Fresh resolutions and a new motivation for a
new school year
All autumn beauty from the gardens seems to have gathered at schools. In Latvia the school year always starts on September 1, except the occasions when this date happens to be Saturday or Sunday , then school starts on the following Monday. This day is a real festivity in every school - with national and school flags flying, speeches, music and lots and lots of flowers.
School year 2004-2005 is unique in several aspects. This is the first one when Latvia is a member of the European Union . This is the first time when the first year students (in fact, their parents) can choose studying a new subject in the curriculum - ethics or basics of Christian faith. Majority of Latvian first year students have chosen ethics.
Traditional site for the festivities of the first school day at Engure Secondary school is the school stadium. Students line the track, parents watch from the stands of spectators as the 12th class (the eldest at school) take in the first year students.
This year the festive meeting was conducted by four lively school mice, inhabitants of headmaster's closet. They knew everything about events of summer and discussed them without any fear from the large audience. So everyone learned about the visit of school folk dance group to Slovakia and their adventures there, about the guests from Denmark received by school "Mazpulki"organization (a kind of mixed Scouts and Guides). Mice introduced the teachers for Class 1 and made them take an exam to prove their ability to teach. The exam comprised difficult questions about the number of windows in their classrooms and the number of boys and girls in each class. Teachers Aiva and Liga passed the exam successfully…
After having listened to the well-wishes from head of the local village council and following the sound of old school bell, the students filled their classrooms to discuss new subjects, new teachers and learn the time-tables for the lessons. Fresh resolutions, new motivation for a new year. Will these last to the end of May when school year ends? Routine will start the following day.
School year 2004-2005 is unique in several aspects. This is the first one when Latvia is a member of the European Union . This is the first time when the first year students (in fact, their parents) can choose studying a new subject in the curriculum - ethics or basics of Christian faith. Majority of Latvian first year students have chosen ethics.
This year the festive meeting was conducted by four lively school mice, inhabitants of headmaster's closet. They knew everything about events of summer and discussed them without any fear from the large audience. So everyone learned about the visit of school folk dance group to Slovakia and their adventures there, about the guests from Denmark received by school "Mazpulki"organization (a kind of mixed Scouts and Guides). Mice introduced the teachers for Class 1 and made them take an exam to prove their ability to teach. The exam comprised difficult questions about the number of windows in their classrooms and the number of boys and girls in each class. Teachers Aiva and Liga passed the exam successfully…
