On Flashes of Wisdom

Whatever you do, do prudently and see the end! (Quidquid agis, prudenter agas et respice finem!) With this ancient Greek maxim, Headteacher Anna Sobala-Zbroszczyk began the closing ceremony of the school year and handed over the floor to Ms Krystyna Norwa, the chair of the board of STO Circle No. 144, who summed up a successful year and wished everyone a happy holiday. Headtecher Anna Sobala-Zbroszczyk confirmed that the passing school year had been marked by valuable and inspiring initiatives. Two students were successful in subject contests, despite the fact that in the IB such achievements do not exempt them from taking the Matura exam. They were Mateusz under the tutelage of Paweł Wołowski in French and Wojtek under the tutelage of Jakub Pawlikowski in mathematics. In addition, the finalist of the Brazilian Astronomy Olympiad was Tomasz, working under the supervision of Piotr Morawiecki. Under the supervision of Jan Chudzyński, Julian and Antoni were the finalist and winner of the Economics Olympiad.  In cooperation with Tosia Siatkowska, Maciej became a finalist in the knowledge of law. In the international competition CanSat, the Shooting Star group with its coordinator Pankajkumar Joshi won runner-up.

Students also achieved successes of other kinds. The HelloSpace team together with Piotr Morawiecki sent a probe to an altitude of thirty-two thousand kilometres, Sławomir Jagiełło with the Calcullus Group carried out an advanced programme on the theory of relativity. In the school competition on the number π, a group of students won and, together with Basia, the author of delicious cakes, were awarded prizes by the competition organiser Tomasz Lechowski. Prizes were also awarded for activities of a humanistic nature. Natalia and Marysia received prizes from the organisers of the literary competition ( Katarzyna Szymańska, Olga Masiuk, Katarzyna Długołęcka and Kachna Królak) in the main and review category. In addition, the Polish language teachers recalled the first edition of the KnIGA competition and the prize books for its participants, which will soon be available for collection. In the field of the art of speaking, which is just as important as the art of writing, Julian – the architect of the Debating League, led by Wojciech Miley, was honoured. The disputants’ team from Solec met the team from Nowowiejska in the 1/8 finals and made it to the quarter-finals. Marta Wierzbicka-Kotte looked after the group preparing the Jasmun conference, which is already working on the proceedings in September. This year, the team honed their skills in Berlin, Rome, Lübeck and Budapest.  In the Collaborative Science Project, Franciszek Fijałkowski-Wojciechowski awarded a team that developed a project dedicated to measuring light intensity in the Solec school. He also awarded the second place prize and the audience prize. Wojciech Świątek presented the winning cup to the preDP2 football team. In conclusion, coordinator Tomasz Mazur encouraged everyone to self-reflect during the holidays, to take a distance and learn lessons for themselves for the future, and read a poem he had written:

A Certain Owl

This call, however, is not meant to encourage further study

He does not want to entice him with visions of achieving high results

He does not want to recommend exercises in mathematics

He does not want him to read English and Polish

Instead, he calls for a moment’s reflection

As the IB-student is characterised by reflection

When you go out into the wilderness

When you begin to lead a life oblivious of all your worries

When the sun and the wind embrace you

That is when you gather the flashes of wisdom

When you look back on things past with a blissful glance

Do not fetter your soul with the taste of a profession of any kind

Not for mere laziness holidays

Not for the solace of eyes the forests and woods

But for the times of life and all its dilemmas

To sift the disappointed hopes and the great failures

Through the sieve of experience reflection

And to derive strength and wisdom from it

Well, that you have changed the elements of chemistry

Well, that you have lost the grace of the Polish teacher

Well, that you have confused the graphs in economics

Well, that you have mixed up the periods in history

When you look once into the depths of the cosmos

When you listen to the voice of your lonely soul

It is not at dawn that the bird flies out

When the calendar is just beginning to swell

It does not take flight at noon

When your head is rumbling

It is only at dusk that its time comes

When all possibilities have been explored

And its name is Minerva the owl

The school year is coming to an end, because it is beginning

And the reason for this end lies in the beginning

And when the IB-student is at its end

Then he hears and recognises Minerva’s owl

In closing, headteacher Anna Sobala-Zbroszczyk recalled Adam Osborne’s maxim that the most valuable thing you can do is to make a mistake. You learn nothing by being perfect.

(Text: Beata Ciacek translated with DeepL.com; poem: Tomasz Mazur translated with DeepL.com; photos: Beata Ciacek in collaboration with Paweł Skrzyński, Jan Chudzyński, Piotr Morawiecki)