The inauguration of school year in the Senior Teachers Club

Meetings of the members of the Senior teachers Club of polish schools have been resumed last week after summer holidays. All those teachers, some of them with almost a half a century experience, had grown accustomed to the beginning of the working time on the 1^st of September. That is why, this year’s meetings of the Club began on the very first days of September.

The first Wednesday of each month is the meeting day for the honored people of the Polish education living in Vilnius region.

Józef Kwiatkowski, the member of the parliament and the director of the Association of Polish Teachers in Lithuania “Polska Macierz Szkolna” addressed the audience in a warm regards. He congratulated venerable educators on remaining Polish, wished them good health and further fruitful meetings around such an amicable group of people. He also greeted people gathered on the occasion of the inauguration of the school year, which is a promising year for Polish education in the Vilnius region concerning the amount of students in Polish schools.

Currently the Senior Teachers Club consists of almost 50 people. They are the ones that, in spite of the passage of time, want to meet, reminiscent of the old days and experience something new. Since the beginning of the Club, the members have visited many historical places of Lithuania, Poland, they followed the trail of people honored for Poland. Sometimes those trips were organized together with the Veteran Club “Wilii”, given that these two Clubs share the idea of remaining Polish.

Zofia Kuncewicz, the director of the Senior Teachers Club points out that senior educator like visiting Vilnius and its region, according to the rule “the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence”. So the trips like the ones to Zułowo, Pikeliszki and to many places of Vilnius connected with the life and actions of marshal Józef Piłsudski (which were accompanied with stories told by a former teacher, vice-director of present Syrokomłówka, known as Vilnius High school no 19 and a brilliant guide Helena Mickiewicz-Noreikiene) are impossible to forget.

Similarly, the visit in the museum of prelate priest Józef Obrembski in Maišiagala or the trip to the Palace of monarchs or to Vilnius Seminary of saint Joseph are unforgettable. Visiting the sanctuaries and cemeteries of Vilnius, climbing to the top of the church of saint John or journeys to the places connected with January Uprising – those are the attractions that will sink into the memory for the rest of their lives.

The meeting of the Club are not only attended by Vilnius educators, but also from local villages: Rzesza, Niemieża, Bukiszki, Suderwy, Pogir, Płocieniszki, Bujwidz, Nowa Wilejka. The Club has its own poet – Leon Luczyk, the former director of the school in Kiwiszki. He is the one who writes in rhymes about the memories form many parties and meeting of the Club.

The Club is full of ideas. The members of the Club will be celebrating Teachers’ Days soon which coincided with the International Day of Older Persons. The director, Zofia Kunceiwcz declared that the next meeting will be devoted to the subject “Old age has its joys and glamor too”.