Sandulović in 1835, but he failed to collect enough money and the Austro-Hungarian authorities didn’t want to help.

In 1851 the Austro-Hungarian military council in Vienna decided to fund the building of the school. The school was moved from one location to another, and in 1888 the final building was constructed, where it stands to this day. At that time, the gymnasium was one of the most equipped schools and had great reputation, not only in Vojvodina, but also in the whole Austro-Hungarian Empire. It also paid special attention to upbringing and discipline of students.

The gymnasium also changed names many times, and in 1958 the name was changed to „Uroš Predić“ which remained to this day.

During the First World War, a military hospital was assembled in the school building for a short time.

Numerous students who attended this grammar school, later became well-known, some of them even outside of Serbia:

  • Mihajlo Pupin, world famous Serbian physicist and electrical engineer, attended gymnasium in Pančevo from 1870 to 1872.
  • Prota Vasa Živković, high-positioned member of Serbian Orthodox Church and very important figure in Serbian history
  • Uroš Predić, famous Serbian painter, attended gymnasium in Pančevo from 1869 to 1876
  • Nebojša Glogovac, famous Serbian actor, attended gymnasium in Pančevo from 1985 to 1988

 Also, Jovan Bandur, a famous composer, was the conductor of the school’s choir from 1927 to 1931, and the famous Serbian writer Miloš Crnjanski was a professor here during 1920 and 1921. 

To this day students are interested in many school sections (linguistic, drama, sport, and so on) and they have won numerous awards in school competitions. The regional centre for young talents „Mihajlo Pupin“ has great cooperation with the „Uroš Predić“ comprehensive school. The students also have their own magazines: „Haos“ and „Dekadent“.

Through history, the cultural role of the school was also very important, especially for the Serbs who lived in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  The gymnasium has the same reputation in Serbia today and it is very proud of its history, which should be important to any student or professor attending or working in this school.

The Comprehensive School in Pančevo is a really old school with tradition. We are glad to be students here like great Mihajlo Pupin, Uroš Predić, Vasa Živković and many other famous people.

Founded in 19th century the school is well preserved and beautiful. It is located at an interesting square next to a catholic church. After the bell rings, the square is filled with children and laughter. Several hundred meters away from the school the Tamiš River flows.

To every student this comprehensive school is connected with a special experience that they will always remember.

A day in our school

A proper way to start off this paper would be a small introduction to our school and my friend and I, the authors of this paper.

Hello, our names are Sara and Kristina! We are currently in second grade and our job is to describe to you what a day in our school looks like.

As for our school, you’ll be surprised when we tell you how old it is. It is one of the oldest educational institutions in Serbia! It was founded by two citizens of Pančevo, Ignyat Barajevac and Toma Andulović in 19th century!

For a time, the school used to be a place for privileged children only, but today hard work is what gets you here.

In 20th century, during World War I and World War II Grammar School stopped working for the sake of turning into a hospital for the injured soldiers. It is also known to be a high school where many of our famous and most influential people went: Uroš Predić, Mihailo Pupin, Vasa Živković, and many others. It is truly an honour to be a student of our school and it gives us many reasons to be proud of it.

So, without further ado, here’s what a student of Grammar School „Uroš Predić does every day.

Let us begin by saying that it is not easy. When we got accepted, we didn’t realize how much work it will be, even though people warned us about it. The school prepares its students for higher education and it shouldn’t be taken lightly. There are two shifts, one in the morning and the other one in the afternoon. Almost everyone will tell you that the second shift is far better than the first one, because teenagers don’t like early mornings. That is true.

Our professors don’t like when their students are late, so the majority of us follow the very strict rules. It is also known that there isn’t a day where we could say to ourselves: „Oh, we don’t have a test today or any type of examination! We can finally relax!“ We are used to it, however.

Each period lasts 45 minutes, but the bell rings 2 minutes earlier, because students need to change their cabinets and it’s always crowded in the hallways. There is also a five minute break that we use to go to the restroom or buy a snack to eat from our vending machine! After the third period we have something we call „the big break”, which lasts 25 minutes and students usually go outside to buy food or any other supplies they need. It’s a great thing we have many shops and bakeries surrounding our school, so we don’t have to walk too far and risk being late to class with an empty stomach. Students also like to chat during these breaks or even prepare themselves for the next class if it’s a test or any other form of examination.

