Laboratory of Macromolecular Crystallography
History of establishing of Pushchino Winter School
(N.L.Lunina)
IMPB RAS (former Research Computing Center of the USSR Academy of Sciences) has always assisted extracurricular activity of schoolchildren in Pushchino, such as vocational training, night physics and mathematics schools, lectures for high school children and so on. I'd like to tell about the activity which was initiated just by the IMPB RAS. I mean Puschino Winter School (Russian abbriviation is ZPSH).
As usual, there were both a reason and an occasion for it. The reason was that such a school was needfull. In our scientific town such actions were ordinary and welcome. There were students who sucked in any knowledge that scientists were ready to share out with them. There were many scientists whose natural demand was an intercourse with students. After the first Soviet-American school, support of actions of the type became prestige and administration of the town was ready to assist. And the occasion was that children of my shool friend (we together studied in Kiev physics and mathematical school) came to our place for their winter holiday in winter 1989/1990. All parents in Kiev were strongly recommended to send their children away from Kiev as far as possible (after Chernobyl) for the holiday. Both my children and the children of my friend had some expierence of participation in KLSH - Krasnoyarsk summer school of natural schience. And I knew exactly that the best way to organize a pastime for them was to arrange something of the like. Of course, I could not have done anything without the aid of my colleagues - scientists and teachers.
Pachepskii Jakov Aronovich (Institute of Photosynthesis) assisted us with the Institute's hall and delivered some lecturers there. Deputy director of the Pushchino Experimental School Zalim Valentina Alexandrovna placed at our disposal some classrooms for seminars. These seminars were carried out by me and my colleagues Kondrashov Alexei Simonovich, Shabalina Svetlana Alekseevna, El'kin Yuri Evgen'evich. Besides, some students and postgraduate students of Moscow State University and Moscow Physical and Technical Institute took part in these seminars. Of invaluable assistance was the cultural program organized by Salosina Lyudmila Ivanovna (teaher in Russian Literature). She held a Welcome Party and Psychological Games to facilitate fast acquaintance which created friendly and productive atmosphere during the school.
76 schoolchildren sent applications for participation in the School. The School included 3 lecturers, 7 seminars (in geometry, mathematical logics, physics, computer science, classical genetics, molecular biology, problems of environment). After each seminar there was an Olympiad plus an Olympiad in the history of science. At the beginning and upon completion of the School there were quizzes. The question of what event was the most impressive was answered as: a visit to Moscow, a KVN, a Welcome Party, Psychological Games. It is interesting that most wishes were considered in the next Pushchino Winter Schools. There have been 12 such schools up to 2004.
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The 1st ZPSH. The opening ceremony. From left to right: S.A.Shabalina, N.L.Lunina, A.S.Kondrasov, J.A.Pachepskii. |
A seminar on the classical genetics headed by A.S.Kondrashov. |
I repeat - the occasion for the first school was private. But it was such a successful action that young people did not want to lose this form of educational activity. In School-1 most of the teachers were scientists; we initiated that school. Starting from School-2 most of the teachers were graduate and postgraduate students of Moscow institutes (schoolchildren of Pushchino in the past) and just they initiated these schools.
Traditionally the IMPB RAS has taken an active part in these schools. In 9 cases (out of 12 schools) directors of the schools were scientists of the IMPB RAS or their children. In different years the directors were El'kin Yury Evgen'evich, Ilya Ovchinnikov, Evgenia Komarova, Galina Lunina (later Aglyamova), Alla Borisyuk, Lena Mashkina, Roitberg Michail Abramovich.
The time passed. The conditions of the School arrangement have changed. It is held in spring now but is traditionally called Winter School. But the best traditions which appeared in the School-1 are kept up to now. These are sophisticated lecturers which are delivered by the best researchers of the Pushchino Scientific Centre. These are seminars which are provided by students of the best Moscow institutes. This is an interesting and diversified culture program. This is an active non-formal communication between students and teachers during the educational process.
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The 1st ZPSH. Welcome party. |
The 1st ZPSH. Psychological games. |
The students of the School became its teachers eventually. They brought their friends and their young brothers and sisters to school. They adopted the methods of other similar schools - School of Krasnoyarsk, "Himera" (school of Chemical Department of Moscow State University), Biological School supervised by I.Okshtein. All this activity leaves a scar both in the brains and in the hearts of Pushchino schoolchildren.
More detailed information about the history of Pushchino Winter School you can find at the ZPSH-site.
January 5, 2004
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