Melinda Tupek
Summary
Teachers and students from Ante Starčević Elementary School in Rešetari and Sesvetska Sopnica Elementary School in Sesvete participated in the 25th International Rešetar Poet’s Meeting through a poetry competition in Rešetari. They were joined by students from other countries, and all participated in various workshops, poetry readings and the promotion of their book. The English students held interviews with the students and important officials in English. Three interviews have been included in this report.
Key words: Poet’s meeting, Sesvetska Sopnica, English, interviews, poems.
Introduction
The 25th International Rešetar Meeting of Poets in Rešetari took place near Nova Gradiška and was organized by the Literary and Art Society “Rešetari” and the Croatian Emigrant Association on Saturday September 24, 2022. This traditional cultural event gathers poets from across the country and abroad. It annually publishes two collections of poems, one for young poets and the other for adults. The poems are chosen from amongst those submitted for the competition.
Description
The meeting began with a presentation of poems by student poets from the collection 
entitled “Djetinjstvo zvuči kao…“ presented by our Croatian language teacher Gabrijela Vojvodić. The poems were written by primary and secondary school students from Italy, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania and Croatia. The topics are related to family, home, country, seasons and children’s everyday life. At the presentation, students from Lupak (Romania), Sesvetska Sopnica (Sesvete) and Rešetar read their poems.
Teachers and students from Ante Starčević Elementary School and Sesvetska Sopnica Elementary School met. They participated in this international and inter-county project through partner-school cooperation and workshops. The students, the Croatian language teacher Jasmina Zelenika and the principal of Ante Starčević Primary School Tihomir Batalo and were generous hosts to teachers Gabrijela Dominović, Melinda Tupek and Gabrijela Vojvodić and their fifth and seventh grade students from Sesvetska Sopnica Elementary School.
Bringing a cross-curricular dimension to the event, art teacher Gabrijela Dominović held a workshop on the visualization of poems in the village park. After this she accompanied the students to view the annual art exhibition organized by members of KLD “Rešetari” in the Petrović Gallery.
Since the meeting brings together distinguished poets from both Croatia and abroad, the 7th grade students, as pa
rt of a workshop held by the English language teacher Melinda Tupek, planned and conducted field interviews in English. They also planned to do more research and to write up the interviews once they got back to school. The students were very enthusiastic to be able to use their English skills in an authentic and meaningful way.
Conclusion
As a result of our joint effort, the students plan to create a booklet called “Childhood sounds like…” from the collected drawings and interviews. This unique meeting awakened the poetic spirit within the students. They were very motivated, active and enthusiastic about all the activities they participated in. With new friendships, the students left enriched, happy and with a promise to return.
INTERVIEWS – Grade 7, Sesvetska Sopnica Elementary School
Note: These interviews are not entirely the interviewees exact words. For the purpose of our English project, they have been condensed and expanded upon with factual information found on Wikipedia, the school web page of OŠ Ante Starčevića and Slavonskibrodska televizija (SBTV). The interviews were planned, conducted and written under the help and supervision of their English teacher Melinda Tupek.
An Interview with Principal Tihomir
by: Lorena B., Luka G., Mia H., Katatina T.
– What’s your name and what’s your job?
My name is Tihomir Batalo and I am the principal of Elementary School Ante Starčevića in Rešetare, Nova Gradiška, Slavonija.
– What projects are important at your school?
We have many important events and projects at our school and I am very proud of our Poetry project. It started in 1991 and since then over 730 poets from 40 different countries have participated. This year it is the 25th Rešetarački susret pjesnika, or Meeting of Poets, in Rešetare. It is organized by the Književno-likovnog društva ”Rešetari” and Hrvatske matice iseljenika (Literary-Arts organization ”Rešetari” and the Croatian Association of Emigrants). We have students and teachers from Rumania, guests from the Croatian government, from Canada, from South Africa and other countries.
– What things do you do at the Rešetarčki Meeting of Poets?
This weekend was special because our friends from Elementary School Lupac in Romania visited us as part of the international project ”Our Native Language” and participated in the 25th Meeting of Poets. They arrived on Thursday the 22nd of September and are staying with host families. On Friday 23rd, there was a formal reception for the students, teachers and delegates from the Municipality of Reštari and the Municipality of Lupac in Romania. The mayor and other delegates held speeches. The reception was followed by art workshops and a musical concert by the students.
