4 Myths 4 Truth Comenius project 2013-2015

WORK DONE BY THE LITHUANIAN TEAM
before the meeting in Pucioasa, Romania
18 – 22 November 2014
1) As agreed, in the second week of September we formed the Comenius work group that would represent our team in the project and initiate, conduct and evaluate the project activities in Lithuania. The team involves 27 students, aged 15 – 17, and 10 teachers. The involvement of the students was mainly based on very good or excellent knowledge of English, national culture, literature and mythology as well as impeccable skills in IT, necessary personal qualities and ability to work in a team. The team members share duties and responsibilities, all relevant to the successful implementation of the project activities at our school and in preparation for the meetings held by the school partners.

2) At the beginning of October, to familiarize the school community with the goals, concept and expected results, we set up a panel, including the project summary, partner schools and basic facts of the countries represented by seven different schools in the project. We also held a special meeting which, taking the form of a quiz, was meant to sparkle the students’ interest in the project as well as different cultures represented by different schools.

3) In the first week of October, in lessons of literature and English, we introduced to the students and discussed about the subject of the project with them to find out on how much we know about mythology and what needs to be done to get a better knowledge.

4) Following the common agreement, in the second week of October we applied the questionnaire to 75 students, in order to identify the information which would later be presented in the meeting in Romania and could also be used for the brochure which is our team’s responsibility to make.

5) In the third week of October, we filled in the template of the questionnaire results sent to us by the Romanian team so that it could be presented in the meeting in Pucioasa. We also took an opportunity to introduce our team to the questionnaire results after its application in our school.

6) By the end of October, we also organized a competition to select the best logo which would be presented in Pucioasa as our team’s suggestion for the possible common logo used by all school partners later on.

7) In the first week of November, for the dissemination of the project activities in the local community, we posted an article on the website run by the local newspaper “Anykšta”, which has the largest number of readers in the region.

8) On the 14th of November, we evaluated the work done so far within our work group and thought that we did all the tasks as they were required to be done before the meeting in Romania.

WORK DONE BY THE LITHUANIAN TEAM
before the meeting in Anykščiai, Lithuania
27 – 31 January 2014
1) In the last week of November, a special meeting was held by the Comenius project group to familiarize the school community with the results achieved as well as experiences gained in the meeting in Pucioasa, Romania. In it, the teachers and students were introduced to the template completed with the questionnaire results by all partner schools, explaining that the first part of the questionnaire would be used for making a brochure, whereas the second would appear in a book, both of them being the end products of the project. The participants of the meeting were informed that the brochure was the Lithuanian team’s responsibility to make, so the specific tasks were distributed among the team members. As well as that, the participants were given the information on the other activities to be done before the meeting in Anykščiai and the responsibilities each member had to assume organizing the meeting in Lithuania.

2) Shortly after the meeting (December 10), an article in the local newspaper “Anykšta” appeared to introduce the local community to the results and the experiences of the meeting in Romania.

3) In the second half of December, having received the completed template with the requested descriptions of the 3 fabulous beings, 3 heroes and 3 rituals, as these had previously been identified by students of the partner schools in the applied questionnaire, the responsible team members edited the material and published the brochure called “The Most Popular National Mythological Elements”.

4) Starting the middle of December, the appointed students did the research work into the ethno genesis myth, preparing a power point presentation to introduce 2 works of literature, already identified in the questionnaire. For each of them, apart from the information on the author and the title, a short fragment was chosen which was then translated into English. As well as that, 5 values that are found promoted in the myth were identified. Then 4 artistic visual creations, one made by a famous artist in the country and earlier identified in the questionnaire, along with 3 other made by students of our school, were selected. Then a short video, which is an extract of the famous play “Mindaugas” directed by I. Bučienė in 1995 and based on the historic drama of the same name by Justinas Marcinkevičius, was made. The research work was eventually concluded by a journalistic report done by the students on the traditions related to the myth and found to be still practised by people today. All the material prepared in the course of the research work was then used to complete a Word document or the template made and sent to us by the Romanian team. As agreed, it includes the presentations of the 2 literary works, 5 values and 4 artistic visual creations, all previously mentioned, so that this material can be used to complete the first chapter for the Lithuanian team in the book to be published as another end product of the project.

5) In the second week of January, a meeting with the students and their parents ready to host the guest students coming to the meeting in Anykščiai was held to discuss all the necessary logistics and distribute the responsibilities.

