#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. This social initiative won a competition for social projects under the Nornickel’s World of New Opportunities charitable program. It was initiated by the school’s students.
Gulnur Hyasova, the project curator and a supplementary education teacher at the gymnasium, as well as the head of the school museum, explained that the tradition of honoring veterans of the Great Patriotic War has been passed down through generations at the school, along with the enduring motto “No one is forgotten, nothing is forgotten”.
“Our civic duty is to keep the memory of that terrible war alive and to acknowledge the price of victory that our fellow citizens, our grandparents, paid for it”, she emphasized.
Every year, the school organizes numerous educational events focused on the Great Patriotic War, including class discussions, campaigns, quizzes, and more. The war is studied in history, music, literature, and social studies classes. The school museum houses materials collected over the past 25 years by its dedicated members.
According to Hyasova, many of the exhibits are unique items donated from the personal archives of students’ and staff members’ families. It’s also significant that each year, new student guides join the museum’s team, passionate about the topic of the Great Patriotic War and committed to preserving its memory. This work is meaningful not only for the school museum and its students but for the entire country and society.
“Our school museum represents a territory of memory that we gather piece by piece and preserve ourselves. We believe that our attitude towards these materials – our memory and the example we set for younger generations – is just as valuable, if not more so, than the materials themselves. It’s important for each of us, especially if we consider ourselves as citizens of this country”, explained the head of the school museum.
As young patriots, the students of the grammar school No. 1 are eager to delve deeper into lesser-known historical facts, documentary evidence, and eyewitness accounts from wartime. They aim to present these discoveries in engaging and interesting ways to their peers, teachers, and parents.
To facilitate this, the activists of the school museum House launched the Guardians of Memory social project, which allows both young and adult participants to gain in-depth knowledge while re-evaluating historical material. They can also feel a personal connection to the events of those years, which represent one of the most tragic chapters of the 20th century.
Throughout the year, project activists have worked with museum collections, conducted lessons titled Norilsk – To the Front!, We Remember, We Are Proud!, Thank You for the Silence, and Spring of Victory, as well as organized interactive games, campaigns, commemorative evenings and film screenings.
For instance, at the end of January, the museum activists at school No. 1 prepared an engaging program for students called Norilsk During the War, where they shared the significant contributions of the northern city to the overall Victory. They highlighted how the Norilsk mining and metallurgical combine played a crucial role during those challenging times by providing essential resources like nickel and copper, which were used to produce weapons and military equipment.
The young patriots of Norilsk are determined to continue their efforts. They are currently preparing to participate in a regional school museum festival and plan to take their work to a national level in the future.
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Text: Victoria Berezhnaya, Photo: grammar school No. 1
