Little Pens of Moscow International Gymnasia
Three years ago students of Moscow International Gymnasia received an invitation to participate in an international children’s writing contest organized by Irmak Schools in Turkey, Istanbul.
The 2007 Contest, entitled “Fairy Tales from Children around the World”, brought together 536 children, 74 of whom were from countries other than Turkey.
The participants were school children from grades 6, 7 and 8. The languages of the competition were English and Turkish and the entries were to be original, written in a fairy tale format and considerate of intercultural differences.
The jury selected the 14 best works to be published in a book with wonderful illustrations. The winners were invited to Turkey to visit the school, participate in the 23rd April National Children’s Day Festival and to sightsee in Istanbul.
Our student Anna Tishkina’s work was among the best 14. Her “Forest Story” made her popular in the Irmak School and Turkish CNN reporters came to interview her.
In the “Forest Story”, a rude and capricious fox quarrels with all the animals in the forest calling them greedy, nasty and unfriendly – though it isn’t true. They can’t give him water when he askes for it because the summer is dry. They themselves are thirsty and can’t find water. But when the fox gets into a trap the animals come and rescue him. Only then does the fox understand that he was wrong, that friendship is a precious thing and only real friends would risk their lives in order to save him.
The 2008 contest was called “Fables from Children around the World.”
We had two winners in this contest – the fable “The Cat and the Mouse” by Valeria Moiseeva and “The Naughty Bear” by Anna Tishkina.
The main idea of both fables is understanding, assistance and friendship.
In the fable “The Cat and the Mouse”, the two meet in the market. They are cold and hungry, but they manage to find food, share it and thus become friends.
“The story proves that friendship is nice
That even cats can make friends with mice.
Before catching mice, cats should think twice.
What if they lose a possible friend?
That’s the fable’s end.”
This year Irmak Schools organized a letter writing contest as part of the annual April 23rd Children’s Day Festival.
The “Letter” had to be written to nature or about nature and entitled “I want to live”.
That turned out to be a more difficult task than the previous ones and took our students more time to write. They had some difficulty with the letter writing genre. The submissions, as previously, had to be original, and couldn’t be a translation or an adaptation.
When 15 students of our gymnasia presented their works, the teachers were astonished at the rich imagination of their pupils and the depth of their ideas.
Trees, animals, flowers, rivers and even the ozone layer addressed people of the Earth, warned them of the danger of polluting the soil, air, water, and asked them to take quick and serious measures which will help to save life on Earth.
The Turkish jury, consisting of various professionals, chose two best works: “At the Zoo” by Anton Chistov and “Clean the Stream” by Anna Sokolova.
Five students of our gymnasia were invited to Turkey to participate in the 4th Children’s Festival which again brought together children of various cultures and backgrounds where the children could understand and respect traditions and the ways of life of other people and together discuss the ways to save the Earth and life on it.
The trip was very interesting. Our students made friends with the students of other countries. They enjoyed sightseeing in Istanbul and their stay with Turkish families. They are still speaking with excitement about the hospitality extended to them by the students and teachers of the Irmak schools.
The two winning letters follow.