And here we go again! By the end of the project duration, we are supposed to write a story book for children, named ´A Hero´s Journey Across the Continent. ´ It is going to be a book of short stories about travels through each of the partner countries, accompanied by illustrations.
The first step was done in November by 10 students and 5 teachers. Each teacher with two of the students visited one of the local personalities and carried out an interview with them.
First, we had an interview with a well-known artist, an opera singer Mgr. Art. Aneta Hollá, ArtD, who is currently also the director of Peter Dvorsky Conservatory in Košice, while still performing as a solo opera singer at the National Theatre in Košice. We learnt much new information about the arts, especially music, the influence of modern world on today´s music, and on people´s attitude to classical music. We also found out recommendations about the performances in Košice worth seeing and hearing, as well as the importance of the arts in the lives of young children.
The second interview was carried out at the premises of the city waste processing company, KOSIT, with the CEO of the Association of the Waste Industry, RNDr. Ján Chovanec, MBA. We were given a huge amount of information about why the situation with the waste is so critical, what we could have done to prevent it and what we are actually doing to improve it. We must say that a lot of questions were answered and clarified. We are happy, that our city has already made a lot of improvement in the waste processing issues but we are also aware of the fact, that it all must start with individuals to make a difference ensuring better life for future generations.
The third interview took place at the school premises, because the local, well known travel guide, PaedDr. Viera Nemčoková, PhD. was so kind and visited us to answer our students ‘questions. It was an interview, where we learnt how many architectural and natural treasures are there in our country and region and that it is worth visiting for tourists of all ages. There is a large number of unique places, such as caves, castles, spas and many others and that it is worth coming here.
The fourth interview was carried out at the University of Pavol Jozef Šafárik in Košice, where Mgr. Gizela Brutovská, PhD., the assistant professor at the Department of Social Studies at the Faculty of Public Administration answered our curious questions and we found out about Slovaks as a nation, their diversity, their attitude towards the EU, also about why Slovaks react to some issues the way they do and how they are influenced when making decisions.
The last interview was carried out at Prešov University, with doc. PhDr. Martin Javor, PhD., a docent of history at the Institute of History of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Prešov in Prešov, the director of the Lifelong and Competence Education centre of the University of Prešov in Prešov, the deputy director of the Centre of Excellence for Sociohistorical and Cultural Historical Research of the PU in Prešov. He is also the owner of the Museum of Emigration to North America – Kasigard. We asked him about the history of Slovakia, about its most important historic milestones. We also learned a lot about how the different eras influenced Slovaks, their traditions, attitudes and we realised that despite all the changes that have taken place, Slovaks still keep some traditions and customs, introduced hundreds of years ago.
We would like to thank you for your willingness and time that you dedicated to our students.
