Sixth grade finalists compete for the Class Champ Award.
By – Lex Arifovaitė
The Spelling Bee, which happened on Friday, February 11th in the BASS class, was one of the biggest events of the month. The whole ‘A’ corpus participated, which means, there were many disappointed faces. The Spelling Bee was organized by two of the school’s favourite teachers: Raymundo Aguirre and Monika Grigaliūnienė.
I heard from one of the finalists, 5th grader Evita Ramanauskaitė, that she witnesses teary-eyed faces. A fellow 8th grader, Tautvydas Anilionis, told me, “My sister worked all day and all night practicing the word list. You’d better believe she was disappointed when she didn’t make it through the first round.” Shame, isn’t it?
There were three Class Champs but after all, there can only be one winner. Let’s learn a bit about them. Dominyka Juškaitė was the fifth grade champ. Evita, who used to be a ballerina, is the kind and opinionated 6th grade Spelling Champ. Sniegė Čiukšytė, former classmate of Evita, told me she’s best friends with classmate Simona. The 7th – 8th grade winner was Sir Jogaila Pūras. The 8th grade class describes him as a musician, artist, Polishman, as well as an average anime enthusiast and enjoyer of Aphex Twin.
Recently, Teacher Dovilė Pelegrimė of Herojus school has revealed, to the alarm of every student and teacher, a list she has compiled called the Blacklist. The Blacklist contains names that, rumor has it, have unspeakable horrors coming after them.
“T. Dovilė has gone crazy,” says 6th-grader Paulė when asked about the Blacklist. T. Dovilė revealed the existence of the list to a few students right after the first Great Snow War of Herojus near Kaunas Castle. She walked to the 8th/7th grades class and said that two disloyal eighth-graders had been written into the Blacklist. T. Dovilė accused the eighth graders of betraying her on the battlefield, sources say. After the blacklist was made public, the school was veiled in fear. Still, they were also stirred with curiosity. So, after all this uncertainty and suspense, what is the Blacklist, really?
“T. Dovilė has gone crazy.”
“You end up on the Blacklist because you do something negative to T. Dovilė or act disrespectfully towards others. I don’t actually know much about it. I just know that you DO NOT want to end up on it,” said 8th grader Tautvydas, whose name lies in the Blacklist. At least for now, Tautvydas hasn’t been harmed or even addressed by T. Dovilė more than on any other day. Are these maybe just mindgames?
“If you’re on the Blacklist, you should be proud.”
– Teacher Kastytis
One other ill-fated member of the blacklist, Teacher Kastytis has a very different theory. According to him, “The list is compiled of people who she [T. Dovilė] can’t talk to. Because they’re better than her. I, myself, ended up on the list after I started reading more than her one week, and she did not feel good enough to interact with me.” And also, unlike a lot of distressed students, when asked about whether you should be anxious or scared if you’re on the list, he answered that “No, since T. Dovilė is already a very high-class individual, for her to acknowledge you as better in any manner is an honor. If you’re on the Blacklist, you should be proud”.
It appears as if the theories are mixed and differ quite a lot. To completely understand it in detail and certainty, there is one person who can explain it – Teacher Dovilė herself. Our team managed to pin her down in a top-secret secret chamber of secrets (the cafeteria) and ask her about it. The following is her version of the truth:
How does one end up on the Blacklist?
The people who end up on the Blacklist are very important to me, but they made some bad choices.
Who’s been on the Blacklist?
Tautvydas, Jogaila, Paulina because she was once in a bad mood once, Teacher Kastytis.
And most importantly, what happens when you get on it, the consequences?
First and foremost, the Blacklist is temporary. But until your name is gone, I’ll be throwing staring daggers at you, I might hold a grudge and lose trust.
It seems that the rumors of dragons jumping out of T. Dovilė’s desk and unleashing their wrath upon you weren’t all that true. Maybe the truth doesn’t sound like a worse fate to most, but perhaps losing the trust of one of the most influential and great teachers in Herojus, (even if it’s for not too long), is even worse? I suppose, it’s up to you to decide…
If you’ve ever roamed the Herojus school halls after dark, you’ll know that the things you can hear are interesting to say the least. Once, at the end of a long Thursday, I overheard a lonesome rumor about a chair like no other. A so-called “genius chair” is said to belong to our school’s head teacher – Dovilė Pelegrimė. But why and how is this chair so special?
Many people have something that makes them feel unique or gets them through a tough day or a difficult test. It might be some lucky dice, like the one Tautvydas Anilionis, who often changes chairs, has, a precious gem he uses for good luck, a relaxing room he uses to feel better, and also a tuxedo suit that brings him confidence.
