Artem Veselov ESC Volunteering '24

In February, we decided that Eliška and I would create a mural dedicated to Wacław Rabczyński, the school patron. The design would have been created by the students, so we organized a contest where all students could suggest their ideas. Eventually, the winner has been chosen by mid-March, when we started a mural on a wall at the staircase near the canteen. In the process, we made several minor edits to the original suggested design so that it would match the paint pattern on the adjacent walls, and the composition suited the placement and our style better. So, after 2 weeks of work, we finally finished the mural, and then, we had the opening ceremony with the major. Lastly, we decided to create several more murals in school and have actually already started one.

After Christmas holidays, Eliška and I started to lead a new activity - extracurricular art sessions that happen on Mondays after students' classes (currently lessons 8-9 in czytelnia) We welcome all students to join us, and so far, we have already had 4 sessions. We have been painting landscapes with watercolors, yet we are planning to try other mediums and forms of visual and applied art in the future  Tuscany, Italy

After the Christmas break, there were several changes in my involvement at the school.  Firstly, at the beginning of January, Eliška, another volunteer, has arrived. Together, we started to lead art sessions on Mondays and occasionally work in świetlica together. You may learn more about the art sessions here: https://esc-volunteering-artem.blogspot.com/2024/03/art-sessions.html In swietlica, after creating numerous Christmas handicrafts in December, we shifted towards  drawings and handicrafts on subjects like nature and spring. I also came up with an idea of decorating paper cards with colored pencil ornaments inspired by pysanky, traditional Ukrainian Easter egg decorations somewhat close to Polish pisanki.  Lastly, we began setting up a Dash robot and tablets to later use them in świetlica and for Informatics classes. Also, I started tutoring a displaced Ukrainian student in English and Math on a one to one basis. Finally, I started to lead Minecraft classes for 4a and 4b.

I started the last week before the Christmas break in świetlica, where we were making holiday handicrafts. On Wednesday, I also had several English speaking classes. Then, before the last last in school, I went to Michałowo along with other volunteers from Białystok on Thursday. In addition to the regular monthly activities we had, we also visited a museum of local history.

The last week before my on-arrival training is Warsaw was mostly spent in the pre-Christmas hustle. During the first half of the week, I was staying in świetlica, where the students and I were decorating the classroom. On Wednesday, I also had several English speaking classes. On top of that, I was working on a presentation about Ukrainian winter traditions and celebrations for my upcoming English classes and for the Białystok volunteers' visits to another school and a youth center on Thursday. 

  Monday I stared the week in swietlica, where we were mainly making Christmas gonks with wool. Tuesday On Tuesday, I joined the welcoming ceremony for the visiting teachers from Romania and North Macedonia through Erasmus.  After that, I offered a bit of help for some students with mock interviews they had to have with the visiting teachers later. Later in the evening, we had a tour in the center of Bialystok, and then had a dinner together with some of our teachers. Wednesday On Wednesday, we had a workshop about non-violent communication and active citizenship. After that, we visited Swieta Woda and the Museum of icons and the waterfront in Suprasl Thursday On Thursday, I spent my entire day in swietlica, where we were decorating the classroom with Christmas handicrafts Friday On Friday, we had the final meeting about the Erasmus project in the principal's room. After that, I joined the teachers along with the visiting group for a farewell party in the evening