Stop school closure

           SCHOOL CLOSURE THREAT THWARTED

 

            A MIRACLE

 

           "It is a miracle that our school manages to keep open given what we have gone

            through ", stated Elena Shichalina ,the Headmistress of an Orthodox Gymnasium

            which offers students a deep thorough   Classical education in Latin and Greek.

            For since the very foundation of the school, the school has had to cope with endless

            threats to close it down. Those threats had persisted for twenty five years from

            developers, officials and business who had an eagle eye on attempting to take over

            the property. Yet this Christmas, as if by some miracle, businessmen backed

            down and now all the space within the building again belongs to the school !  

            It is not hard to see why many bent officials and businessmen would want to take

            over the building for their own purposes. The Gymnasium is located near the

            city center in one of the most bustling and thriving commercial areas on Moscow.

            Real estate property around the city center highly prized, profitable and lucrative.                                                    

 

            Prospect Mir is bursting with a boundless  inexorable energy which can't

            fail to impress any visitor. The school is located within the vicinity of  the former

            Olympic stadium which, fittingly, resembles the Roman  Colosseum.  The school  

            has won a reputation for excellence by preparing many students to become

            future historians, doctors and scientists. When you enter the school staff room

            you can encounter all kinds of busts,and  models of Classical figures or temples

            not to mention works in Latin and Greek. For some teachers this is not just a

            place of work but a home! In a recent interview, a current History teacher at

            the school ,Pauline Malashina, stated her colleague had compared it to working

            in paradise after doing a daunting stint at a state school. You actually encounter

            some school students that are actively interested in their subjects. Compared to

            state schools, the student teacher ratio is very low allowing teachers to grant

            more attention to pupils. You can often come across classes full of between 5 to

            ten pupils. The school also strives to maintain high standards of excellence.  

            However, the merits of the school did not impress certain businessmen. They

            would tell the headmistress again and again : "We don't agree with your school

            because it is Orthodox ,and also private ". They persistently threatened to close

            the school down. To achieve their aims, the courts were used, doors were blocked,

            railing surfaced and even the entrances of the school were blocked. The heating

            and electricity may have been turned off. The school was even deprived of using

            its canteen and sports Gym! They could not even use the second floor of the

            building as all this space was taken over by companies.

            Oksana Chebotareva,an English teacher at the school told Second City

            Teacher that : "When the canteen was closed down, the school used the corridor

            to serve food to pupils. For some reason, the pupils enjoyed this better than  

            eating in the canteen. Maybe it was because the atmosphere had become more

            democratic... When the school lost its use of the gym, the Physical Education

            teacher, who is very resourceful, taught special exercises which students could

            do on the stairway and used the room which is usually reserved for the choir. So

            somehow the school managed to cope with those problems.

            The headmistress appealed to all teachers,students and parents to pray hard

            for the school to be kept open. Many of those parents happened to be influential

            people and the school also obtained support from bishops. We would say a

            Psalm or catechism everyday ". However, it looked like the closure of the school

            was imminent ! Many people thought it was unavoidable and inevitable. This is

            because many powerful people in authority and business wanted to close it

            down. But whenever a company managed to take over part of the school , their

            business did not seem to thrive or do well.

            Then shortly before this Christmas, the Starets or Holy man informed the

            headmistress : "After Christmas day, you will fully recover all the space of the

            school and you will be left alone ". And the Starets turned out to be right. The

            school was not closed down and acquired the right to use all the space of the

            building. After twenty five years of struggle against remorseless harassment  

            the school has finally won its right to carry on. It is in deed a Miracle on this

            very Christmas.