“It’s like letting me feel part of the planet Earth.“
It’s important to find a safe place or object that’ll help you feel most like yourself, something you can count on, and that fills you with certainty. For example, in a post I read online, the writer mentioned that after a tiring week, all that would matter for them was a simple jog or more likely, the peaceful time they spent untangling their thoughts. By doing that, it’s like “…letting me feel part of the planet Earth” they said.
Many times, it’s us that have to make an area important, in order for it to make us feel important. Matas Čeponis, an owner of a gray chair, shared that his favorite place used to be the “Luna” room of C corpus. From walls to furniture, the whole place was a color that increased calmness and trust – blue. Now, in the A corpus, he also has a special corner he can always count on {2}. But we’re keeping his secret, so you’ll have to ask him if you want to know which corner it is!
Sometimes, a space can feel distinct because it has things you like. The 6th grade class is filled to the brim with Harry Potter themed attributes. For someone like Ema Jackevičiūtė, a passionate fan of the popular book series, the classroom is a true dream.
To make something special, you have to believe it’s special!
Patricia Sanchez, whose chair preference is as mysterious to us as she is, has also studied the topic of Special Items. In her presentation about the topic, she used the quote “To make something special, you have to believe it’s special!” . By this she meant that the item that’s important to us doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t have to be valuable either. What is important is that we think it’s worth filling it with our hope.
A student’s beloved collection of pop-its
Something like a favorite little stone in the palm of our hand can help us feel more stable with our emotions, as if it would embody them. It’s even better if your special item is something you made with your own or by the hands of a close relative. These trinkets raise the feeling of gratitude, are reminders that you are thought of and loved. You feel secure.
In the end, everything leads to what you believe in, even behind a carefully closed door, there might be something special. A very stylish seat critique Paulė __ once took a test while sitting on Dovilė’s Genius Chair. She didn’t feel anything unusual or magical, but she did well on her test. So, where was the magic? Was it in Paulė, or was it in the chair? “It’s ordinary. A regular chair,” said Matas Čeponis, an owner of a gray chair. The story of the Genius Chair is a story about believing in your abilities and discovering the importance of special connections.
One day, as I was walking down the street, I overheard a few people talking about Herojus School. They were wondering what Herojus was really like and if it really was that good of a school. This made me curious because I am a new student to this school. I talked to some of the kids from this school and asked them what it’s really like and what they think would make Herojus better.
I started by talking to students who have studied here for a short time: Ugnė, Salomėja, Ieva, Maksas. Ugnė told me that Herojus is a very good school with cool students and teachers, but she thinks it would be better if they would let students eat candy.
Salomėja has studied here for half a year. She said, “this school is very good. The teachers are very funny and I made good friends. This school is perfect”.
Ieva’s answer was a bit different from others. She said, “ Herojus is different from other schools, because they teach students in other ways.”
“It’s a good school, cool teachers, but crazy students.”
Maksas said, “It is a very good and funny school, but there could be more students.”
I also talked with some students who have studied there for longer. Almost all of them said that they like Herojus and the teachers. Milda Laugalytė, a 5th grader, said, “It’s a good school, cool teachers, but crazy students.”
But of course, there are always other opinions. Some students just said that school is normal. One student (who asked that I don’t use their name) even said, “the school is bad. I don’t want to go there.”
“It would be good to have balandėliai for lunch at least once and to have pancakes every Friday.”
Many students said that if students were allowed to eat candy, the school would be perfect. One student who wanted to stay anonymous said, “It would be good to have balandėliai for lunch at least once and to have pancakes every Friday.”
Grytė, a very positive 6th grader, said, “Herojus doesn’t need to change anything to be better, because it’s already good enough. And a lot of students think that lots of people know Herojus, because Herojus is everywhere in social media.
“At the beginning I saw that everyone was very friendly and that everything was perfect. It didn’t look like a school…”
I talked with some teachers as well. Teacher Lina’s answer was really interesting, “At the beginning I saw that everyone was very friendly and that everything was perfect. It didn’t look like a school. Teachers acted like friends with students. Now I see that Herojus is a very good school, because this school helps students find heroes in themselves. But it would be good to have uniforms, for there to be more students, and for Herojus to have bigger presentations about themselves.”
Teacher Indrė said, “I really like Herojus, because Herojus has the same opinion about freedom as me. But we should spend more time in nature.” Another very interesting answer was from teacher Kastytis. He said, “It’s a great place to learn how to achieve your goals. And they collect good teachers for every subject. But there could be better selection for entering in school. Not in an academic way, but with values.”
The Daily Herojus 