The children of Csikszereda came up with a wonderful, heart-warming flashmob on the occasion of the Petőfi Memorial Year.
They wanted to close the Petőfi commemorative year with an unusual event at the Sándor Petőfi Primary School in Csikszereda. After several weeks of preparation, the students and teachers of the institution sang Szarka Gyula Petőfi's song in praise of Petőfi together in front of Mikó Castle, which was also recorded: with the video, they pay tribute to the school's namesake and at the same time show the cohesive power of the community.
The students and teachers of the Sándor Petőfi Primary School had a lasting experience, as after several weeks of preparation they sang Gyula Szarka's song "In Praise of Petőfi" together in Vár-tér. The 200th anniversary of the birth of the school's namesake was commemorated with an event that brought together the entire school community.
Károly László, the director of the school, said that he was approached by Hungarian teacher Borbély Hajnalka and teacher Enikő Waczel with the idea of an unusual end to the Petőfi commemorative year.
"When the initiators came to me, we agreed that since it is Petőfi's bicentenary, our school should properly close this year. We had many activities and commemorations during the year that were connected to Petőfi's name, but we wanted to show something that characterizes us, with which we can pay tribute to Petőfi's memory. That's when the idea to make a flashmob was born, because the children also like it. From here we started the organization and further brainstorming, we contacted the film team that made it, and this is how the short video was born.
We are proud of him, and it feels good when we see that so many children can perform and sing so enthusiastically for Petőfi's memory."
He added that it was also a good feeling to see how willingly the teaching community and the student community gather around an idea, and how willingly this team works together. Because we had to work together as a team: more than five hundred children and nearly forty teachers participated in the joint singing.
"At the March ceremony in front of the school, I finished my speech by saying that I wish there would be Petőfi 250 and Petőfi 300. Seeing these kids, I think Petőfi will be 250 for sure. For a long time, we have been and are trying to ensure that our everyday lives are also about Petőfi's legacy and message:
that the work must be done, if you have taken on a task, it must be done honestly. The life of this institution has been organized around this for a long time."
The director of the school pointed out that they tried to tune the children to the bicentenary year, and this year was very diverse, since from the school library's Petőfi events, to thematic trips, to various contests, a lot was about Petőfi.
"During the year, we brought up this topic from time to time and planned things for the children to do around it. I noticed that what made this year special reached them, and they enthusiastically joined the programs. That is why we decided to close the Petőfi year with a joint holiday and a joint moment. This does not mean that this kind of route will cease to exist in the future, but like all holidays, this one has to end at some point. And we thought that we loved Petőfi in this way."
Teacher Mária Enikő Waczel pointed out that they would have liked the bicentennial commemoration series to end in such a way that the children could also take an active role in it and connect with the school's namesake.
"Everyone received it very enthusiastically, the children, the teachers, everyone participated actively, regularly prepared and practiced the song. This was the process of preparation. During the organization, there were plans and redesigns, since it is important to have consistency throughout such visual material. The work was joint, we included as many ideas as possible."
He said that Hajnalka Borbély contacted Gyula Szarka to allow them to use this song in the video, and the author of the song was very happy with the request. Hajnalka Borbély emphasized that they had great fun practicing Gyula Szarka's song, and that they chose this work because it echoes several Petőfi poems known to the children, and their community was enriched with their own Petőfi experience. He hopes that the video, which praises the work of the Rawmatik team, reflects this shared experience. Mária Enikő Waczel believes that they achieved their goal: closing the Petőfi commemorative year in this way became a great community celebration.
"We would think that the children cannot identify with Petőfi, but in this situation I feel that yes, the children know what it is about and I think they will remember this event. The preparation also involved reading the Petőfi poems quoted in the song, discussing them, and thus they were able to make them their own, understand them, and are proud to attend this school, proud that the institution bears the name of Sándor Petőfi. Petőfi is not far from them, and they understood his message about what he wants from us, today's people:
to stand by our principles, to do everything for what we set as a goal. It makes me happy that we managed to put this together."
As he pointed out, it is planned - if the author agrees - to make this song the school's anthem.
Featured image: YouTube screenshot