6) In the third week of January, a Power Point presentation was prepared to account for the work done so far by the Lithuanian team before the meeting in our school.
WORK DONE BY THE LITHUANIAN TEAM
before the meeting in Pietarsaari, Finland
10 – 14 March 2014
1) In the first week of February, a special meeting was held by the Comenius project group to familiarize the school community with the results achieved as well as experiences gained during the meeting in Anykščiai, Lithuania. In it, the teachers and students were introduced to the meeting report, which taking the opportunity, I would also like to introduce to you.

So as it can be seen in the report, there were 12 teachers and 28 students from 6 partner schools that took part in the meeting. We organized a number of activities both at school and beyond.

Talking about the activities held at school, first a reception and a short tour of the school building were given, both meant for getting to know each other better. Then the guests gave lessons to our school students in order to familiarize them with cultural and historic details of their countries. While at school, all of the teams also presented their work done so far, including the prepared portfolios on the first myth of ethno-genesis. Later, the teachers planned the project activities and the students enjoyed art classes as well as some competitions in the gym. Finally, the guests were introduced to a brief outline of the Lithuanian history.

As far as the activities offered for the guests outside the school are concerned, we took you out to the Culture Centre for a performance of Lithuanian folk dances given by the folk dance company Gojus. Then you had a chance to enjoy the local songs sung by the local song company Anykšta over your dinner in a special evening. As for the trips and guided tours, you took part in an educational programme of bread making traditions, went on a day trip to the capital city of Vilnius, where you explored the Old Town of Vilnius, had a short tour of Vilnius University, the Ducal Palace and the Parliament building, and also toured around the town of Anykščiai and its museums on the last day of your stay. Then, while the teachers had a talk with the mayor in his office, the students learned about the local cultural and historic heritage at the Regional Park of Anykščiai. Finally, the meeting was concluded by a farewell party thrown in the evening.

As to the feedback collected through the meeting evaluation sheets that you all filled in, we were pleased to know that most of you evaluated the enlisted criteria as very good or excellent, giving the scores between 4 and 5. Here are the average scores of the criteria assessed by you. As the report indicates, the proposed programme was given the average score of 4.62, the relevance of the activities for the project aims was estimated by the average score of 4.41, the support of the host team was ranked high, reaching the score of 4.74 on average, and the atmosphere during the meeting as well as the communication among partners were both estimated by the average score of 4.59.

Among the most frequent words that you used to describe the meeting Anykščiai, are phrases as follows:

amazing, perfect, very good meeting, excellent organization and support, a perfect programme – not too busy, sightseeing part – boring, beautiful, unforgettable experience, great job, cold weather but warm people, a wonderful meeting in the town of angels, extraordinary hosts, friendly people, nice memories and relevant activities, hard work with excellent results.

During the week of the meeting as well as after it, there were lots of publications in the local newspapers and websites on the national level to introduce the activities, results and experiences of the meeting.

2) In the second week of February, in the meeting of the project work group, the participants were given the information on the activities that needed to be done before the meeting in Pietarsaari and the responsibilities each member had to assume preparing for the meeting in Finland.

3) Starting the second week of February, the appointed students did the research work into the myth of love, preparing a power point presentation to introduce 2 works of literature, already identified in the questionnaire. For each of them, apart from the information on the author and the title, a short fragment was chosen which was then translated into English. As well as that, 5 values that are found promoted in the myth were identified. Then 4 artistic visual creations, one made by a famous artist in the country and earlier identified in the questionnaire, along with 3 other made by students of our school, were selected. Then two short videos, – for one of which an extract of the famous play “Mindaugas” directed by Irena Bučienė in 1995 and based on the historic drama of the same name by Justinas Marcinkevičius, and for the other – an extract of the famous cartoon “The Amber Castle” produced by Gražina Brašiškytė in 1959, – were made with the English subtitles. Then, two journalistic reports on the ethno-genesis myth and the myth of love were made by students to be presented in the meeting in Finland. All the material prepared in the course of the research work was then used to complete the Word documents and the templates of the book made and sent to us earlier by the Romanian team.

5) In the fourth week of February, two Power Point presentations were prepared to account for the work done so far by the Lithuanian team before the meeting in Pietarsaari and present the portfolio of the myth of love.

