Christmas Workshop at the Cape Cod Branch

Ivanitsa Nesheva
Member of the Parent Organization

After several years of discontinuity, the Bulgarian school in Cape Cod has restored a wonderful custom - creating our own survaknitzi! The students were excited to learn about this old Bulgarian winter tradition and participated in decorating the survaknitzi.

We all reviewed the symbolic meaning of each part of the survaknitza:

  • The dogwood branch is a symbol of longevity, health and wisdom.

  • The white wool symbolizes the feminine beginning and serves to drive away diseases and evil forces.

  • The red woolen thread serves to protect against diseases and lessons.

  • Coins are a symbol of health and wealth.

  • Popcorn and dried fruit symbolize abundance and fertility in the fields and gardens.

The survaknitzi are used on the first day of the year, St. Basil's Day. Tradition dictates that on this day, the taping with a survaknitza on your shoulder will protect from misfortunes and bring health and longevity, as well as luck throughout the year.

Parents, grandparents, teachers and helpers actively participated and helped in this wonderful workshop on Saturday and with great enthusiasm and smiles reminisced memories of their childhood years back in Bulgaria.

Preparing for the workshop was long and intense, and everyone pitched in to provide the necessary materials - twigs, yarn, popcorn, dried fruit, coins, cranberries, and pretzels. Many families were involved in the organization and this brought us closer and united us in the days leading up to Christmas. There was plenty of popcorn, fruit and crackers to snack on, as well as hot coffee for the parents.

With joint efforts, we managed to create twenty survaknitzi that will be sold during our Christmas celebration. 

In addition to the survaknitzi, many of the students also worked on Christmas cards, Christmas garlands and we even found time to rehearse for the Christmas concert.

Finally, we treated ourselves to delicious sweets and a cake as we also celebrated the birthday of one of our students. The mood was extremely cheerful, everyone was satisfied and happy and the children enriched their knowledge of this old Bulgarian custom.

Without the participation of parents and the community, this pre-Christmas workshop would not have been possible. We hope to continue with the same enthusiasm in the future! To create and maintain the school and the many friendships of our children that will one day continue the Bulgarian community in Cape Cod.

Christmas Campaign

The Board of Directors of the Bulgarian School "Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii" Boston and Cape Cod have decided to renew the tradition of Christmas campaigns geared towards gathering funds for the needy of groups in Bulgaria. The purpose of these campaigns is to build another bridge to our homeland, give back some of the generous funds we receive from the taxpayers in the country, and set an example of compassion and humanity to our kids. The multi-year tradition was interrupted during the pandemic and we are very happy to bring it back.

This year, the voted recipient of the collected funds was Foundation Karin Dom - Varna. The organization was established in 1994 by the philanthropist Ivan Stanchoff with the mission to provide high-quality services to the families of children with special needs. Each year they work with over 400 kids and families from around the country, so that the children are not left in institutions but can study and live with their peers in a more tolerant community.

You can take part in the campaign by donating to the School with a memo "for Karin Dom" via the website (https://www.bg-school.org/donate ) or by check sent to:

BSS Kiril i Metodii
(Attn: Karin Dom)
310 River St
Billerica, MA 01821

There will be a donation box marked "Дари за Карин Дом" near the entrance of the Billerica branch in the next couple of weeks as well.

Thank you!

Photo credit: www.karindom.org

Additional information

“Karin Dom” Foundation

Anne Tylor about Karin Dom

Film 20 years Karin Dom

The federal and local funding for Karin Dom accounts for about 24% of their budget; they rely on donations to cover the rest. The programs offered by the organization are:

  • Support of families with kids from 0 to 3 years old with developmental slow down

  • Therapeutic services for children from 0 to 8 years old including a physical therapist, occupational therapist, psychologist, speech therapist, special needs instructor, social worker.

  • Adaptation and integration in pre-school and pre-K.

  • Education and professional development for teachers and specialists

  • Workshops for tolerance and organizing volunteer networks to sustain a supportive environment for the children with special needs and their families

  • Social Entrepreneurship. Creating products and services which provide the funds for opening jobs for the parents of kids with special needs.

Day of the Bulgarian Enlighteners: The Bulgarian School Celebrates with Rich Program

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.