HS No. 12 / 2005

City partnership in projects
Don't forget to exchange your ID cards
RYBIČKA Kindergarten Centre
Cakes for Uncle Poláček
Support disabled children
Beware the pitfalls of summer
Tree of the Year 2005
Students learn about Europe

City partnership in projects

At the March meeting of the City Council, our school (SOŠ, SOU, OU and PrŠ Varnsdorf) asked for the involvement of the City of Varnsdorf in the form of a partnership in a project we submitted to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.

Since there will most likely be more and more organisations based in the town that will want to receive funding in the form of project activities, and from the questions that were raised during the discussion of our application, it is not entirely clear what good it is to partner the town in projects. I will therefore try to give some information.

At this time in the Czech Republic there are a large number of grant schemes (programmes in which it is possible to apply for subsidies) worth many billions of crowns. Grants are provided by the EU or by a number of institutions, ministries, etc. The amount of funds coming to the Czech Republic for this purpose will increase significantly in the coming years.

Already today it is possible to obtain a large amount of funds in the form of projects, which the town of Varnsdorf, its institutions and even the education system need.

In order for these funds to come to the town, it is necessary to prepare a project (which is often quite complicated), or to secure funds for co-financing, and then, of course, the project must be of such quality that it will be selected for subsidies. If the project is to be successful in the evaluation, i.e. to get the highest possible score, it must meet certain criteria.

One of the areas that are highly scored is the involvement of other partners in the project, who may participate in various ways (perhaps financially), guarantee the quality or simply declare the seriousness they attach to the project. For example, the involvement of the City in the project is highly rated. Therefore, the City's partnership in projects (if no property or other participation is required) does not burden the City with anything, on the contrary, it helps the flow of funds into our city and its improvement.

Therefore, I believe that the town councillors will be as accommodating in approving possible partnerships in projects of other organisations based in the town as they were in approving the partnership in the project of the Secondary School, Secondary School of Economics, Secondary School of Economics, Secondary School of Economics and Secondary School of Economics Varnsdorf entitled - "Preparation of an entrepreneurial project - establishment of small and medium-sized enterprises" and will support this partnership. This will benefit our town.

Don't forget to exchange your ID cards

On 31 December 2005 the validity of ID cards issued until 31 December 1994 will expire. These are ID cards of the booklet type with 'unlimited' or 'extended without limit' validity, as well as ID cards of the card type issued from 1 May 1993 to 31 December 1994, which also have 'unlimited' validity. In view of production deadlines, applications for identity cards must be submitted by 30 November 2005 at the latest.

RYBIČKA Kindergarten Centre

Dear mothers, and not only mothers, we would like to share with you some news from our Centre. The Rybička Nursery Centre is now in its third year and is open four times a week for you and your children. You may be asking, "What is this center anyway?" The Kindergarten Center is an open place for mothers on MD (but also for dads, grandmothers, grandfathers,...) and their children, it is a place of first peer contacts for children and a "transfer station" to preschool, it is a place of new friendly meetings with people who have similar "joys and worries" in life, and last but not least, it is also a place where everyone is welcome. For everyone's well-being we have new opening hours according to the age of the children:

• MONDAYS - Mondays 9.30 - 11.00 a.m. for mums with children from birth to 1.5 years.
• FISH - Wednesday and Friday 9.00 - 12.00 for mums with children from 1.5 to 3 years
• SCHOOL REQUIRED CHILDREN - Tuesdays 4.00 - 6.00 p.m. for mothers with children aged 3 years and over

A new service we offer to mothers is infant and baby massages

• INFANT MASSAGE - Mondays 8.45 - 9.30am.
• CHILDREN'S MASSAGE - every even Thursday from 3.30 p.m.

(massages for premature babies and disabled children are available by appointment).

A new outdoor children's play area is now being built within the MC Rybička, which will be open to all mothers and children of the MC when the MC opens. The following donors contributed to the construction of this children's corner: Euronisa Foundation with the proceeds of the "Lift the Weak" collection in the amount of CZK 6,500, the proceeds from the 2004 Button Market in the amount of CZK 1,200 and the Parish of the Old Catholic Church in Varnsdorf with the amount of CZK 10,000. Thank you very much and we ask all other possible sponsors for a financial contribution for the retrofitting of the children's corner.

Communio, 1232 Tyršova Street (by the church near the theatre),
tel.: 412 370 764, e-mail: communio@varnsdorf.cz,
www.communio.tk, contact person.

