The International University of LCC (Klaipėda, Lithuania) is the American style educational institution with English as the language of teaching. Since 2004, the International Speaking Contest in English has been held among 10-11 graders. It motivates them to put more effort into learning English, known as the language of international communication, and can be the key to a multitude of future opportunities. The annual speaking contest is paid special attention to in the First City Gymnasia in Cherkasy, on the basis of which the school, city, and regional rounds are conducted. In the academic year 2018-2019, the winner of the regional round was Maria Prylipko, the student of the 11-A grade, presenting the topic "Dare to Think for Yourself" ("Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living"). On February 22, 2019, she was invited to go on an educational and entertainment trip to Kyiv at the expense of the university to participate in the finals, competing with the winners from 7 regions of Ukraine and won the 1st prize. We sincerely congratulate Maria and wish her success in the super finals which will be held at the LCC University where the winners from Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Latvia, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine will try their hand at the ancient art of public speaking!
On January 30, 2019, on the initiative of the International University of LCC (Klaipėda, Lithuania), on the basis of the First City Gymnasium in Cherkassy, a regional public speaking contest in English among the 10th-11th grade students was held. This is an American type linguistic university with English as the language of teaching, which is an official partner of the gymnasium in accordance with the signed agreement. The staff of the university are regular guests at our school. Their speeches and multimedia presentations on the benefits of the university courses and programs testify the high-quality education the institution provides. These have been widely discussed by university representatives and gymnasia students, especially at the meetings of the Discussion club "Dialogue of Cultures". The University initiated an annual Public Speaking Competition in English to enhance students' motivation to learn it as this international language will provide them with many opportunities in the future. Under the terms of the competition, the winner of the regional stage will be able to take part in the finals on the international level, which will take place in the university this summer.
What do a Beatles song, the trailer for an Alfred Hitchcock film, and the reflections of Maine public radio listeners have in common?
They are all examples of “authentic listening materials” — audio (and often video as well) that was not created specifically for English language learners but that can be used effectively in the English language classroom.
In early January, more than 20 foreign language teachers at First City Gymnasia attended a presentation on these materials, which also include recorded interviews, speeches, film clips, short documentaries, radio and television ads, and TV programs. Sonia Scherr, a Peace Corps Response Volunteer at FCG, asked teachers what they see as the advantages of incorporating authentic listening materials into their lessons.
Traditionally, on the last day of the year the edotorial board of the site and our school's admins make the summative analysis of the work done, defining the crucial happenings of the passing year. The year 2018 is not an exception and can boast of the following achievements:
JANUARY
Volodymyr Khandogiy, a famous career diplomat, the gymnasia alumnus and gold medalist, presented us with his book "Diplomatic scripts - the true stories of a career doplomat".
On November 20th Interact-Cherkassy celebrates its 15th anniversary. Interact club in the city of Cherkassy was created in 2003, with its founder being the local Rotary club Cherkasy-Center running the programs of the Rotary movement.
The first Interact club was established on November 5th, 1962 in Florida, the USA. Since then, the clubs have enjoyed turbulent development, with now more than 113,000 of them operating worldwide. Their work is supervised by local Rotary clubs; thus, creating them in the locations where there is no Rotary is quite problematic.
In November 2018, members of First City Gymnasia’s English Club shared their love of reading and English with first form pupils during an after-school story hour this week. The event enabled English Club members to experience the satisfaction of volunteering while serving as teachers and role models for FCG’s youngest learners. At the same time, it showed both groups of students that language learning is above all about communicating and connecting with others.
First City Gymnasia’s English Club is off to a strong start this year, with a dozen enthusiastic members participating in weekly sessions that emphasize conversation and culture. Facilitated by Sonia Scherr, a Peace Corps Response Volunteer at FCG, this student-centered club caters to the needs and interests of its participants, who are in the sixth, seventh and eighth forms. The group — officially named Interesting English Club by its members — gives students opportunities to express themselves in English through interactive games, informal presentations and lively discussions.
Hi, everyone! My name is Kateryna Taranenko and I got lucky enough to spend this academic year in the US, as a part of FLEX program. I got an opportunity to spend this year in Houston, Texas. It is the fourth most populous city in the US, which is a very unusual, but exciting experience for me. I attend Westside High School as a junior(11th grade) and this school is a completely new thing for me. It is huge ( over 3000 people) and the whole school atmosphere differs a lot from our Ukrainian one. Given an opportunity to choose my subjects, I took everything, that interests me the most and I am looking forward to studying them this whole year. Hopefully I will get the best out of this exchange year, as it is a wonderful chance to improve myself in many different fields. I wish you the best year in FCG and I hope it will be successful and productive for our school!
On June 15 we had an enchanting closing ceremony of Go Camp-FCG 2018 language camp that lasted for the past two weeks. At the «Star Party», the camp participants presented four personal projects that kids would create in cooperation with their teamers and teachers during their stay in the camp. The winner by the online voting was announced on the gymnasia website. The closing ceremony was attended by Inna Krulko and Tetyana Kirichenko, the managers from Kyiv office of Go Global, as well as T. G. Lyakhovytska, the methodist of Cherkasy Methodist Cabinet.
