Activities and Highlights
In Lithuania, five schools took part in the initiative “Gift a Poem”, involving pupils of different ages. Four of them were participating in the initiative for the second time, whilst for Vytautas Magnus University Classical Education School, it was already the fourth.
Each school took a distinctly creative approach to implementing the activity in a meaningful way. The poems created were gifted to hospital patients, care home residents, people with disabilities, library visitors, kindergarten children, and fellow pupils.
At Kuršėnai Laurynas Ivinskis Gymnasium, teachers of different subjects (Lithuanian, English, Religion, Ethics, and Technology) collaborated to involve pupils from Grades 10 to 12. The poems were presented to patients in the palliative care ward of Kuršėnai Hospital. The children of “Nykštukas” Kindergarten also received poems and drawings from the pupils. During Lithuanian and English language lessons, pupils not only illustrated the poems but also created audio recordings, which were shared with the school community via specially created QR codes.
At Vytautas Magnus University Classical Education School, a large group of both primary and older pupils rewrote and illustrated poems, which were then delivered to three different organisations: the Pakruojis Viltis Association for People with Intellectual Disabilities, the Kaunas House of Generations, and Korys, a centre for people with disabilities.
At Alytus Dainava Progymnasium, pupils selected poems they enjoyed, rewrote them in neat handwriting, and illustrated them as bookmarks, donating all fifty to the Alytus Jurgis Kunčinas Public Library. A great many pupils took part in the initiative, from the youngest primary-age children to the oldest.
At Gargždai Krantas Progymnasium, pupils in Grades 7 and 8, together with their Lithuanian language teachers, illustrated poems on the theme of “Awaiting Easter” and gifted them to pupils in the school’s special education classes, wishing them a beautiful spring.
At Vilnius Waldorf Green School, fourth-grade pupils put a creative twist on the initiative this year: working in pairs, they composed their own poems and gifted them by reading them aloud to first- and second-grade pupils.
Schools involved
- Alytus Dainava progymnasium
- Kuršėnai Laurynas Ivinskis gymnasium
- Gargždai “Krantas” progymnasium
- Vilnius Waldorf Green school
- Vytautas Magnus University Classic Education School