Subjects like math and Serbian are the ones Natural Sciences and Mathematics Department, Social Sciences and Linguistics Department and IT Department have almost every day. We also have a new programme that involves new subjects that we could pick. This teaches us how to make projects and present them to the rest of the class the way they should be presented at universities. After the seventh period, we all go home and there we do our homework or study for the next day.

My first day at school

The first of September was a rainy day. It was also the first day of school. I wasn’t very happy. I walked to my new school alone. My friends didn’t go to the same school any more. I go to „gimnazija“ now. It’s a secondary school.

When I entered the classroom that day I couldn’t see many familiar faces. Actually there was just one girl I knew. I asked her if I could sit next to her and she said yes. We talked for a while.

Then the professor came in. It was our professor of English. She looked strict. I was a little afraid but soon I realized she was quite ok, more relaxed than I initially thought. When the lesson finished I tried to make friends with some other students from my class. I made friends with Mateja. We’ve been best friends since.

I talked to some boys and girls pretending to be confident but I wasn’t. I felt quite insecure in the new environment everything was strange to me.

The next two lessons finished and we had a break of 20 minutes. I had lunch on my own. I ate a sandwich. I tried to talk to Mateja, my new friend but the bell rang and we hurried back to the classroom. I wasn’t nervous any more. I felt quite relaxed.

Soon lessons were over and I went back home. When I came home I was happy. The new school wasn’t as scary as I feared. 

Mihajlo Pupin (1854-1935)

Many famous people went to our school, either as professors or as students. One of them is Mihajlo Pupin. Mihajlo Pupin was a Serbian American physicist, physical chemist, philanthropist and patriot. He was born on 9 October 1854 in the village of Idvor (in the modern-day municipality of Kovačica, Serbia) in the region of Banat, in the Military Frontier of the Austrian Empire. He died on March 12, 1935 in New York City and he was buried at the Woodlawn Tomb in Bronx. Pupin went to elementary school in his birthplace, to Serbian Orthodox School, and later to German elementary school in Perlez. He enrolled in high school in Pančevo, and later in the Real Gymnasium. He was one of the best students there. Because of his activity in the “Serbian Youth” movement, which at that time had many problems with Austro-Hungarian police authorities, Pupin had to leave Pančevo. In 1872, he went to Prague, where he continued the sixth and first half of the seventh year. After his father died in March 1874, the sixteen-year-old Pupin decided to cancel his education in Prague due to financial problems and to move to the United States with only 5 cents in his pocket.

In the autumn of 1879, he successfully finished his tests and entered Columbia College, where he became known as an exceptional athlete and scholar. He graduated with honours in 1883 and became an American citizen at the same time. After Pupin completed his studies, with emphasis in the fields of physics and mathematics, he returned to Europe, to the United Kingdom (1883-1885), where he continued his schooling at the University of Cambridge.

He is the great inventor who contributed to the civilization we live in.  Pupin was the first Serb who won the Pulitzer Prize. He was among the founders of an organization that later grew into the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration – NASA. A Moon crater was also named after him. But it is less known that he, as a close friend of Woodrow Wilson, is responsible for the determination of the borders of Yugoslavia after the Salonika front breakthrough at the end of World War I. The famous scientist had always been known as a great patriot and Wilson concluded that Pupin’s birthplace couldn’t be outside the borders of his country. Banat remained in Serbia, and Pupin returned to his scientific work.

Mihajlo Pupin won the Pulitzer Prize for his autobiography “From pastures to scientist”. The patent named “Pupin coils” brought international fame to him – twenty years after Alexander Graham Bell, Pupin patented the invention that perfected the telephone and made long-distance calls without noise possible. This patent brought him great wealth. In his lifetime he patented another 23 inventions, most of them are still used today – two out of three parts of each electronic device: rectifier, oscillator and amplifier, are Pupin’s patents.

Although already famous and wealthy, the scientist visited his estate and worked the land with farmers, and in his spare time he read and collected the works of authors from the Balkans. A young man from Idvor reached far and conquered the world. Once he published a text titled “What can dreamers achieve” in a youth magazine.