Yesterday, on June 5 2018, a volunteer from France arrived at our school. It is incredibly pleasant news since it is virtually the first arrival of a French volunteer for working with children in the language summer camp of our educational institution.
Elise Girard is from Southern France. She is a student of the first year of magistracy in the University of Lyon and a future teacher of French as a foreign language.
Elise is currently receiving her second higher education. According to her first qualification, she is a translator. Before arriving in Cherkassy, she took part in a three-day training program in Kiev, which was organized by GOGLOBAL for foreign volunteers.
On May 18, the gymnasia community welcomed Volodymyr Dmytrovych Khandogiy, the ex-alumnus and now Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and the Chairman of the civil organization The Ukrainian Association of External Politics. He was willing to meet the students and interested in witnessing how well they use the foreign languages taught here. Maria Samokhvalova (11-B), Maria Prilipko (10-А), Polina Masuik (11-А), Alina Voronina (9-А) and Anastasia Shpak (9-А) told the guest about themselves and study in gymnasia today as well as demonstrated a high level of speaking the French, English, Spanish and German languages. Volodymyr Dmytrovych also narrated about his life path and reassured that he is always proudly remarking where he studied if asked about it.
On May 23, our gymnasia was paid a visit by the Second Secretary of the Embassy of Japan in Ukraine Hoshino Yuichi, which was initiated by himself. The day before he met the regional and city authorities and even took part in planting the sakura trees near the Valley of Roses.
He and his interpreter Kyrylo spent a 1-hour meeting with senior students. The diplomat told them about Japan as well as the state of its education, science and economy. Mr. Yuichi put a lot of questions, checking how much the students know about this faraway country, and afterwards answered the numerous questions of the students.
N. A. Ovcharova, English teacher of our gymnasia, has just received a valuable gift from the last year's Peave Corps volunteer Judith Anders with whom she had a very close working partnership.
Judith Anders was grateful to our school and teachers for the coperation that we had. The series of publications will become a significant contribution and real treasure to gymansia English classrooms.
Students of different age groups who are interested in learning the English language have a free access to the useful materials presented to us by Ms Anders.
On April 16, five Belgians from different parts of this relatively small country spent a few hours in the walls of our gymnasia. Their visit started from the guided tour round the premises perfectly conducted by Maria Samokhvalova in her exquisite French. The guests got acquainted with the rich history of relationship between Cherkasy and the Belgian city of Arlon. They were told about it by the coordinator of the project T. G. Mokrushina.
Since the guests are the members of Rotary clubs in Belgium, they also had a meeting with the members of the gymnasia club “Interact”. Its president Illya Lagutin informed everyone ptresent about the programs that the club participates in and coordinates, while the other participants had a chance to tell about their particular contribution to the work of the club as well as their likes in relation to what they are doing.
On April 13, the Cherkasy Arts Museum hosted the Charity Ball under the patronage of the Queen of the First City Gymnasia Daria Yaremchuk. The Ball was opened by the students of our gymnasia who devoted their lives to mastering the beautiful art of ballroom dancing and have achieved quite significant heights in this respect: Nikita Solovyov, Elizaveta Volovichenko, Artem Mizyun, Anna Kirnas, Arseniy Rabenko, and Maria Bezkorovaina. Traditionally, according to the rules of etiquette, the event is opened by the debutants, youngest “ladies and gentlemen” who participate in the festive Ball for the first time. The students of the 8 th –B grade performed a magnificent polonaise, while the 8 th –A grade dancers provided the audience with the opportunity to enjoy the lightness of the Spanish waltz. Polka, ragtime, blues, country, Vienna waltz, pas de grâce from grades 9-А, 9-B, 10-А and 10- B students were also unforgettable.
On April 11, FCG participated in the traditional V Regional Student Conference, which took place in our Local Lore Museum and gathered the young experts of the creative handicap of M. O. Drai-Khmara. More than 30 participants mostly represented Cherkasy schools. However, the 5 th -graders from Shpola district schools also attended the event. FCG principal S. I. Sayenko and teacher-methodist N. I. Korytan delivered their introductory speeches in which they thanked everyone for their work and wished every success in researching the work of Drai-Khmara.
On December 17 2017, Volodymyr Khandogiy, now a world famous career diplomat but once the alumnus of our gymnasia and its golden medalist, has presented teachers and students with his own recently published book called “Diplomatic plots: The real stories of a career diplomat”.
On almost 600 pages of the work, Volodymyr Dmytrovych is sharing with readers the little-known facts, thoughts, and assessments of the significant events in Ukraine of the last few decades. The book is written in an interesting manner and thus easy to read. Chapter 1 named “This mysterious word “diplomat”” starts with the author’s memories about studying in our gymnasia, which at that time had the status of the Lenin School #1. He remembers the years here with the warmth in his heart and even displays the pictures of the then alumni on the pages of the book.
