We are honoured to announce that Domen Križaj, alumnus of The Diocesan Classical Gymnasium (12th generation) won the second prize at the Neue Stimmen international singing copetition. The above mentioned competition, which takes place every two years, welcomes about 1.000 young talents from around the world and has marked the beginning of international careers for many participants. The best singers qualify for the final round in Gütersloh, Germany, where they present their skills in front of a high ranking jury, intendants, agents and representatives of the music industry.
Domen has already had an outstanding career as a young singer. It all started in St. Stanislav’s Youth Choir of The Diocasan Classical Gymnasium and later with his incredible juggling between two university studies, namely at the Faculty of Medicine and The Academy of Ljubljana, both at University of Ljubljana. It seems the latter had the better of him. Domen has won several international awards and this year his music engagements include roles in Kaiser von Atlantis (V. Ullmann) and Madame Butterfly (G. Puccini), both in Theater Basel, Switzerland. Dear Domen, our heartiest congratulations on your outstanding achievement! You really deserve it. Well done! /Lily Schweiger Kotar/
The Slovene Team to compete for the first time at the Olympiad of Metropolises
The Olympiad of Metropolises is an international team competition, which is held in Moscow every year, its participants being 14-18 year old students, who live in the biggest metropolises of the world. The first olympiad took place in 2016 with 173 students competing from 22 cities, this year they came from 45 metropolises all together. They showed their knowledge of physics, chemistry, mathematics and informatics in a competition consisting of a blitz-contest and two main rounds.
From 1st – 6th September 2019 Ljubljana took part for the first time with a team of eight students, six from Gimnazija Bežigrad (T. Drnovšek, G. Gajič, Gal A. Gorše, D. Lisjak, A. Modic and M. Zupan) and two from The Diocesan Classical Gymnasium, namely Maja Budna and Urh Robič. We are happy to announce that the Slovene team was a prize-winner of a blitz-contest; an excellent result was also achieved by M. Zupna and A. Modic, both from Gimnazija Bežigrad, who were awarded silver medals in chemistry competition. The mentor of the DCG students is Helena Starc Grlj, teacher of informatics.
This is how Maja Budna experienced the event: »On Saturday morning, our team gathered at Brnik airport. We enjoyed a three-hour flight to Moscow. In the evening we were all quite exhausted, so we waited for the following day to explore Moscow. On Sunday afternoon we participated in the opening ceremony. Monday was the first competition day, when we participated in the blitz contest – the eight of us solving 80 tasks together. The next day went really well, with the first part of the official competition taking place in the morning. There were 5 hours available to solve 4 problems. In the afternoon we went on a sightseeing bus tour of Moscow. The next day the second competition followed and after lunch we visited a park. When we were all done with the competition, our exploring of Moscow had just begun. On Thursday, we took a boat tour down the river to see famous Moscow buildings from another view. The next day we were discovering Moscow by ourselves and in the afternoon we concluded the Olympiad with a closing ceremony. We were especially proud of Marjetka and Adam, who won the silver medal in chemistry. The official part was over but that did not mean we had already finished our visit in Russia. On Saturday, the Muscovites celebrated a Moscow Day with a huge number of events all around the city to mark the event. First, we took a look at the famous Cosmonaut Museum, then moved to the Izmail Park to enjoy the flea market. In the evening there was our last get-together to play games, before heading back to Slovenia on Sunday morning.» /Maja Budna, year 4/
Blinding Sunshine in Ayr – Mingling of the Belgian and Slovene Team
From 1st – 6th October 2019 the first staff mobility of the new Erasmus+ project Small Countires Strong Cultures took place at Wellington School in Ayr (Scotland). At the same time the annual UCAPE conference took place with about 80, mainly French teachers, from Catholic primary and secondary schools.
