In the academic year 2014/15 already the 19th generation of DCG graduates has completed its education in St. Stanislav’s Institution. 2972 graduates have graduated since its reestablishment in 1993.
On the Maturity Exam results day, 13th July, 2015, graduates gathered to receive the Maturity Exam reports. This year 152 graduates appeared in the exam, the pass rate was 98,7%. The average point rate in 2015 at the DCG was 23,49 (last year 22,78), nationally 20,12. Out of total 34 points, 36 graduates gained 28 points, and 17 more than 30 points (nationally there are 320 of such graduates), which makes them Golden Graduates 2015. By far the most successful student this year is Ela Hudovernik, who has gained the maximum 34 points and scored the outstanding 100% at higher level mathematics examination, which is the best result in the country. The director of St. Stanislav’s Institution dr. Roman Globokar congratulated the graduates on their achievement and expressed enthusiasm for excellent exam results.

School is over and so are the maturity examinations, most of the planning for the following academic year as well as end-of-the-year trips for the employed in St. Stanislav’s Institution. We wish students, parents and teachers a joyous and relaxed time to rest their bodies, souls and mind. Let God guide your steps and see you at latest on September 1st.

Congratulations go to Nastja Maver, who is currently a student of special and rehabilitation education at the University of Ljubljana. The award has been granted by the Youth Council of Slovenia under the auspices of the president of the Republic of Slovenia Borut Pahor and on the recommendation of The Slovene Association of Catholic Teachers, where Nastja takes active part in the program Man for others. In the past academic year she has carried out more than 1000 hours of voluntary work in various kindergartens, school and other institutions.

Commemorative celebration in St. Stanislav’s Institution on the occasion of the centennial of the Isonzo Front and the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII and post-war massacres

The commemorative celebration was to honour the memory of past events and as a warning to future generations. The celebration took place on Thursday, 18th June, 2015, beginning with mass at 8.30 p.m. in St. Stanislav’s Chapel. The military chaplain Jože Plut celebrated the mass. At 9.30 p.m. during the commemoration the lights in the building of St. Stanislav’s Institution were going out. Every dead light memorises the pain and loss of man, who had a name, family name as well as fate and light within himself. In the park surrounding St. Stanislav’s Institution the remembrance candles were lit as a reminder of past atrocities.  All people throughout Slovenia were kindly invited to light the remembrance candles in their homes to commemorate the victims of WWI and WWII and post-war massacres.

Lily Schweiger Kotar

 

All music lovers were happy to attend the concert given by pianist Jure Rozman on 11th June, 2015 at 7 p.m. in Matija Tomc Hall in St. Stanislav’s Institution. He performed a versatile programme consisting mostly of works rarely presented in Slovenia.
Jure Rozman, was born in Slovenia, where he started his musical education. He continued studies at the University Mozarteum in Salzburg (Austria), where he studied with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and graduated there in 2001. He completed his Masters and Doctoral Degrees at Louisiana State University (USA) as a student of Constance Carroll and Michael Gurt, and has won numerous awards, including the first prizes in Slovene National Piano Competition in 1995 and 2001, and second prize at the international piano competition in San Bartolomeo al Mare (Italy). He has performed as a soloist with Slovene Youth Orchestra, Slovene Philharmonic Orchestra and LSU Symphony Orchestra, and has frequently presented solo and chamber music recitals in Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Croatia and USA. He has also been active as a vocal coach. Presently he is an Assistant Professor of Piano and Music Coordinator at Broward College in Fort Lauderdale. (Florida, USA).

Congratulations go to Tina Dernovšek from 3.b class, who created a new design for Sidharta’s T-shirt. The rock band Sidharta is the biggest name on Slovenia’s music scene. Tina eliminated the tough competition of sixty Slovene designers. New T-shirts will soon be available at all Sidharta’s concerts in Slovenia and abroad. Tina was awarded at least five backstage parties at Sidharta’s concerts.
Tina is an active member of the Graphic Design Club of the DCG, which started in September 2014 and is led by Nina Malovrh, an industrial designer and DCG alumni. In this club the students have gained basic skills in graphic design, which have already been applied to some concrete tasks.

As a part of the Erasmus+ project for teachers, two teachers from St. Stanislav’s Institution, The Alojzij Šuštar Primary School took part in a seminar entitled Outdoor Education, Landscape and Outdoor Venues – Learning under Open Sky, which was held in Iceland between 16th – 23rd May 2015. There were 14 participating teachers from Finland, France, Austria, Poland, Greece and Slovenia.