Written by: Kristina Đujić, Sara Gajin, Anđela Radovanović, Danica Ninković, Luka Vujčić, Aleksandra Pal, Anastasija Čolović, Bahćuk Andrea, Andrea Čevizović, Elena Đurčinović, Aleksandra Kostić, Natalija Zajović, Dragana Marinković, Nikolina Jovanović, Sofija Solomunović, Sofija Bjelić, Miljana Đurić, Nikola Radovanović, Dunja Jakimovski, Anja Hasanović, Milan Jovanović, Luka Savić, Isidora Topić, Danilo Miković, Pavle Stanišić, Dina Jocić, Sergej Vukasović, Lana Mitrović, Comprehensive School „Uroš Predić“, Pančevo, Serbia

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Secondary medical school “Stevica Jovanovic“

The Secondary medical school ’Stevica Jovanovic’ was founded in March 1959 by the decision of the National Committee of the County of Pancevo.

In 1959 the hospital manager Dr Bora Drndarski encourages and organizes the opening of the Medical school in Pancevo, for the graduates of the two-year grammar school.

In 1960 the first four-year medical school was founded. The founder, first headmaster as well as one of the first teachers was Dr Bora Drndarski himself. The head of practical teaching was the hospital’s head nurse Olga Rapajic. The teaching base was the General hospital. The school enabled  faster development of the healthcare service in general.  In 1971 an outpost for adult education of nurses – medical technicians was founded at the Neuropsychiatric hospital in Kovin, as well as the one class in Vrsac. In 1974 Nada Jeftic takes over the headmaster duties from Jovan Postolovic. One of the headmasters was Milka Sormaz, a college graduate nurse.

Dr Djordje Curcin was the headmaster from 2002 to 2014, when Svetlana Kalapis, a psychologist , took over the position.

The Medical school ’Stevica Jovanovic’ Pancevo is a vocational secondary school which educates students in the work field of Healthcare and social welfare, for the following professions:

  • Practical nurse – medical technician
  • Pre-school nurse
  • Healthcare attendant (orderly)
  • Obstetrics nurse

Our school is attended by approximately 500 students, as well as a large number of outstanding students.

The content of the educational programs is implemented through teaching theory, practical teaching in professionally equipped classrooms, practical exercises in the healthcare classrooms, and practical work on the spot, in our educational bases – The General Hospital in Pancevo, The Community health center, the Neuropsychiatric hospital in Kovin, The Ophthalmic hospital, the Aged Care Facility in Pancevo,  the Residential Care Home for the blind in Pancevo, Pre-school institution ‘Decja radost’ in Pancevo, the Special Hospital for the Addictions ‘Drajzerova’ in Belgrade. The teaching is implemented in accordance with the Curriculum designed for the above mentioned courses. The students are prepared for the implementation of the acquired knowledge and skills, they gain a good evaluation for their future professional development and the vocation they have chosen.

Every year our school celebrates St Valentine’s Day with a competition where students have the opportunity to show their talents and win valuable prizes. Anonymous love messages are read between each performance.

Written by: Katarina Kalinic and Andjela Stojanovic, Secondary medical school „Stevica Jovanovic“, Pancevo, Serbia

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„Uros Predic“ grammar school

„Uros Predic“ grammar school was founded in 1863, which makes it one of the oldest schools in Serbia. It is located in Pancevo, a small town just 20 kilometers away from Belgrade, in the old part of the town, next to the former Franciscan monastery (now a Catholic church) and close to the river Timisoara. It was named after Uros Predic, a famous Serbian painter, who was its student, but he is just one of many important people who were involved in the school, both as students and as teachers.

The school building, as it is known today, is one-story, and was built in 1888 in classicist style. It has one main facade and two side wings. This grammar school is actually a monument of enormous cultural importance, which all citizens of Pancevo love and respect very much. On the inside, it looks more like a museum than like a high school. The most dominant parts are wide stairs and beige walls with large pictures and mosaics of famous students and teachers.

When it comes to education itself, there are three types of education that students can follow-Social Sciences and Languages Department, where main focus are history, art and languages, Natural Sciences and Mathematics Department, where you study math, physics and chemistry, and IT Department. Besides the impressive knowledge that students receive and devoted teachers, it is the school’s unique spirit that makes it one of the best college preparatory schools in the country – students sing in the choir, play in the band, compete in different subjects and are very motivated to achieve their goals.

