The school in the village of Zelena Morava: small mountain stories for big people

One of the first school STEM-centers will be opened in Hristo Botev Primary School, Zelena Morava village, Omurtag municipality on February 26, 2021. It was established under the National Program “Building a school STEM environment”. The school, which educates children from 9 villages and neighborhoods in the Omurta Balkans, is an example of the pedagogical miracles that dozens of rural schools teach children from vulnerable groups every day. Because here diversity does not scare, but enriches. It charges, inspires and helps the small school team not to stop dreaming, although many institutions remember that this school is part of the municipal educational network only when suddenly someone from Sofia notice.

The new STEM center is another example in the Green Lawn, which overturns the stereotypes that modern quality education occurs only in large urban schools and only where parents have a high level of education. 14 teachers with many years of experience work diligently, guided by the belief that each of them is good at what they do and by the motto “Success is in quality”. It reflects the pursuit of perfectionism and attention to the little things that make a big difference and distinguishes them.

Since 2016, Hristo Botev Primary School has been part of the network of the Every Student Will Be Excellent Program at the Amalipe Center. Thus, the pedagogical team increases the application of innovative intercultural methods in their work. The school parliament and student mentors turn students from passive participants in the educational process into alert young people with active citizenship, who do not run away from their identity, but discover its diversity in the classes on “Folklore of Ethnicities”.

With perseverance and purposeful work, the school is established as competitive, providing an opportunity for its graduates to receive education in line with European standards and motivating them to continue their education in the next stage. The school offers modern educational technologies. All-day organization of the school day is provided for all students. Unlike most cases, in Green Lawn the school is not located in the center of the village, but 3 kilometers from it. This poses another challenge for the children from the village, who have to walk this distance every day and cross the busy road connecting Northern and Southern Bulgaria. However, the school team finds a solution to this task as well, providing transport for the children from the village with its own funds. The successful educational process is supported by other activities under national programs and various projects, which the school wins and implements in the best way, funded by the Center for Educational Integration of Children and Students from Ethnic Minorities, Operational Program Science and Education for Smart Growth and etc.

These small steps take place in an extremely difficult environment, which is not because the children are bilingual, but the parents have low education – in recent years and in this area there is an increased commitment of parents to the education of their children. But the school’s facilities need major repairs that go beyond the delegated budget. Starting from the school toilets to the exterior façade and the canopy, the building looks frozen in previous decades. For unclear reasons, Hristo Botev Primary School has not been proposed as a protected school, although it meets the criteria. Kindergartens and branches of kindergartens were closed in most of the villages. Even in Zelena Morava itself, the kindergarten no longer functions, despite the large number of preschool children. So the little ones have to travel to Omurtag or stay at home. This process also led to the migration of families from the villages even to the district center. And every teacher knows how important preschool education is for all children, especially bilingual children.

Despite all these challenges, the success of Hristo Botev Primary School is impressive, because where there are motivated teachers who believe in the children they work with and do not stop provoking their potential, the success is not late. They are not shiny, but they are real.