Our European Year of Citizenship through Education
Ruta Aukspole teaches English at Viesite Secondary School, in Latvia. In this article she summarises their main achievements during 2005, the European year of citizenship through education.
2006 is already here. When we step over the threshold of a new year, it is usual to look back at the leaving year to summarize what profit it has brought to us, what good we have done during it, if it has left any footprints in our life. This time I have decided to estimate 2005 as the European year for citizenship through education in my school- Viesite Secondary School, Latvia.
Perhaps we have various methods to embody an idea in our school life. This time the goal was citizenship and we worked on it both during the lessons and the out-of-class activities. Hereby I would like to deal with the activities we did on the international scale.
Ten of our students had a wonderful possibility to visit their peers in Novara Liceo Classico "Carlo Alberto", Italy at the beginning of February. Staying in the families of their hosts gave them an unforgettable experience in the life of Italy, but especially in the living circumstances, social area and the education possibilities of the young people there. The exchange visit to Latvia took place at the end of September and the beginning of October. It was a busy week for our students to share their traditions, their way of life and the beauty of this country with the Italian guests.
The mentioned exchange of the Latvian and the Italian students was an addition to the Comenius-1 project we have been working on. The theme of it is "European Trade Routes and Cultural Exchange" coordinated by Novara Liceo Classico.
We appreciate the work we have done within the frames of the project as we find a lot of links with democracy and citizenship in it:
we are finishing a study material in history, geography and history of culture for Latvian students and teachers. The findings will be seen in the form of a CD. Our topic is "Hanseatic Towns in Latvia" under the common theme "Hansa League" shared with Helsinki Gymnasium, Finland and Cuxhaven Amandus-Abendroth Gymnasium, Germany. The work together has given the students a wider world outlook, new experience and skills, acquaintance with different cultures;
at the beginning of May two of our students went to Frydek-Mistek, the Czech Republic to get acquainted with their project partners from six countries. Also six teachers from our school were happy to visit their colleagues in Frydek-Mistek in April and in May. These two visits gave the teachers unforgettable impressions and various positive points of view concerning the life of the teachers and the school system in the Czech Republic;
in September two teachers from Cuxhaven spent a week in our town and school. The visit enriched both the German and the Latvian teachers and also our students.
At the beginning of November eight exchange students from Helsinki Upper Secondary School, Finland arrived in our school. The Finnish and the Latvian students met in the conference "Our responsibility in the EU" organized by Viesite Secondary School. The participants of the conference shared their opinions on different environmental problems in Finland and Latvia. The students are still working on the theme and in April they are going to meet in Helsinki to sum up their findings.
During 2005 our students have investigated life of the Latvians who live abroad, comparing their experience with ours. The name of the project is "Latvia's people at the turn of the 21st century", Virtual Encyclopedia.
It is impossible in an article like this to describe the real impressions, experience and emotions. It is impossible to measure up the widened world outlook and the views, but we all are sure that every time when we meet another culture, get to know another way of life, different traditions and systems of democracy, religions and habits of other people, we enrich each other and it makes us wiser, friendlier and more tolerant to live in the big family called the EU.
Perhaps we have various methods to embody an idea in our school life. This time the goal was citizenship and we worked on it both during the lessons and the out-of-class activities. Hereby I would like to deal with the activities we did on the international scale. 