Every time I step into my school, I get a very special feeling and a sense of belonging. It is not only the place where I come to learn, but the place that motivates me and inspires me. That is where I met my best friends, people who are just like me, as well as people who I look up to and who became my role models. Here I found myself and learnt not to be afraid to be myself. In these three years I have been here, it has truly become my second home.

Witten by: Isidora Ilic, ‚Uros Predic“ grammar school, Pancevo, Serbia

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Ismailia – The Bride of the Canal

Ismailia was a pharaonic district in the era before families. It was built by Said Basha and called the city of Temsah. After the construction of the Suez Canal it was officially named Ismailia after the Khedive Ismail. Ismailia even had some fight with Great Britain’s occupation forces. The British suppressed an uprising on 25 January 1952, that’s why the 25th of January is the national day. Ismailia’s name has changed a lot but the city still has the same character.

Ismailia is divided into three residential quarters. It is also in the west of the Suez Canal near Lake Temsah. Its climate is very agreeable. It could be a winter or a summer resort. If you come here you could find too many things to look at. Many people who came here never left this city.

In Ismailia we have our museum, there you can find monuments from different eras like Greek, Pharaonic and Islamic even Christian. We also have a specific museum for the Canal only, you have to see it. If you have a good tourist guide you will visit every inch in Ismailia.

Also worth seeing are our train station and streets. Ismailia is the only city in Egypt that has yellow and blue sidewalks. If you come to “Little Paris”, “The Bride of the Canal” or „The City of Beauty and Enchantment“ as Ismailia is called, never forget to taste our perfect strawberries and mango. Hope to see you soon!

Written in teamwork by: Mohamed , Ahmed , Mohamed and Ali

Photographer: Arsani

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Gaza: Past and future

Many people are born in a country that respects them and gave them their rights. Even the geographical area is healthier. Jobs, dreams, goals, and traveling, everything is possible for them, while for others not. For instance, Gaza is one of the worst places you can ever live in.

You may ask yourself, why? It is not just one or two reasons, the number of reasons is uncountable. It’s not just about employment or money it’s more than of any of these; electricity, life, water, environment, economics, etc.

As we know the most important part of any society is youth power. Instead of giving them the chance to invent or even achieve their goals they became a hopeless key for the whole community. Moreover, this is exactly what the occupation needs from the beginning.

On the other side of this Cemetery. Traveling abroad, which means to die thousand times from both : borders and torture of psychological conscience that kills from the bottom of the heart. A lot of them tried to travel to Turkey, then to the European Union, so that they can have a good life, unfortunately, in an UN legal way. The survival rate is much less than 50%. Most of them got lost in the woods or died in the river or assumed another identities. While the others lost hope because of our miserable life. Staying at home with no job, asking for help in this situation is not from Palestinian manners at all. Every night of the year, we dream to have a better life and have our natural rights without any drops of blood.

As a girl who lives in Gaza, I die every single moment beside a huge number of goals that will never be achieved. Wars never end. Just as the music of helicopters from the occupation which don’t let us sleep. Or maybe awakes everyday’s hope to just emigrate to another country. Even emigration abroad cannot be achieved. Emigration and alienation from the homeland is a fire that no one knows, besides the one who tasted of its pain with its fire, the homeland remains like the mother’s heart. Under all these headlines we still love who we are and the place we are born in. Working so hard to make it in the best way of it.

Despite all the dead dreams, dead lives, and misery, Gaza is still resisting to get its basic rights. Despite the bitterness of living it has brought out the best minds that sculpted within each of them the meaning of life. Because life is not just the beauty of the environment or work, but the beauty within our souls. Every day we resist and live again with the hope of not dying until we reach and be what we have been created for. Gaza is not the tomb of dreams, but an exceptional place that we are trying to highlight to the world.

Written by : Basma Alm’aza, Alfalouja High School, Gaza, Palestine; 20.10.2019

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My school: „Nilee Ji Kane“

To begin with Fafraha community senior high is situated in the Adenta Municipality in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The school, which was established in 2016 as an academic institution, is built on the values of discipline, academic excellence, hard work, integrity, moral principles and effective leadership skills. The school was commissioned by his-excellency former president John Dramani Mahama on 11th November, 2016.