The meetings covering Small Countries Strong Cultures brought together the entire Belgian team from Sint Rembert(Torhout) with their director and deputy head, the welcoming group from Scotland, led by MsSusan Coontz, and the Slovenian team (Valerija Lah Peternel, Alenka Battelino, Eva Pišljar Suhadolc, Lily Schweiger Kotar). The meetings included finalizing the preparations for the first student mobility which is to take place in Slovenia in February 2020, funding rules for the grant, partnership agreements and taking part in the e Twinning workshop given by Gary Shiells, the representative of the British Council in the UK. One of the highlights of the visit was most definitely the Wellington school students’ performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera. The tragic love story was brought to life at The Gaiety Theatre with a lot of musicality, breathtaking special effects and scenery. Friends of Wellinton, teachers, parents were justifiably proud of the magic night. Well done Wellington school!
UCAPE whose mission is to build knowledge, values and skills for global citizenship is an international association open to all schools which share the same values. In Ayr the general assembly took place with plenty of opportunities for networking along with new arrangements for the exchanges that were set up. Mr Dominique Bernard, Director of Institution Saint Dominique (France) and the present president of the UCAPE, gave the introductory speech accentuating the fact that if anybody in modern Europe needs to go beyond meeting students’ everyday needs, it is the teachers at Catholic schools. The yearly report followed some interesting presentations of Scottish culture and students’ good practice carried out at Wellington under the supervision of Ms Coontz, a dedicated member of the UCAPE board. /Lily Schweiger Kotar/
During summer holidays, from 26th-28th August 2019, a traditional summer camp was held at St. Stanislav’s Institution. Twenty students from different countries, namely, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia, gathered in order to perform multiple physics experiments. The event was led by the following teachers of physics at the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium: Tine Golež, Martin Čokl and Iztok Kukman.
The participating students were divided into three groups and additionally into pairs – each pair was to conduct a different experiment at a time. Each experiment was tied to a different aspect of physics. Especially outstanding was the demonstration of a power plant, which used the potential energy of the water in order to produce electricity. Other experiments included measurement of geometrical optics, finding drag coefficient of a spherical body, calculation of maximum output of a solar cell, investigating how the acceleration of rotating ball depends on the slope of the hill, and many more. We were measuring, calculating, graphing and were introduced to numerical calculation.
In there three days we had an opportunity to see how theory can be applied to perform and predict outcomes of various experiments. /Lea Briški, year 4/
We are happy and proud to announce that a new two-year Erasmus+ project Small Countries Strong Cultures is being launched in cooperation with two other schools – namely Wellington School Ayr from Scotland (UK) and Sint-Jozefsinstituut College from Franders (Belgium). This will allow making room for the exploration of our common roots as well as for the endeavours to build our common future. For years we have been involved in a row of successful projects with Wellington School, who is the coordination instituion,; this time we are welcoming on board the college from Flanders.
In the next two years, our participating students will try to find the answer(s) to a (seemingly) simple question: Who are we and what connects us with others? The aim of the project is to spread and strengthen the awareness of national cultural heritage and its importance in building a strong European community. In the times when nationalisms are on the rise we want to show the young that they can be loyal to their local community, their country and the EU at the same time – but we need to be ready to learn from our past and become active citizens to shape a better future. We need to learn how to voice our opinions respectfully, how to look for common ground with others and at the same time be ready to accept differences.
All three participating countries have always been proud of their cultures, especially their languages, at some point we have all been part of a larger »whole« and each country now plays its part in modern European democracy. Throughout the project, we would like to encourage the young to take an active part in these process.
At St Stanislav’ Institution Alenka Battelino, Valerija Lah Peternel and Lily Schweiger Kotar are in change of the project. /Valerija Lah Peternel, project coordinator/
Your brief is to design a logo to represent our new Erasmus+ project, Small Countries Strong Cultures.
Your logo should represent the three participating schools or the countries they are in. The design should be made up from simple shapes and bright colours for visual impact. The three countries are Scotland, Belgium and Slovenia. The school websites are: www.wellingtonschool.org and https://www.sintjozefscollegetorhout.be.
The logo will be used on our project materials and needs to be of a striking design which makes an impact. You should consider a limited colour range for more visual impact, flat shapes without tone so that the logo can be reproduced digitally.
Here are last year’s winners to give you some inspiration!
