Miron Breznoščák

My contribution to the Fostin project included, among other things, the creation of lesson plans and preparations for the introduction of regional education into various subjects and informal education. Last school year, this subject was taught at our school by my dear colleague Naďa Bírešová, who normally teaches Spanish and ethics and comes from the town of Zvolen, about 30 km away, so some might say that teaching regional education could be a problem for her.

As a history teacher, local guide, and author of the regional education curriculum, I briefly taught her about the history of our town, Banská Štiavnica, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  At the same time, we went through the subject methodology in detail and discussed how participatory it should be for students. Throughout the year, she and her students immersed themselves in the study of regional specifics and the creation of interdisciplinary outputs according to the plans that will be available in the Fostin textbook. At the end of the year, she wrote a short report on the students' outputs for the school's website and social media. You can see some pictures in the photo gallery.

By Miron Breznoščák

"In June 2025, students from bilingual classes I.B, I.C, and I.D took part in field trips as part of their regional studies course. The aim of regional studies is to introduce students to the region where they will be studying for five years and to increase their awareness of the richness of the regions they come from. They learn to cooperate, use creative approaches, and present in front of their classmates, and each successful presentation helps build their confidence.

The lessons took place in the streets of Banská Štiavnica, where students presented projects, they had worked on during the school year. They prepared quizzes, games, surveys, and many other interesting activities for their classmates, such as interpreting verses from a poem about Marína in the contemporary language of young people. We also took part in joint tours of the birthplace of Dežo Hoffmann (the photographer of the Beatles) and the New Castle.

Some students elaborated on their chosen topics by creating models of sights, buildings, and cemeteries, painting pictures, creating a video game about the Štiavnica gnomes (dwarves), or a short film about the Legend of the Knights of Sitno (Sitno is a legendary mountain with a castle near our town), and precisely painted maps of villages in the Banská Štiavnica district. The photos show that the students took their projects seriously. Thank you to everyone who prepared their projects to the best of their ability." By Naďa Bírešová