In the school, we offer programs such as General Science, General Arts, Visual Arts, Home economics and Business. And also made up of the best infrastructure. The colors of the school are cream and wine. There are thirty –three classrooms which are fully air-conditioned, there are air –conditioned science laboratory, home economics laboratory, information and communications technology (ICT) laboratory. There is also a well equip library, teachers Bungalow which house teachers on the campus. There are dormitories for students and a ultramodern canteen which serves the best dishes in Ghana which are very affordable. The teacher’s staff common room is fully furnished with a fridge and television and a time clock which determines the time teachers report to school and the time they leave school. A beautiful multipurpose hall and a modern assembly hall which serves as a place for social gathering.

To conclude with, we do well in academics, athletics and cadet corps. For academics, there is a weekly special test organized for students. My school is academically good because there was a ninety-nine percent pass in the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE). This because the schools‘ mission was to equip individual students with the requisite attitudes, skills, knowledge and talents to outshine their colleagues globally and their vision is to produce versatile, quality and holistic human resource personnel for the nation and so the motto is „Nilee Ji Kane“  a Ga phrase which means „knowledge is light“. Just three years, the school has qualified for the National Science and Math Quiz competition. For athletics, since the school has a very nice football pitch, a handball court, volleyball court, basketball court, etc. the students and teachers trainee are not taking it for granted. We always emerge the winner in every competition. In last years‘ super zonal and inter-schools competition, we also emerge the winner by taking ninety–nine percent medals and certificates to the school. For cadet, we also emerge winners in the inter-zonal drill competition and also the best commander. Everyone is welcomed to my school.

Written by: Antwi Mercy, Fafraha Community Senior High, Accra, Ghana; 16.10.2019

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FACOSH – A young school beyond measure

I write to draw your attention on my school Fafraha Community Senior High, obbreviated as „FACOSH.“ The school was establish on the 11th of november, 2016. And for that matter it has a very low population growth rate. As most of the student prefer other schools to my school, because of the situation of it being a day school and also a new school.

My school, Fafraha Commuinty Senior High is a day school. The school was built in community called Fafraha and it was named after the community. His excellency John Dramani Mahama established my school during his position as one of his developmental projects. Though, we have all the facilities that make a school complete, because of it being a new school people underestimate us, and actually make people not like the school. Despite, this gloomy situation, we have struggled to chalk some element of success. Recently, we astonished many schools in the inter-zonal competition (soccer) though we were rated underdogs. The area that we shocked many spectators was when we trashed the reigning champions by four to nil in the male soccer competition. The year in question, we won all our matches and we crowned the zonal champions. We had a formidable team in both soccer and athletics.

The year in question, we had a very good physical education master who introduce „All INCLUSIVE PLAN“ to select players to represent our team to put out its maximum best. He became a force to reckon with and that year saw our image change. In the field of academic also, we performed beyond measure.  The first best candidate in the district came from our school and almost seventy percent of the candidates had admission to tertiary institution of their choice. One performance was not a fluke as we were first in the inter-district Mathematics and Science Quiz Competition. What really shocked people was that the candidates we presented were unassuming and they performed to the admiration of the audience. They exhibited skills which really marvelled many students, who criticised our school.

The question on the lips of many was „Is that Fafraha Community Senior High School?“, others also remarked „such a young school“. This was not by a sudden flight, the parents teachers association played their roles, and our predecessors also did extremely well. I admire all the good things my school have done to earse or clean the bad name people were having on my school.

Written by: Taylor Ankomah Sarah, Fafraha Community Senior High School, Accra, Ghana; 16.10.2019

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My school: Fafraha Community Senior High School

Out of the three hundred (300) senior high schools in Ghana, Fafraha Community Senior High school (FACOSH)  is one of the most discipline and well furnished school situated in Accra specifically Adenta -Fafraha.

The school was built and commissioned by The Former President of Ghana, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama on the 11th November 2016.

The school occupies about 10 acres of land with the following major structures; the main gate with it’s arc-way design, the E-block, the GNPC block, the multipurpose block, a large beautiful football park, the   staff bungalow and the Head’s bungalow which is all fenced with wires.

