Schoolaa‚¬a„¢s in for summer

School may be out for summer but the long vacation is a perfect opportunity for children, teenagers and even adults to enhance their skills in various ways. Programs vary throughout Bucharest and across the country, offering creative alternatives to the standard educational curriculum as well as personal enrichment opportunities. BR got out its exercise book and sat down with school directors and project managers to review some of the options.

Corina Dumitrescu

Children offered wide palette of activities

English-speaking youngsters can spend their holiday getting acquainted with the Bard. Shakespeare School, an English language learning center founded in 2002, usually addresses young people aged 5-25 with general language courses and international examinations such as Cambridge and IELTS, as well as conversation clubs with native teachers. The school currently has 13 teachers licensed in English, teaching in two centers in Bucharest, which have reached over 1,000 students and have posted growth on previous years, say officials.

The institution also organizes summer schools for English language improvement both in Romania and abroad, in locations such as Oxford, Cambridge, London, New York and California. So far, over 400 children and teenagers have been sent on English language courses in the US and Great Britain and over 120 young people have received advice on admission into British universities.

This year’s summer school, entitled Colored Summer Sessions, is taking place at the school’s headquarters in Bucharest, in two-week modules. The concept is original and was devised by Shakespeare School teachers, say representatives. “The young ones have been sent out for an adventure in the world of English fairy tales, while elementary pupils will become assistants to the famous detective Sherlock Holmes or perform modern versions of Shakespeare’s plays,” said Adriana Alionte, director at Shakespeare School. The Teenagers’ Guide to Drama course, she adds, “will bring lords and ladies into the age of social networks”.

Scholarships are also available at the school. Able students who have achieved top marks in school, but whose families lack the means to pay the fees, can follow free English language courses throughout the summer. Winners of junior spelling bees and essay competitions are also offered free courses, or significant discounts, while collaborations with local NGOs are being formed. The school has a registered turnover of EUR 430,000 in 2010, with a profit rate of 30 percent, an increase compared to previous years. It is also preparing to open a new center in Bucharest (sector 1), which will become functional this September.

Some of the Shakespeare School team will head to the mountains to run an English-language summer medieval camp, entitled Back to Shakespeare’s Time. Medieval seems to be quite the trend, as the third Medieval Camp for Children takes place between June 19 and August 13, running six times over six series. For seven days, aspiring knights and ladies will dress in accordance with the times and disport themselves amid medieval decor, says Laurentiu Constantin, general manager at Medieval Praxis, organizer of the camp.

Last year’s workshops included medieval sword handling, archery, painting and medieval heraldry, manual paper manufacturing, medieval theater and improvisation. This year two more join the list, medieval music and dance, as well as clay modeling. In the evenings, children will hear medieval legends or watch historical films. On the last day of the camp, they will take part in a festive evening, during which they will be ennobled with titles. As in 2010, the camp takes place in the Rucar-Bran area, in Fundata and Moeciu de Sus.

Back in the modern day, and Mark Twain International School (MTIS) covers all four segments of the pre-university educational system: kindergarten, primary, elementary and high school. The establishment is currently “the only one in the national school system to bear the quality ranking IB World School, and is presently organizing the International Baccalaureate, besides the National Baccalaureate,” says Mihaela Bachmann Iliescu, Mark Twain School marketing & PR manager.

The summer school that MTIS runs is described by Bachmann Iliescu as “an educational as well as entertaining program which aims to foster a different way of thinking about life in collectivity. The pupils’ personality development is also targeted, through their being encouraged to take part in various recreational activities: visual arts, sports, foreign language learning, field trips and more.”

The MTIS summer program is structured differently for the two MTIS campuses: junior and senior. Both student bodies are offered access to international camps in Austria and Greece, themed local camps in the MTIS locations in Busteni and Costinesti, one-day trips to Stirbey Buftea Palace, Mogosoaia Palace, Snagov Monastery, the capital city’s old center, as well as the MTIS summer school. The latter consists of: creativity, music and English, French and German workshops, piano and swimming lessons. Older children can take lessons in history, mathematics, the Romanian language, Cambridge preparation classes, clay modeling, applied geology, biology or Diploma Program preparation. Starting this year, pupils who do not go to MTIS may also attend the summer school.

Moreover, since MTIS is a bilingual school, it caters for families of which at least one member is foreign. Almost 20 percent of the children here are from expatriate families, French, Chinese, Canadian, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, among others. Children take part in intensive Romanian and English classes so that they can use either in three months maximum, adds Bachmann Iliescu.

MTIS also offers scholarships for children from disadvantaged families, Rainbow scholarships in partnership with Rainbow Language School in Greece and full scholarships, at the school’s own initiative, which are awarded according to merit.

Another educational establishment providing summer school activities is

Little London. Little London Summer addresses children aged 2 to 12 from multicultural backgrounds, supplying physical, intellectual and social activities. The entire concept is based on Sports, Arts and Smart Play. Children do swimming lessons and other sports, they play, create and express themselves, and discover nature and the world in an international and multicultural environment (with over 20 nationalities). The main language is English, but Romanian is also used occasionally. The fun can continue over the weekend when the school’s facilities (including pool area with barbecue, playground, tennis court, green area) can be rented for parties, special events or simply for get-togethers with friends.

