From the Free School (Grades K-4)

e-mail your response to: Victor Latynov, International Relations, Obninsk to be forwarded to the student(s) you correspond with.

About the Obninsk Free School

1991 by The Obninsk Free School is a non-governmental organization that was founded in a group of teachers. The school has experienced a number of organizational changes since the moment of its appearance, following the rapid changes in economical social and cultural environment. Now the Free School works in very close cooperation with the Obninsk Art Lyceum (grades 1 - 11).

The main goals of the school are:

    The formation of general culture of a personality by the depth study of humanities (history, literature, history of art, psychology, English);

    The development of a personality with the help of individual and group creative activity.

    The main pedagogic principle is "dialog". The school has 230 students (from 1 to 11 grade) from all social layers of the city. To be enrolled a student should pass examinations. The average monthly fee is about $ 30. Almost all graduates of the Free Schools enter Universities (mostly in Moscow). The principal of the school is Alexander A. Machula email to: Alexander A. Machula - for Machula.

About a poet (About my Pushkin)

The poet aspires to reach Beauty in his verses, to touch a listener's soul,to give him his own heart.The poet mustn't try to get everybody's attention. He doesn't need untouching soul.A reward is in the poet, and he realizes it. He can value himself, that's why he isn't tempted by praises.He does not care of the crowd's affection.He follows his wish. The poet drowns in rhymes, in thoughts and minds to waves of poetry. But until the muse wakes up in the poet's heart,he lives like all ordinary people. He is immersed in their problems, without marking it, and he doesn't feel the completeness of life.

When he realizes that he can write verses,he feels crunch and whistle in the ears. A sweet suffering and a music of inspiration overcomes his soul inside.The poet collects what he needs from soul's depth and carefully transfers into the verses.

Author: Yana Malisheva (3-th grade).

Translator: Helen Krupena (10-th grade).

After reading a fairy tale "A Blue Bird" written by M. Meterlink, children confessed that they liked him to make everything: a cat,dog,fire,water read as human being.They were offered to write their own essays about "Something" that means "Someone" for you.

Buffy.

Once we were presented with a plush hippotamus.He was soft and a little plump,he had a big head,small ears,arms and legs(paws).His oval eys were large. He used to wear green trousers,but the rest of clothes were pink.He immediately became our pet. We named him Buffy. Waking up in the morning, each of us first remembered about the hippopotamus, and then ran as fast as he could to fondle him.We would play hide-and-seek and some other games with him, take him for a walk. Once he got really dirty, so our mother washed him. After a bath Buffy became very clean, and we hung him on the rope so that he could dry up. He looked funny.

In summer we went to the south for a holiday and took Buffy with us. He ate, gazed at the unbroken plain of clouds sitting in an armchair with us. After the plane landed we went home. But when we opened our bags at home, we saw that there was no Buffy there.We beleived that he might have stayed on board. We have really missed him since then.

Author: Dilar Mehtiev (2-nd grade).

Translator: Natalie Ivashkina (11-th grade).

From the Obninsk Free School

Hi!

My name is Nastya. I live in Russia and study in Obninsk Free School (maybe you have already read what my schoolmates write about it.I am fifteen and I am fond of different kinds of music, I also like travelling to famous places and try to do it according to my possibilities. Recently, I have been to the USA (San-Antonio, Texas) and I liked it there very much because of the benevolence and affability of the Americans.

Though I have read about America and watched TV programs, devoted to USA, I am under the impression that the Americans, aspiring to the most safety, make their life very foretold and even monotonous. I was very astonished that children are not allowed to play or spend their time with their friends without their parents looking after them. Though, I am quite independent here, I could not just walk through the town in Texas. Sometimes it seemed to me that without an own car the freedom of moving depended on someone else.

The situation in Russia is opposite. Traditionally, from the early childhood we are allowed to go almost anywhere and spend our free time as we like. It does not mean that parents do not take care of their children, but not everything in Russia is so civilized as in USA, and we can enjoy the charm of the wild nature, especially in the country. But maybe I am misled and maybe in USA everything is different from my opinion. Am I right or not?

Please send answers to: Olesya Kras'ko

Hope to hear from you. Olesya