6) In the first week of March, right before the meeting in Finland, in a meeting of the Comenius project group, the students going to the meeting, made presentations to the school community introducing them to and accounting for the work done so far.
WORK DONE BY THE LITHUANIAN TEAM
before the meeting in Barcelos, Portugal
5 – 9 May 2014
1) On the 20th of March, a special meeting was held by the Comenius project group to familiarize the school community with the results achieved as well as experiences gained during the meeting in Pietarsaari, Finland. In it, the teachers and students were introduced to the tasks they would have to complete by the meeting in Barcelos.

2) The same day (March 20), an interview given by the students and teachers appeared in the local newspaper “Šilelis” to introduce the local community to the results and the experiences of the meeting in Finland.

3) Shortly afterwards (March 21 and March 23), another article for the dissemination of the meeting held in Finland was publicised on both our school official website and the local news site called “Nykščiai”.

4) On the 3rd of April, in the meeting of the project work group, the participants were given the information on the activities that needed to be done before the meeting in Barcelos and the responsibilities each member had to assume preparing for the meeting in Portugal. It was explained that each team of the project, including ours, would have to apply the project evaluation questionnaire to approximately 30 students and 10 teachers in order to find out on their opinion of the project activities carried out in the first year of the partnership.

5) In the same meeting, it was decided to have a series of meetings dedicated to a better knowledge of the ethnogenesis myth and the myth of love already presented by our partners during the meetings in Lithuania and Finland. The students assumed the responsibility to introduce the short summaries of the myths, their literary transpositions, brief summaries of the theatrical plays or films they can be found in, and creations of art meant to represent them. So far, the myths of Finland, Greece and Hungary have been covered by our students before the meeting in Bacrelos.

6) On April 7 – 11, the project evaluation questionnaire, the template of which we had received from the Greek team, was applied to 30 students and 10 teachers of our school, who have been involved in the project activities during the first year of the partnership. We also completed the template of the questionnaire results, also made by our Greek friends, and sent it back for further interpretation.

7) In the first week of May, a Power Point presentation was prepared to account for the work done so far by the Lithuanian team before the meeting in Barcelos.

8) On the first of May, right before the meeting in Portugal, in a meeting of the Comenius project group, the students going to the meeting, made presentations to the school community introducing them to and accounting for the work done so far.
WORK DONE BY THE LITHUANIAN TEAM
before the meeting in Lamia, Greece
17 – 21 November 2014
1) On the 11th of September, a meeting was held by the Comenius project group to familiarize the school community with the results achieved as well as experience gained and the end products made during the first year of the project. In it, the teachers and students were also introduced to the activities planned for the second year of the project implementation.

2) On the 10th of October an article for the dissemination of the activities carried out, the results achieved and the end products created in the first project year was publicised on our school official website.

3) On the 18th of September, in the meeting of the project work group, the participants were given the information on the activities that needed to be done before the meeting in Lamia and the responsibilities each member had to assume preparing for the meeting in Greece.

4) Starting the first week of October, the appointed students did the research work into the myth of sacrifice for creation, preparing a power point presentation to introduce a work of literature which, already identified in the questionnaire, was chosen to represent the myth. For it, apart from the information on the author and the title, a short fragment was chosen which was then translated into English. As well as that, 5 values that are found promoted in the myth were identified. Then 4 artistic visual creations, one made by a famous artist in the country and earlier identified in the questionnaire, along with 3 other made by students of our school, were selected. Then a short video – an extract of the famous film “Eglė, the Queen of Serpents” directed by A. Mockus and V. Grivickas in 1965 and based on the poem of the same name by Salomėja Nėris – was made with English subtitles. Then, a journalistic report on the investigated myth was made by students to be presented in the meeting in Greece. All the material prepared in the course of the research work was then used to complete the Word document and the template of the book made and sent to us earlier by the Romanian team.

5) In the first week of November, two Power Point presentations were prepared to account for the work done so far by the Lithuanian team before the meeting in Lamia and present the portfolio of the myth of sacrifice for creation.

6) In the second week of November, right before the meeting in Greece, in a meeting of the Comenius project group, the students going to the meeting, made presentations to the school community introducing them to and accounting for the work done so far.

WORK DONE BY THE LITHUANIAN TEAM
before the meeting in Adana, Turkey
9 – 13 February 2015
1) On the 27th of November, a meeting was held by the Comenius project group to familiarize the school community with the results achieved as well as experiences gained during the meeting in Lamia, Greece. In it, both students and teachers who attended the meeting in Greece shared their experiences.

