Educate Bulgarian Children with Khan Academy

At the start of the new school year, we welcomed new team members and embarked on exciting new projects aimed at supporting schools with significantly low math performance. However, what truly fuels our motivation are the testimonials from both teachers and students that unequivocally demonstrate the impact of our efforts.

One such inspiring testimony comes from Maria Chakarova, a teacher from Varna who participated in our Khan Academy Spring Competition. She shared:

"With Khanoniada, students want to solve more and more problems, even when I tell them they should stop and that the class is over. They enjoy their collective achievements, help each other, and develop a stronger sense of unity within the class. This definitely motivates them to learn effortlessly, with enthusiasm for continuous improvement."

It is heartfelt testimonials like Maria's that serve as a constant source of inspiration, compelling us to devote our effort to enhancing Bulgaria's educational system.

New exciting projects with new partners

We are thrilled to announce that Education Without Backpacks has been chosen as one of only two organizations in Bulgaria to receive support from the UniCredit Foundation. Over the next three years, we will be working diligently to empower 5-th grade students from two underprivileged lower secondary schools, enhancing their mathematical proficiency and assisting teachers in integrating digital tools into their classrooms. In addition, we are committed to developing free supplementary resources to aid all students in Bulgaria in their preparation for the 7th-grade external mathematics assessment exam. 

We understand the critical importance of identifying and addressing math gaps at an early stage and we are especially delighted to share that, thanks to the generous support of the Fantastico store chain, we will be launching a new, comprehensive mathematics course on Khan Academy in November. This course is designed to help fourth-grade students in Bulgaria prepare successfully for the national external mathematics assessment. It will be suitable for both advanced students and those who may have gaps in their knowledge.

Supporting teachers and schools

• Under the Erasmus+ project Khan4STEM, in collaboration with our partners from Bibliothèques Sans Frontières Belgique, we organized an English-language webinar aimed at helping teachers across Europe enhance their digital readiness. During this webinar, we shared effective teaching practices that are part of a freely available toolkit for teachers. This toolkit is accessible online in English, Bulgarian, and French. Additionally, we developed and published a teacher online training module, which is also freely accessible, and a Train the Trainer course based on this module.
• To further promote the use of Khan Academy, we conducted additional meetings with the Regional Education Departments in Veliko Tarnovo and Varna. During these meetings, we had the opportunity to introduce our latest innovations to over 150 mathematics teachers and 50 primary school teachers.
• In preparation for the upcoming school year and our next Ambassador program, we hosted two online meetings with active participation from 60 teachers. During these meetings, we presented opportunities for collaboration and the support we can provide to teachers in the upcoming school year.
• In the "Khanoniada" spring challenge, 89 teachers and 3,300 students from all over Bulgaria took part. Following a lottery, four teachers and two classes were awarded prizes. The feedback from teachers indicated that students were significantly more motivated to learn, and a sense of teamwork was fostered within their classrooms.
• We also expanded the resources available for the 7th-grade preparatory course and created a dedicated landing page featuring attractive visuals.

Art History competition and ceremony.  

To celebrate the launch of our freshly translated Art History courses, we rolled out an exciting online quiz aimed at high school students who have a passion for ancient and contemporary art. Participants included students from 9th to 12th grade, hailing from various schools across the country.

The awards ceremony took place on June 17, 2023, at the National Academy of Arts in Sofia, where we welcomed more than 40 guests, including official representatives, students, high school and university teachers, education experts, parents, and more. It was a lively event where we recognized the winners of the online competition and introduced our new, free Art History resources on Khan Academy.

Khan Academy localization for the period May 2023 – August 2023

• Translation: 90 words and 8 videos (28 minutes) in Art history and Informatics
• Proofreading: 698K words and 108 videos (620 minutes) in Art history, Health and Medicine, Biology, Informatics, Resources.

Thank you so much for your continuous support and don't forget: #YouCanLearnAnything :)

Links:

• All resources created under Khan4STEM project
• Math is fun with Khan Academy competitions
• Ceremony at National Art Gallery in Sofia