{"id":44580,"date":"2021-12-21T13:59:40","date_gmt":"2021-12-21T10:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zaednovchas.bg\/?p=44580"},"modified":"2022-01-12T19:52:35","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T16:52:35","slug":"the-student-natalia-ivanova-its-great-to-have-teachers-who-understand-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zaednovchas.bg\/en\/the-student-natalia-ivanova-its-great-to-have-teachers-who-understand-you\/","title":{"rendered":"The Student Natalia Ivanova: It\u2019s Great to Have Teachers Who Understand You"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Natalia at her graduation and with her teacher Violeta Taseva over the years<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

How It Started<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In 2013 Natalia Ivanova was a fifth-grade student at \u201cNeofit Rilski\u201d School in the village of Dermantsi in the municipality of Lukovit where she was born. The school in Dermantsi is one of Teach For Bulgaria first partners in the region and we\u2019ve worked together ever since. Back in 2013, at the beginning of the school year, Natalia found out that she was going to have a new class teacher – a young Bulgarian language and literature teacher who had just started working at the school.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth-grader couldn\u2019t even begin to imagine how her relationship with Violeta Taseva, a participant in Teach For Bulgaria\u2019s program A New Way to Teaching, would develop. But after all these years the student and her teacher still remain close. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Student Inspires the Teacher and the Teacher Inspires the Student<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPerhaps the biggest advantage of having Teach For Bulgaria teachers is that I learned to have more faith in my abilities. They showed us that everyone has a chance to grow, that everyone can do it. I\u2019m not saying that the rest of the teachers in our village are less competent, but Violeta Taseva and her colleagues from Teach For Bulgaria\u2019s program had amazing classes and we can whole-heartedly say that we felt understood, they helped us feel better at school,\u201d Natalia reminisces. She is currently a student at Sofia University where she majors in informal education.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Natalia during Teach For Bulgaria\u2019s annual student conference in 2013<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Violeta, on the other hand, is happy to have had the opportunity to work with students like Natalia. Natalia\u2019s curiosity and drive make it a lot easier for Violeta to adjust to her new environment in Dermantsi. She arrived in the village at the end of August in 2013, after an intensive summer training which is obligatory for all participants in Teach For Bulgaria\u2019s program A New Way to Teaching. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNatalia has always been enthusiastic about trying new things. Whenever I suggested something new, she was always eager to participate, so she basically took part in all possible competitions, projects, and extracurricular activities at school – not just with me, but with all teachers,\u201d commented Violeta.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natalia loved her Bulgarian language and literature classes with Violeta. Violeta, on the other hand, admired Natalia\u2019s drive towards self-improvement which she garnished with hard work and perseverance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Violeta and Natalia during an event for School Miracles in 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember I had my students write an essay and I told them that they could raise their grade, if they integrated my feedback and resubmitted their work. And Natalia resubmitted her essay several times. She did not give up or feel discouraged, she just wanted to give it her best,\u201d remembers Violeta. <\/em><\/em>Violeta joined Teach For Bulgaria\u2019s program because she knew from personal experience how crucial it is to have access to good education and devoted teachers in order to change your life for the better.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Learning as a Way to Exchange Ideas in a Supportive Environment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

After teaching for two years in Dermatsi, Violeta returned to Sofia, but she kept supporting students from the regions of Lukovit and Yablanitsa as part of her project School Miracles<\/a>. The project started back in 2013 under the initiative of Violeta and several of her colleagues from Teach For Bulgaria\u2019s program in the Lovech region. School Miracles started as a series of school events involving inter-school collaboration and student exchange. However, not too long after the project was launched, the teachers decided that it would make more sense to have two separate programs: career orientation<\/a> (for high school students) and leadership development<\/a> (for students of any age who are interested in working on community development projects).<\/p>\n\n\n\n