2) In the first half of December, shortly after the return of the Comenius group that attended the meeting in Lamia, an article for the dissemination of the meeting held in Greece was publicised on both our school official website and the local news site called “Nykščiai”. Also, an interview given by the students and teachers appeared in the local newspaper “Šilelis” to introduce the local community to the results and the experiences of the meeting in Lamia. Each team has already been given a copy of this newspaper number by us.

3) On the 4th of December, in the meeting of the project work group, the participants were given the information on the activities that needed to be done before the meeting in Adana and the responsibilities each member had to assume preparing for the meeting in Turkey.

4) Starting the first week of December, the appointed students did the research work into “The Legend of Puntukas Stone” as the most representative national myth, preparing a power point presentation to introduce a work of literature which, already identified in the questionnaire, was chosen to represent the myth. For it, apart from the information on the author and the title, a short fragment was chosen which was then accompanied by a translation into English by Peter Tempest. As well as that, 5 values that are found promoted in the legend were identified. Then 4 artistic visual creations, one made by a famous artist in the country and earlier identified in the questionnaire, along with 3 other made by students of our school, were selected. Then a short video – an extract of the famous cartoon “The Puntukas Stone” made by A. Skučas in 2012 and based on one version of the legend was provided with English subtitles. Then, a journalistic report on the investigated myth was made by students to be presented in the meeting in Turkey. All the material prepared in the course of the research work was then used to complete the Word document and the template of the book made and sent to us earlier by the Romanian team.

5) In the last week of January, two Power Point presentations were prepared to account for the work done so far by the Lithuanian team before the meeting in Adana and present the portfolio of the fourth myth.

6) In the first week of February, right before the meeting in Turkey, in a meeting of the Comenius project group, the students going to the meeting, made presentations to the school community introducing them to and accounting for the work done so far.

WORK DONE BY THE LITHUANIAN TEAM
before the meeting in Budapest, Hungary
18 – 22 May 2015

1) On the 19th of February, a meeting was held by the Comenius project group in the teacher’s room first and in the team’s meeting room later to familiarize the school community with the results achieved as well as experiences gained during the meeting in Adana, Turkey. In it, both students and teachers who attended the meeting in Turkey shared their experiences.

2) In the last week of February (namely, February 24 and February 25), shortly after the return of the Comenius group from the meeting in Adana, two articles for the dissemination of the meeting held in Turkey were publicised on both the local news site “Nykščiai” and our school official website. Both articles served to introduce the local community to the results and the experiences of the meeting in Adana.

3) On the 5th of March, at the meeting of the project work group, the participants were given the information on the activities that needed to be done before the meeting in Budapest and the responsibilities each member had to assume preparing for the meeting in Hungary.

4) Starting the first week of March, the Comenius project group started work in preparation for the photo album. Thus, the top six places of interest in our local district and elsewhere in Lithuania were selected to reveal our country’s beauty as well as its potential for the development of tourism. The students also wrote and edited short descriptions for each of the places as well as took and chose the best photos to represent them in the album. All the material was sent to the Turkish team at the beginning of May.

5) As to the other materials that, by common agreement, had to be sent to other schools so that they could produce the end products of the project, we had already handed over all the reports and film fragments done on the four myths to the Greek team, so we only had to send the completed book template with our details on the myths analysed to the Romanian team.

6) Starting the first week of April, for the better dissemination of the project in the local region as well as in attempt of finding better ways how tourism can be promoted, our Comenius project group started preparations for the event which was held at school on the 5th of May. For it, the students prepared the Power Point presentations by which the representatives of the local authorities responsible for the tourism in the region were introduced to the basics of the project, the end products, already made and still planned to be made in the near future and, most importantly, to the feedback collected through the sheets that were completed by the participants during the meeting in Anykščiai. All of the materials provided during the event were highly appreciated by the guests, who responded to the evaluation of the places visited and shared their ideas as to what can still be done to make them more attractive.

7) In the first week of May, a poster illustrated with photos and introducing to our school as well as the capacity of tourism that our country holds was made to be presented at the meeting in Hungary.

8) In the second week of May, a Power Point presentation was prepared to account for the whole work done so far by the Lithuanian team before the meeting in Budapest.

9) On the 14th of May, right before the meeting in Hungary, at a meeting of the Comenius project group, the students going to the meeting made a presentation to our school community introducing them to and accounting for the work done so far.