On Saturday the 24th, the traditional Meeting of Poets was held at the school. The meeting brings together famous and younger poets from Croatia and abroad. Iti s organized by the KLD Rešetari under the Central State Office for Croats outside the Republic of Croatia, the Croatian Assosiation of Emigrants, the Brod-Posavina County and the Municipality of Rešetai.
In the morning, the students read their poems from a book called ”Djetinstvo zvući kao…” Many students from Croatia and other countries were there. This year many students came from your school, Elementary School Sesetska Sopnica with their Croatian teacher Gabrijela Vojvodić. She and other teachers choose the poems and help young poets. After the poetry reading, our school made a delicious lunch for everyone in the fire hall. After lunch there was a tour of our art gallery, your school had an art workshop and now you are dong interviews in English.
In the afternoon, we will have a meeting on the topic of the Croatian language among our emigrants. In the evening a large number of poets and guests from different countries will arrive and participate in the event. On Sunday a mass is organized at the local church and then our guests from Romania will return home.
This is an important event because it pomotes the Croatian language and it encourages people to be creative and to write. You never know who the next great poet will be.
An Interview with Dubravka Severinski
by: Magdalena B., Ana G., Lorena M., Annabella M.
– What’s your name and what’s your job?
My name is Dubravka Severinski and I work for the Republic of Croatia at the Central State Office For Croats Abroad. I am the Head of the Sector for Legal Status, Culture and Education for Croats Abroad. (In Croatian it is the: Središnji državni ured za Hrvate izvan Republike Hrvatske; načelnica Sektora za pravni položaj, kulturu i obrazovanje Hrvata izvan Republike Hrvatske.)
– Why is the Rešetarški Meeting of Poets important?
The goal of the Meeting of Poets is to take care of the Croatian language, traditions and our national Croatian identity. You see, culture is reflected through our mother tounge and because of that, it is important that Croatians abroad protect and nurture their native language which is rich in words and dialects. It is the function of language to ensure permanent existence, just as it was in the past, so it is for the future. Through events like this, Croatians abroad have an opportunity to use the Croatian language. By writing poetry, they protect the Croatian culture and traditions and share them with others and with future generations and I am very happy to be part of this event.
An Interview with Anton Kikaš
by: Damijan D., Hrvoje P., Ivano Š.
– What’s your name and what do you do?
My name is Anton Kikaš and I was born in Croatia, but I live in Toronto, Canada. I own many companies and I designed and built many houses and neighbourhoods in Canada. I have also made buildings in Maroko, Los Angeles (USA), Saudi Arabia and other places.
– Why is the Rešetarški Meeting of Poets important?
Today is such an improtant day for me that I came 14 000 km from Canada just to be part of it! This meeting is important because it gathers Croatian poets from around the world! Being a Croatian who lives abroad myself, I think it is important to protect the Croatian language, culture, traditions and national identity and to share them with others and with future generations regardless of where they live. This is why I also helped to create the Department of Croatian Studies of Language and Literature at the University of Waterloo in Canada in 1987.
– What else have you done to promote the Croatian culture?
In the past 40 years I have tried to help Croatian projects and organizations, help finance the printing of Croatian books and their translation into English, help with films, presentations, book promotions, Croatian TV and radio programs in Canada, sport tournaments, concerts and other cultural events. I also run Croatica TV in Toronto and had many famous Croatian guests on my programs. I collected funds for the building of a Croatian Catholic Church in Oakvill, Canada. Also, when the Homeland War (Domovinskog rat) broke out, I collected funds from Croatian emigrants in Canada for the war effort to help Croatians and Croatia.
– Have you won any awards for your work?
Yes, there have been many banquets in my honour in Croatia. In Canada I received a medal from the Canadian Governor General for the development of culture in Canada, I was proclaimed ‘Man of the Year’ by the Canadian Cultural Publications in1982, and in 2021 Queen Elizabeth presented me with the prestigious Diamond Jubilee Medal of Queen Elizabeth ll for my cultural and other contributions to Canada.
– Have you written any poetry?
Yes, I love poetry and have been writing poems for about 45 years. I have written over 400 poems and songs and write about many topics. Many poems are about Croatia. One of my poems is called, Put u raj, and another is Hrvatska lađa. I plan to put them into a book. I write in Croatian, but I hope to translate some of them into English one day. I really like to see young people active and involved in projects so I was very happy to meet with you and hope to see you again at next year’s meeting.
Pogled kroz prozor 