The British Council also organizes a summer school, offering intensive English courses for young learners. It will take place between 9 August and 1 September. The junior program (for children in grades 2 – 4) will draw on songs and stories that are familiar to all British school children and which also have a universal appeal. The senior program (for children in grades 5-8) will focus on aspects of contemporary British culture appropriate to the age group, using specially designed British Council teaching materials. Topics will include themes such as the Royal Family and Royal Wedding and the London Olympics, and will also focus on topics from the British National Curriculum, including issues such as recycling, nutrition and global warming. All the groups have classes Monday to Friday, two hours per day, from 10.00 to 12.00 or from 14.00 to 16.00.

University students and adults invited to personal development summer schools

The Aspire Academy is a week-long summer program for undergraduate students across Eastern Europe taught exclusively in English, which takes place in Poiana Brasov between July 26 and August 3. It exposes participants to world-class leadership and entrepreneurship skills through case studies, lectures from Harvard University instructors and discussions with successful local entrepreneurs. No fees are charged – the only requirement is knowledge of English.

This year, Aspire Academy will cater for 40 students with courses delivered by Arthur Daemrich of the Harvard Business School, Phil Malone from Harvard Law School and Luciana Hermann from Harvard Kennedy School, to name but a few. Moreover, Alexandra Copos of the Academy tells BR, “Raed Arafat (e.n., the creator of the Mobile Emergency Service for Resuscitation and Extrication in Romania, aka SMURD) will speak about opportunities in the health sector, Dan Pescariu will focus on finance and Mihnea Constantinescu will discuss public administration.” Copos adds that there have been 450 applicants in total, of whom 70 hail from abroad.

“Unfortunately, the years before 1989 have left deep marks, which still represent serious obstacles in the full development of the leadership abilities and the entrepreneurial spirit that we Romanians have,” Copos motivates the necessity of such an initiative in Romania.

Elsewhere, this year’s Bucharest Summer University takes place between August 14 and 28, in the capital. Some 55 students from all over the world will take part in conferences focusing on the theme of Energy and Economic Growth. The summer school is geared towards license and master’s degree students. Ioana Burghelea, marketing coordinator at the Bucharest Summer University, organized by the Economic Studies Academy, told BR that specialists such as Jennifer Anna Giroux, Crisis and Risk Network (CRN) senior researcher, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich, Switzerland; Bianca Sarbu, Center for Security Studies (CSS) junior researcher and PhD candidate, ETH Zürich; Oystein Noreng, PhD, professor of Petroleum Economics and Management, BI Norwegian Business School, Norway; and Petre Lificiu, PhD, vice-president of the National Authority for Energy Regulation (ANRE), Romania, are the key speakers at the summer school.

The 2011 program covers fundamental aspects of the energy field (production, transport, refining) applied to conventional forms of energy (oil, natural gas and coal), among other topics. Recreational and socializing activities will also feature. At the end of the summer school, students will have to pass a graduation exam worth 5 ECTS points, internationally transferable.

Burghelea adds that the competition is tough for the Bucharest Summer University, with around four-five candidates per place every year. Candidates, who are all accommodated at the Economic Studies Academy campus, come from various cultural backgrounds, such as Romania, Germany, Macedonia, Georgia, Austria, Latvia, Lithuania, England, France, Turkey, Spain, Belarus, Switzerland, Croatia, Egypt, Sweden and Hungary, to name only a few. The average age is 22-23 and scholarships are available.

Business Summer School is another interesting option for those who wish to spend their summer learning. The BSS is an academic program of learning in an international context, and a forum for developing intercultural understanding. During a two-week stay in Sibiu, the European Capital of Culture in 2007, from August 14-27, both Romanian and foreign students will participate in debates, workshops and seminars. Academic and practical

approaches are combined in order to fully explore the subject matter. The BSS uses the case study teaching method developed by the Harvard Business School. The theme is Investing in Emerging Markets.

Florin Grosu, project manager at BSS, says that teachers from Harvard, MIT, Columbia, NYU and Wharton are brought yearly, as are professionals from companies such as JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, HSBC, McKinsey and PwC. An estimated 450 candidates apply to the school, of whom a maximum of 40 are selected for each program. The average age is 24 years.

Summer schools also run Romanian courses for those who would like to learn the language of their host nation. Linguist Mona Pologea, general manager at Rolang School, says that the institution organizes two such courses, over July 11-22 and August 15-26, which consist of 30 hours of classes for beginners, intermediate and advanced speakers of Romanian. The school also provides accommodation, if needed, and the EUR 230 fee includes 30 hours of courses and text books. There are over 150 registrations per year for individual, group and online classes. There are also six free classes organized per year. The next such course takes place on July 6, between 17.00 and 18.30 at Casa Universitarilor, in Bucharest.

corina.dumitrescu@business-review.ro

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