By Mina Nedeva | Development and Fundraising Team
Dear supporters,
The beginning of summer vacation means one thing - the comeback of the Summer START Academies. Held in 7 places around the country, they help students aged 7-13 to catch up on schoolwork and prevent them from falling out of school.
This year was the third annual Summer START Academy in the “Hristo Botev” Primary School Brestnitsa - held from the 1st until the 19th of June. Its main goal was to help 35 children from the local community to catch up on missed material which would otherwise put their position in school at risk. This year’s academy was centred around the topic of Career orientation which was the theme for all the teamwork and activities the students participated in.
During the opening day they explored four career paths - hairdressing, cooking, fashion design, and interior design. Additionally, throughout the three weeks of lessons they had the opportunity to meet and talk with experts who work in other fields, which encouraged them to continue on their road of educational and career development.
The START Academy’s main goal was to support children who struggle at school or are falling behind. Each day, they attended lessons in Bulgarian and Maths, divided into groups based on their skill level rather than their grade.
“The academy is important for students because it helps them fill up knowledge gaps, reintegrate into school (those who need it), and allows them to spend part of their holidays having fun,” says Bilyana, organiser of the event and TFB alumna. “For us teachers, it’s important because it makes us fully understand the phrase ’it is my responsibility’.”
During lessons and activities, students used and further expanded their teamwork and other soft skills through various projects, focused on the START Academy’s topic. To immerse themselves in the experience of being an interior designer, they used their creativity to produce unique cardboard model homes. A huge success was the fashion activity during which they created beautiful dresses out of colourful plastic bags.
On the last day of the academy, the students held a career fair where they could showcase the products of their hard work and the new skills they’d gained.
This would not be possible without people like you who choose to support our work and the community.
Sincerely,
The Teach For Bulgaria team
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