Teachers from the Teach for Bulgaria programs are again distinguished in the “40 under 40” ranking of Darik Radio

Vesela Dimitrova and Stanislava Stefanova are graduates of the New Way to Teaching program, who continue to work as teachers in Lovech and Sofia

The teachers distinguished are Vesela Dimitrova and Stanislava Stefanova

Two graduates of the New Way to Teaching program of the Teach for Bulgaria foundation find a place in the ranking of young innovators “40 under 40” of Darik Radio. 

For nine years now, the ranking has distinguished 40 young Bulgarians under 40 years of age whose works and ideas upgrade the living environment in our country. The new list of selected persons was announced on 14th August, on the website of the initiative. Among the awardees are the teachers Vesela Dimitrova and Stanislava Stefanova, who started their professional career with A New Way to Teaching program of Teach for Bulgaria.

Vesela Dimitrova is part of the 2014-2016 graduating class and currently teaches at “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” school in the town of Lovech. Together with her first-grade students, she works for the creation of a true zero waste classroom.

A large part of Vesi’s students are of Roma origin and poor families, where the concept of zero waste is not very familiar in the home environment and the school is a place that helps them develop useful environmental habits and awareness.

Stanislava Stefanova is part of the 2018-2020 class of A New Way to Teaching program. While participating in the program, she worked in the small village school in the village of Kamen, Veliko Tarnovo region, where she inspired her students to the world of science – physics, chemistry, man and nature. After completing the program, Stanislava started working at Tsar Simeon Veliki private secondary school, where she continues to ignite students’ interest in science with a variety of teaching methods. Stanislava also actively participates in the training of new teachers from A New Way to Teaching program, and often shares her experience for the weekly newsletter for teachers of Teach for Bulgaria.

Those distinguished in all categories were selected from among nearly 150 nominations. The selection of the finalists was made by a jury with representatives from the business, entrepreneurship and people awarded in previous years of the competition. 

For the selection, the jury looks for answers to the following questions: Has the nominee really added value for our society? Is s/he different? Have they helped someone? Have they upgraded their field of work? Have they created any benefit? Are their ideas sustainable? Do we want to hear their story, and will it impress and inspire us?

Other representatives of the Teach for Bulgaria community have featured in previous editions of “40 under 40”: the founder of the foundation Evgenia Peeva (2013), the executive director of Teach for Bulgaria, Trayan Trayanov (2015), the alumni Emilian Kadiyski (2016) and Stanimira Hristova (2016), Rosen Bogomilov (2017), Velizar Stefanov (2017), Evgeni Dimitrov (2017), Tomislav Rashkov (2018), Radostina Boycheva (2019), Blazhka Dimitrova (2019), Daniel Simeonov (2019), School Miracles (2019), Ivelina Pashova (2020), Maria Ivanova (2020), Ivan Dragomirov (2020 ), the team of the PlaMnina Foundation (2020). 

See all “40 under 40” award-winning innovators in the categories “Education,” “Business & Entrepreneurship,” “Art & Culture,” “Science, Technology & Inventions,” “Medicine,” “Environment,” “Sports,” “Social activities,” “Media and communication,” and “Volunteering” here.