The submission deadline is 16th October 2019. Please, send them at: [email protected] .We will announce the chosen logo on 5th November 2019.
The fourth years and 15 accompanying teachers traditionally spent some inspiring days from 10th -15th April 2019 before the holy week in Assisi, Rome and Ostia. The entire trip reflected magnificently the two faces of our school’s mission, namely the Catholic and classical one. In ancient Greek catholicos means concerning the whole, universal, general and this meaning does justice to what we admired there: arts, life and people. This time John Cronin, Math teacher and a volunteering native speaker at the DCG from the USA gives an account on how he experienced the trip to Rome.
“When I first heard about the trip, I asked if I could go thinking that a trip to Rome would be cool. To my pleasant surprise, I had no idea what was in store for me. This trip was absolutely epic. I was fortunate enough to have my wife with me, which is always a bonus. Rome is a lovely city with much to see and do, and my wife, an alumna of the DCG, did tell me that excursions with SKG are busy affairs with a packed program of activities and places to go. This I found out was an understatement. I felt with all we saw we did a short trip around the planet seeing all the must sees. The different places we went to, the history of what we learned, the significance of each destination was explained in great detail by what seemed to have been expert historians. I feel as if I read 5-10 books about Rome, and I still wouldn’t have learned half of what I was told during this trip.
There are so many highlights of our days in Italy, but when you can include the bus rides as enjoyable based on the conversations and banter between the people on the trip, you know there was something special. From the prayers to the details about our day, to the conversations with the students, Lily or Martin, it was all enjoyable. Even Martin’s control of the weather was unimaginable. I can think of many bus rides I have had in my life, but none were as much fun and intellectually stimulating as the rides we had during this trip. Surprisingly my wife was shocked with some of the conversations she heard. She told me that after a long day of learning the students were having discussions about what they learned and looking up information on the internet or in a Rome book they bought to find a deeper understanding. Our main guides on the trip, Lily and Martin had such chemistry and knowledge it seemed as if we were getting guided by 2 saints. There were many experiences that helped reignite a passion for faith within myself that seemed to be burning with a dim flame. Going to countless churches, chapels and basilicas, there were endless opportunities to pray and deepen my faith. I was stunned by seeing a church within a church thanks to Saint Francis, but after being explained the significance, I felt a world of joy and relief when I entered the inner church. In my life, this was one of the most profound religious moments I can recollect. As the days continued, the only complaint I could find was the pain of all the walking. The service, people and food at the hotel were spot on. The drivers of the bus were professional and timely. The bus was immaculate and very modern.
One of the destinations we went to towards the end of the trip is where I had to fight back the tears from running down my face. It was a perfect ending to a wonder trip. We went to Centre Aletti, the workshop of one of the famous Mosaic Artists and Jesuit father Marko Ivan Rupnik, where we got a wonderful tour of his great workshop by Lucija Rožman, another alumna of DCG. It was astounding to see the chapel that was built, to learn about the unification of the East and West Churches with the help of Art, and to get a special tour through the workshop of the artists with details of their current and past works. Even the training process of the artists was impressive. However, after the tour concluded we were given free time to eat dinner and explore Rome about 2 hours before meeting at the bus to depart Rome. Several students left, but a few stayed behind and went into the Chapel. My wife and I were tired and sitting on the stairs, but then we heard music from the Chapel. We went inside to see the students singing, what I assume to have been religious hymns. There was no mass, no priest with a sermon, no instruction from any adults or anyone. They had a guitar, a cell phone and maybe about 15-20 students and they sat in the chapel singing praise to God. Between songs, there was silence. There was no chatter, no meaningless conversation or stories with laughter.
I figured listening and seeing the Pope’s mass during Palm Sunday would be the most inspirational and holiest time of our voyage. However, this just joy and worship the students were doing during their free time when we were all hungry and exhausted was breathtaking. Even though I didn’t understand the words or get the meaning of the songs they chose, their angelic voices and passion in every note echoed through my heart as if Jesus Himself was opening me up to His word. Alas, after all this, there was a final silence when we knew it was time to leave. It seemed like both an eternity and only seconds when we finally left the Altar. The paradox in time is nothing I experienced before and nothing I can really describe other than one of the most powerful moments in my life. I can tell I am a better man after this trip then I was before and look forward to seeing St. Stanislav’s Chapel in the school with a different appreciation.”