Theoretical foundations of outdoor education gave us an insight into the importance of outdoor learning, whereas practical experiences obtained encouraged us to conduct more classes outdoors. Since at the Alojzij Šuštar Primary School we strive to conduct as many classes as possible outdoors, we embraced the programme enthusiastically. Examples of team building, presentation of venues that the Icelanders use for teaching outdoors, visiting a primary school, cooking in the woods and making handicrafts using natural materials are some of the many examples of good practice that we will not forget and try to apply in Slovenia as well.

At a teacher conference at the Alojzij Šuštar Primary School we gave a lecture on what we had learnt in Iceland to our colleagues. In addition, we also held a workshop on experiential learning at an international conference on outdoor education that was organised at our primary school on 10th October 2015. /Maja Čuk, Nuša Arnež/

The Slovene Requiem’s premiere was given on 10th May, 2015 at the 22nd annual concert of the choirs and orchestra of St. Stanislav’s Institution in Cankarjev Dom, Ljubljana.

Anniversaries and memories are often an incentive and inspiration to create new compositions or other works of art. War is mostly perceived as a conflict between states, nations, religions or ideologies, behind which the stories of individuals and families who were caught in its turmoil are actually revealed. The Deliver Me, Anti-War Song /Libera me – Carmen Adversus Bellum/ is a unique anti-war composition, in which in addition to the passage from the Requiem on the apocalypse and man’s fear of death, the lyrics of a heart-breaking Istrian folk song Who Would Like to Mow My Grass? /Ki Će Moju Travo Kosit/? were used. Music clearly depicts man’s fear of hostile forces and his plea for salvation. For quite some time, I had been thinking of composing a requiem for all Slovene victims of 20th-century war, evil, violence, and massacres. Having read various historical and literary texts and thus became acquainted with different perspectives of people involved in this terrible chaos of hatred and violence, I decided, after careful consideration, for love to be the common theme of my composition. The Slovenian Requiem is, therefore, not a complicated and ostentatious piece of music for a big ensemble, but a simple composition for solo soprano representing an individual and mixed choir representing a crowd. They are accompanied by ison, which is not only a drone note or a slow-moving lower vocal part used in Byzantine chant, but also a foundation of the melody, which adds a touch of festivity and power. The text is composed of different passages from Sophocles’ play Antigone, Dominik Smole’s play of the same title, Gregor Strniša’s poem Willow /Vrba/, John’s Gospel, and Latin Mass for the dead.
The Slovenian Requiem is a strong rejection of hatred, a fervent wish for forgiveness and mercy as well as a firm decision for love and peace. I dedicate this piece of music to all Slovenes to come together and create a future of mutual understanding, tolerance, respect, and love.

Damijan Močnik

To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of WW II, students from DCG, Prva Gimnazija Celje in Prva Gimnazija Maribor traveled together to Poland and visit the Auschwitz Memorial and Museum from 6th-20th May, 2015. Accompanied by several Slovene history experts and a witness from Auschwitz, the students had a chance to get to know and understand better circumstances and facts about the biggest concentration camp in Europe and how it is related to the Slovenes.
At the same time more than 1000 students from Belgium and other European countries were there for the commemoration. Before going to the Memorial Centre in Auschwitz, the DCG studetns met Polish students from the partner school in Krakow.
The goal of this trip was to get to know and understand the common European history, encourage tolerance and values of democracy. The coordinator of the visit in DCG was Daša Oberč.

The school leadership of St. Stanislavs’s Institution visited on 4th May, 2015 the Brezar Cliff (Brezarjevo brezno) in Podutik in the vicinity of the capital city of Ljubljana. In prayer we paid respect to all victims who were murdered in this place in May and June 1945. About 800 prisoners of war who were hold captives in the concentration camp in St. Stanislav’s Institution were brutally murdered and thrown into the 75-meter deep abyss by revolutionaries at the end of WWII. As the decaying bodies soon started to contaminate water in the nearby brook, the German prisoners of war were forced to excavate the murdered and burry them in the close Kucja valley (Kucja dolina) where they still lie today. On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of these ghastly acts in the Slovene History we pray for all victims, educate the young about the horrendousness of totalitarian systems and strive to promote the Slovene national reconciliation.
Roman Globokar, Ph.D.