Cakes for Uncle Poláček

The quotation from the speech given by the head of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports of the Municipal Office at the opening of the exhibition in the Municipal Theatre on 3 June 2005 probably best describes the meaning of the whole event and the quality of the works on display. We therefore present it in full.

Dear little painters, dear little painters,
dear teachers, dear parents,
we are gathered today at one of the "sweetest" exhibitions we may never experience again - an exhibition with a single theme: cake. There are 22 cakes in total, decorated in different ways and with many flavours, this time expressed in colours. They are so nicely drawn that I feel quite like I'm in a cake shop - and some of them I've got a taste for. Perhaps they are so beautiful because they are "cakes for Uncle Poláček", a birthday present from Josef Poláček, the painter and graphic artist who has been walking around this world of ours, smiling at us and helping children and adults for eighty years. It's a very nice present, and a practical one too: a drawn cake will make you happy, but it won't spoil your teeth or make you fat.

It is no coincidence that you - the kindergarten children - have dedicated today's exhibition to Mr. Poláček, together with your teachers. After all, it was he who came up with the beautiful idea of encouraging painting talents from childhood. The children who took part in the first exhibition in 1977, an incredible 29 years ago, are now grown-ups, mothers and fathers. Some have gone on to become real painters, some build houses or design cars, toys and the like, some work in hairdressing salons, some bake and decorate real cakes in cake shops - they all create useful things - and the sense of shape and colour they learnt when drawing in kindergarten often helps them in their work. And they can all certainly give advice on drawing to their children.

I am very happy that you invited me to your exhibition, so that I can see everything with my own eyes. I congratulate you on today's exhibition and I keep my fingers crossed that one day you will become real painters or other skilful people who will create beautiful and useful things for the rest of us. When that happens, don't forget to thank your kindergarten teachers and, of course, your parents.

Supporting disabled children

It is becoming a tradition that students of the Secondary Vocational School, Secondary Vocational School, Vocational School and Practical School, Bratislavská Street, Varnsdorf, participate in public collections. In the past, for example, these were collections for the benefit of seriously ill children or people with serious health impairments.

Also this year, at the end of May, ten students of the school took part in a public collection called Feast with Emil, which was aimed at supporting disabled children, especially their sports activities. The collection took place in a number of towns and villages across the Czech Republic. The sponsor of the collection was the Czech Paralympic Committee, whose mascot is the disabled bird Emil.

As part of the collection, students offered rubber (school rubber) to citizens for 20 CZK. This time the proceeds of the collection amounted to more than seven thousand crowns, which were contributed by the citizens of the town to the mentioned group of children.

In previous years, the proceeds have been used, for example, to purchase sports equipment for the children of the Jedlička Institute in Prague, to pay for the rental of sports and physical education facilities for deaf people from Hradec Králové, and to provide a contribution to cover accommodation and catering costs at sporting events for visually impaired athletes from Ostrava. The proceeds from this year's event will have a similar use.

Our sincere thanks to all the citizens who made a contribution to this group of children.

The organizers of the fundraiser and especially the students of the school - M. Salvetrová, M. Maryško, L. Lehká, M. Uhrová, M. Benáková, H. Homolová, P. Elstnerová, K. Janoušková, A. Pavlousková and J. Vrbková, who actively participated in the fundraiser, deserve thanks.

Beware of the pitfalls of summer

Under this headline, we have warned several times in the past in the Voice of the North that the holiday and vacation period, which is inseparably connected with summer, can bring considerable inconveniences and difficult moments in addition to leisure, rest and fun. This is when we underestimate the 'pitfalls of summer' and convince ourselves that it cannot happen to us.

So let's recall the advice we have been given by the police, both municipal and state. They are based on experience and should be followed.

It's good to be confident. Healthy self-confident people are usually better at everything, they don't dwell on small things, they perceive the world around them optimistically, they give optimism away.

It is not good to be frivolous and indifferent. This does not pay off during the year, and all the more so during the summer, when pitfalls and risks seem to multiply and take on the most diverse forms.

Especially in summer, it pays to be prudent, perceptive, observant and attentive. To yourself, to other people (and their property) - especially the youngest and oldest, to your surroundings, to what is happening around you.

Let us remember that from time to time other people need our help and from time to time we need other people's help.

The pitfalls and risks of summer are manageable. We have seen this many times. The efforts made to protect our health and property will make up for the time of summer in pleasant experiences many times over.