After this trip, my curiosity is peaked to know when I will I get the honour and privilege of going with DCG again. /John Cronin/
The team of the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium students with Amber Bervar, TinkaraToplak, Vita Hrast, Jerneja Koren and Nik Smerkolj, is the winner of the Slovene part of The European Central Bank (ECB) international competition entitled Generation €uro. It took place on 28th March 2019 in the Bank of Slovenia, joining 21 teams from 11 Slovene high schools from all over the country. This is the third win for the DCG team at this competition.
The competition offers an opportunity to the generation growing up with the concept of Euro, to learn about the monetary policy, its relationship with economy and broadens the knowledge of central banks functioning. The jury recognised in the team’s presentation profound and conceptual understanding of a rather complex problematics of the Eurozone monetary policy. As a reward, the DCG team will travel in May with their mentor, Tadej Rifel, Ph. D., and the representatives of the Bank of Slovenia to the ECB Seat in Frankfurt. There, Mario Draghi, the President of ECB, will congratulate the DCG team as well as all other winning teams form EU member countries. /Lily Schweiger Kotar/
Last school year The Diocesan Classical Gymnasium and Kanto Daiichi High School had an exchange and it went really well so it will take place again from 27th March – 2nd April 2019. Fifteen Japanese students a couple of the teachers will spend a week in Ljubljana.
The exchange will be educational and will involve bond making as well. The exchange will include visits to a lot of historical and natural attractions and some sightseeing. We will have a short city tour of Ljubljana, visiting the beautiful sights of the capital city. There will be a one-day excursion where we will visit Logarska Valley, Celje and Celje Castle and stop at Trojane to have some doughnuts. Some time will be dedicated for Japanese and Slovene students to hang out with host families and experience Slovene way of life. We expect to learn a lot about Japan, brush up our English and improve social skills. Students of the DCG are all really looking forward to the exchange. /Vesna Bukovnik and Neža Tomažič, year 2/
Necht Ten Chram: Let the joyous song come from our hearts
This is how one of the participants of the exchange experienced the second part of the stay in Trenčín: “On 20th March 2019 in the morning, the choir headed to the practice for the concert in the evening, whereas the linguistic group finished its posters and began designing models of the chosen architects’ famous buildings. The group that was studying Jože Plečnik was working on a model of the biggest cemetery in Ljubjana, Žale. After lunch we took a bus to a town called Hlohovec, where the choirs were to have a concert in the evening. While the Polish and Slovak choirs were practicing, our group visited the castle. We had a short tour of the building and the choir did not miss the chance to sing in the castle’s chapel. In the evening all three choirs performed and the Slovenes delivered an amazing performance. After the concert some students returned to their hosting families and others went back to the hostel where Mr. Zlobko, the school chaplain, held a mass.
On the following day all the choirs had a practice for the final concert and the linguistic group was given some time to finish the models and prepare presentations. Before lunch choirs gave a lunch concert for the students of the school in Trenčín and the linguistic groups presented their work. In the afternoon we had some free time and roamed the city centre, enjoying the sunny day. At six we gathered at the church for the final concert. All of the choirs sang beautifully and they wrapped up the meeting with the traditional Nech ten chram, when the joyous song was literally coming from happy heats. After dinner at school we had some free time and spent time in cafes in the centre. We returned to the hostel late at night and held a mass in honour of Rok’s birthday.
On Friday 22nd March 2019 we packed our bags and headed to school for a final mass where we sang togeter with our Slovak and Polish friends. After bidding them goodbye and thanking for the kind hospitality and great creativity days, we were homeward bound. /Eva Sedej, year 2/
At the end of the exchange an inspirational idea flashed Mr Zlobko’s mind: “Music is the language of love. If silence is the language of God in which He speaks to men, human’s response is music.”