The E-block unit which is four storey building with the structure of an “E” consists of twenty four classrooms, a large library filled with books and computers to aid in researching, three well equipped science laboratories, a Home Economics department and a Visual Art department found in the middle block. It also has an ICT laboratory at the ground floor, three washrooms at each floor, a luxurious staff common room and twelve offices.

The GNPC block which was built and donated by the GNPC is an “L” structure which has six classrooms and an office.

The Programs offered in the school are; General Arts, General Science, Business, Visual Art and Home Economics. This offers the students the possibility of a wide array of professional choices they may want as their future career.

There are about one thousand three hundred students in the school from year one to year three.  There are eighty teaching and non-teaching staff in the school.  The school uniform is cream and green. The boys put on a cream short sleeves with a green shorts from Mondays to Thursdays but put on a printed green shirt with a green shorts on Fridays.  The girls also wear an “A” shaped straight dress on Mondays to Thursdays but put on a printed green straight dress on Fridays. The Prefects in the school also put on tag that differentiates them from the student body.

FACOSH is nationally and internationally known because of our hard work, diligence, focus, academic excellence and also our achievements. Achievements such as; being first in zonal and super-zonal sports competition due to hard work, about fifty five percentage of the pioneers of the school passing the West African Senior High Schools Examination thereby making the school one of the best category “c” school in the country, competing in the Regional Science and Mathematics Quiz, passed the competition and getting into the National Science and Mathematics Quiz, The cadet being first in both zonal and interschool’s competition, and also, the Home Economics department placed third in the Gino food competition.     

The pronouncement of GREAT FACOSH in the country Ghana means a lot. We admit all kinds of people irrespective of the grades, ages, physical appearance and religion with the aim of transforming their lives and becoming prominent people in and across the country. We have open our doors to every one. Thank you.

Written by: Dampare Victoria, Fafraha Community Senior High School, Accra, Ghana; 15.10.2019

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Gaza

Gaza is a land of 360 square km. Most of the problems in the world hit this land. The eyes of the intelligence services are on this land. All weapons are directed against this land. All plots are biased against this land. The simple people who dream of living freely and enjoying the simple elements of their lives that have became a dream ! The people who have lived all kinds of wars, killing, fear and destructions. The people who live between war and divison !

360 square km pained the head of the whole world and they refuse to leave it. 360 square km will be witness against those who draw plots against it. But Gaza is bigger than all their plots and bigger than everyone tries to break it .

And to be honest, Gaza is not the most beautiful city, its coast is not more blue than shores of Arab cities and its orange is not the most beautiful orange on the Mediterranean sea basin, but Gaza is equivalent the history of the nation because it’s more difficult in the eyes of enemies, it’s more capable to disturb the enemy’s mood, it’s his nightmare because it’s a mind orange. Gaza is still steadfast despite the systematic killing practiced by the zionist occupation, Gaza heals its wound more steadfastly by raising the banner of resistance and freedom.

The pain may be greater in Gaza in the future if there’s no real global and Palestinian adjustment to face the economic and political challenges because of the zionist occupation and American support.

In the Palestinian dictionary, we did not know a month or a week that our mothers did not cry for their sons: mothers of heros , mothers of martyrs, mothers of prisoners, mothers of strugglers, mothers of stalkers and mothers of the deported.

And for the Palestinian youth: If you decide to be a resistance, you have to be an educated and as you decide to be an idea, you have to know that you will die, as you decide to be a fighter, you have to know that Israel wants you and as you are listening, you have to know thaf the Palestinian scholar is the first to fight and the last to clash.

Our friends, we speak the language of vengeance, I’m not the one who will promise you the life and the power, but the revenge by my faith, my knowledge and my belonging. We will learn and reach the peaks and the revolution will live in the lancet of the doctor, in the draw of the engineer, in the pen of the writer and in the lens of the journalist.

Allha made Palestine the land of gathering creatures on the day of judgment and the land of Jew’s extermination and murder. So, Allha ordered us to resist in it until his promise comes, until his victory comes to our land that we defend. This land, whose soil is sweeter than the musk perfume which smells more with every shot against its owners, with every house demolition, land theft or land dredging. This land belongs to us and it will remain for us, for us descendants of Canaanites. God bless all Palestinians. Pray for us ♡

Written by : Aseel Ayman Majdalawi, Alfalouja High School, Gaza, Palestine; 14.10.2019