Tree of the Year 2005

The Tree of the Year 2005 survey ended at the end of April in Varnsdorf. Five months ago it was announced by the Commission for Cleanliness and Protection of Public Spaces of the Varnsdorf Town Council. From the submitted proposals, the jury chose a hundred-year-old apple tree as the most popular tree, which was nominated by twenty-four pupils of the fourth grade of the Bratislavská Primary School. For the winners of the poll, the organisers prepared a trip to the Kunratice arboretum of the Secondary Forestry School in Šluknov in June with the support of businessman Petr Rybníček.

What made the winning proposal special? The story of the tree, which the designers wrote about it. Let the children speak for themselves. The trunk can fit eight small or six big children. The trunk will hug six children. Although the apple tree is so old, it is full of life. In spring it turns green, blooms and even bears fruit." We can add that the apple tree is about seven metres tall and grows in the village of Jiřetín pod Jedlovou.

"Among the other suggestions we have received, we can mention the white willow, which we find at the TOS company, and the black poplar, which grows by the train station. The winning design from Varnsdorf was sent to the national final of the Tree of the Year 2005 competition, which will take place this autumn. The winning tree is awaiting professional dendrological treatment. In case the tree is healthy, the alternative reward will be the planting of new young trees" said Filip Mágr, Chairman of the Commission for Cleanliness and Protection of Public Spaces of the Varnsdorf City Council.

The poll for the most sympathetic tree in the Czech Republic is announced annually by the Partnership Foundation, the largest Czech environmental foundation. The purpose of the poll is to draw attention to the importance of trees for the environment. Through trees, to make people care about the environment they live in and to encourage tree planting and care. The winners of the national Tree of the Year 2005 poll are determined by the story of the tree, what the tree means to the place, the community and the person who designed it, how many people nominated the tree for the poll, whether it is an individual or collective proposal, the appearance of the tree and the type of tree. You can follow the further fate of the nominated Varnsdorf Tree of the Year 2005 together with us on the website www.stromzivota.cz.

For more details about the Tree of the Year 2005, please contact:
Filip Mágr, GSM +420 723 959 516, tel. 412 335 360, magr@email.cz

Students learn about Europe

Happening or workshop (translated as workshop, seminar) are terms that are firmly established in our vocabulary, although their exact translation is sometimes a bit misleading. Whatever the happening organised in our city by the Agora Central Europe Society for Democracy and Culture on Monday 23 May was, it was not what the Dictionary of Foreign Words (SPN 1998) says it was: "An improvised spectacle or seemingly purposeless performance whose impact is left to chance." (And I'm stating the better of the two options offered.) One might even say that the opposite is true.

Agora CE (incidentally, the agora was the square or marketplace of ancient Greek cities where people gathered, traded, and, what else, discussed life and politics), in collaboration with local or-ganizers, prepared a full-day program for our high school students that had a clear concept and dramaturgy and a specific focus. After all, the Agora staff already has a lot of experience with this type of event, as the one in Varnsdorf was the fourth one they organized this year. Before it, similar events were held in Jindřichův Hradec, Žatec and Zlín. And according to the director of the foundation, Ivana Bursíková, ours was the most successful. That is also why the director asked us to thank the city administration for their cooperation in organizing it, especially the vice-mayor Mgr. Z. Vajsová, the Regia joint-stock company, in particular O. Jiřištová and Z. Šimák, and for their help in selecting the bands of KD Rozkrok, namely M. Šatník.

The morning discussion part in the Sports Hall, which started at 10.00 a.m., was attended by about 350 students from all four Varnsdorf secondary schools. In the beginning, before the scheduled discussions, there was a short interview with the mayor of the town Ing. J. Poláček. The topic of the first discussion was working and studying in EU countries. Jan Kotala (Mla-dí Evropané) and student Eva Kočárková (studying in Germany) accepted the invitation to speak. They brought many interesting insights, examples, experiences and ideas from Europe to our students, but did not provoke too much discussion.

Apparently, the second topic was much closer to our students (they know them from their surroundings): Do drugs belong in Europe? The experts on this topic were Marcela Postlerová from Teen Challenge (this belongs to the Apostolic Church, whose No Comment evangelization program took place in our city from 4 to 11 June) and Mgr. Z. Vajsová. The discussion on this issue was lively and interesting.

There was also a surprising interest in the afternoon workshops. In Lidická Street you can see graffiti created by the participants, skateboarders "had fun" on the playground behind the Municipal Police, in the hall many tried juggling or hip-hop and there was also interest in playing ethno drums.

The day ended with a successful concert of three groups - the Varnsdorf group Standartní kompot and the Rumburk groups By No Names (Nijak) and Neřesti. Let's believe that those for whom everything was intended - our students - were satisfied.