Snejana Iovtcheva
Program coordinator, teacher
In the distant year 1922 (exactly 100 years ago!) November 1 was declared a Bulgarian official holiday, on which Bulgarians pay tribute to the work of educators, writers and revolutionaries. These are the ardent supporters of our history, who contributed to the awakening and spiritual enlightenment of the Bulgarian people, to the rise of national awareness and the struggle for political independence and culture. This period of Bulgarian history is known as the national Revival, a period of formation, of awakening. The names of these historical enlighteners adorn facades, schools, streets, stadiums, libraries and community centers in Bulgaria to remind of their work.
The Bulgarian school "St. st. Cyril and Methodius" in Boston and Cape Cod acknowledged the national enlighteners with a huge variety of events and performances.
The kindergarten groups with Mrs. Darina Tsonevska listened to the song "Day of the national enlighteners" by Angelina Zhekova, worked on Bulgarian flags and participated as an audience at a school performance.
The second grade students with Mrs. Snejana Iovtcheva presented a play on the stage in the school building, in which each child was transformed into a national hero. This way, the public was presented with 15 historical heroes who stood proudly and told about their work.
The purpose of this performance was for the children to recreate the period of the Bulgarian Revival and by transforming themselves into historical figures, to experience the universal meaning of the words "courage", "devotion", "sacrifice" and "donation".
The kindergarten students with Mrs. Irene Hristov, dressed in the colors of the tricolor flag, sang the song "Where is Bulgaria" based on the lyrics of Ivan Vazov.
The third-grader Mimi Mashova bravely presented the poem "Motherland" by Mladen Isaev. She learned the poem all by herself from the textbook and to the great joy of all her current and previous teachers expressed a desire to perform on stage and greet the students and guests.
The students from our middle and high school classes prepared a wide variety of thematic presentations and informative posters. They also decorated the corridors in the school building and thus attracted the attention of the students and visitors who stopped to look at the photos and comment.
The students from the virtual classes also got involved with thematic projects. They have prepared presentations and posters, which they presented during their online class sessions.
At our Cape Cod branch, the youngest students listened to the song "Song for national enlighteners" written by Marina Karamanska. The students from the class of Mrs. Zdravka Nikolova and Mr. Pavel Naydenov included in their school lessons the study of several heroes from the period of the Bulgarian Revival. One specific цхарацтеристиц of this class is that the students are between the ages of 6 and 12 and are taught using the mutual learning method. This allows them, similar to the revival schools of the past, to catch up with the material and gain literacy in reading and writing in Bulgarian. In addition, the older students in this group develop their leadership skills.
Following the school lessons on Saturday, a group of students participated in the Bulgarian Folk Festival in the city of Boston. This is a festival organized for a second year in a row by the family of Petar and Albena Dimitrovi. It serves as a celebration and presentation of the Bulgarian folklore traditions.
The students Mila and Martin Andreev, Karina and Vincent Anastasia and Isabella Chakarova greeted the huge audience of over 300 people with the humorous Pirin song "Sednalo e Jore Dos".
The young Max Hatcher bravely amused the guests with а funny tale about "Hitar Petar" or “Clever Petar”, who is a well known Bulgarian folk character.
The third grade student Katya Hatcher transformed into Raina Knyaginya and with a strong and confident voice sang "Koi ushi bairyaka", a national song based on the lyrics of Dobri Chintulov.
Today, we commemorate the work of the famous historical figures, but at the same time we also turn to the modern revivalists. The ardent supporters who defend and spread the Bulgarian language, who enrich the Bulgarian culture, and who create a community outside the borders of Bulgaria. These are the people we meet every Saturday at our school in Boston and Cape Cod. Thanks to these modern revivalists, our community has not only a Bulgarian school, but also a center that regularly organizes theaters and concerts from Bulgaria. We have a church that celebrates the Orthodox holidays. We also have dance groups for young and adult dancers, folk festivals, social groups and gatherings.
It is also appropriate to mention all the awake parents who speak Bulgarian at home, celebrate traditional holidays, support the mission of the school by creating social causes, and set examples for their children.
This is a piece of Bulgaria in New England. Here the spirit and traditions of the Revival are alive and effective.