Today, V. D. Khandogiy, being the president of the civil organization “Ukrainian Association of External Politics”, gladly meets and communicates with gymnasia educators and learners, as well as participates in many of our festivities.
Soon, the book with the autograph of the author on one of the title pages will be available to curious readers in our library.
Traditionally, on the last day of the year the editorial board of our site and the administration of gymnasia keep themselves busy with summarizing the achievements and most significant events of the passing academic year. The year 2017 has not become an exception. Here is what we have accomplished in it:
1. 10 gymnasia students participated in the Polish-Ukrainian theater project and were well accepted with the performance "OAK" in Cherkasy, Kropyvnytsky, and Kyiv (January-February). 2. Young basketball team of our school won the 2nd prize in the city championship (February). 3. First City Gymnasia was awarded the 1st prize and the golden medal of the International Exhibition “Modern Educational Establishments-2017”, Kyiv (March). 4. Six gymnasia students have become the winners of the 4th round of Pan-Ukrainian subject Olympiads and the 3rd round of the Small Academy of Sciences contest (March). 5. FCG team “Quorum” is second in the Pan-Ukrainian forum of young philosophers and religious scholars (April). 6. Gymnasia has conducted the 4th regional student conference dedicated to the creative work of the prominent Ukrainian poet and the alumni of our school М. Drai-Khmara in the historical part of the building of Cherkasy Musical School (April). 7. The newspaper “Gymnasist” was recognized as the winner of the ХХ annual school media contest held Mykolaiv in the nomination “The best material on the topic of international cooperation in Ukraine” (April). 8. We welcomed the French diplomats Fabrice Peutot and Sylvain Rigeaulet, and our own 11-grader Maria Samokhvalova was awarded with the certificate allowing her to live, study, and work in France (May). 9. The school organized the Go Camp-2017, the language study camp and involved the volunteers from Canada, Honduras, and Germany (June). 10. FCG received the silver medal of the Pan-Ukrainian contest conducted by the Institute of a Gifted Child called “School is the source of talents” (June). 11. The website of the gymnasia Euroclub “New Generation” was acknowledged as the best by the Delegation of the European Union (July). 12. The principal of gymnasia was invited by France Ambassador in Ukraine Isabelle Dumont to the meeting with dedicated to the 25th anniversary-of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries (July). 13. The group of gymnasia students took part in the Polish-Ukrainian cinematographic project in Mrocha, Poland (August). 14. Language Center FCE has been reformed and changed its name to be called Cambrdge Essol Centre “Olympus” (September). 15. Gymnasia welcomed a volunteer from China Chan Pen who became the teacher of the Chinese language for our 5-graders (October). 16. FCG German teacher N. K. Karnaukhova has become the winner of the city contest “Teacher of the Year-2018” (October). 17. Gymnasia received Physics, Chemistry, and Biology Labs equipment within the program “Innovative Schools of the Chercasy region” (October). 18. FCG students Daniel Shyrokov and Eric Mia participate in the military-patriotic project hosted by the 500th separate battalion of the Marine Corps in Mariupol (November). 19. FCG has become the regional center of the international project М-18 (November). 20. FCG teacher N. K. Karnaukhova has become the winner of the regional round of the contest “Teacher of the Year-2018” in the nomination “The German Language” (December).
It was over a year ago that the French company BETEN INGENIERIE started researching the condition of sewerage wastes in Cherkassy. As a result, its representatives have come up with the optimal, to their mind, solution to improve the work of the regional center of garbage collection and disposal, and most importantly – for saving the environment.
On November 21, Cherkasy welcomed a large French delegation from Cannes. At noon they met the administration of the city council, the mass media representatives, and the managers of city enterprises. The principal and two students of our gymnasia were also invited as the participants of the educational program aimed at environmental protection.
Due to certain circumstances, the interpreter of the city council was absent at the beginning of the meeting and the gymnasia student Maria Samokhvalova temporarily performed their duties, which was well accepted and appreciated by all the members of the meeting.
At 4 pm, the assembly hall of FCG hosted the principals of Cherkasy schools and later the very French delegation delayed by the city council officials. As informed by the president of the company “Syvedac” Olivier Paz, Cherkasy is about to receive 18 thousand euro to help in conducting the trainings on garbage treatment culture in our city’s kindergartens and schools.
Thereafter, the gymnasia community was visited by the city Mayor Anatoly Bondarenko and his deputies Stanislav Ovcharenko and Genadiy Schevchenko. In the walls of our school, the Mayor and the representatives of the French delegation signed a joint memorandum for the nearest perspective.
The principal as well as the French teacher of our gymnasia T. G. Mokrushina also communicated with the foreign guests.
In the picture: after the meeting in Mayor’s office – a photo with the youth.
.jpg)
