Visiting school number 3 in Ufa last year, I had the opportunity to witness the ending of a school year. In Russia both the ending and the start of a new school year is celebrated with different ceremonies, dancing on the schoolyard etc. One of the fine traditions is that the students in the 11th grade (the oldest pupils in school) act as mentors for the kids that are first-graders. The picture below shows how the 11th graders take care of the smaller kids in the schoolyard the day of the exams. The schools are often maintained during the summer feries, and all is shining when school starts in the autumn. There is no graffitti , no damage made to the schools whatsoever. Everybody seems happy about starting the new year. The start of the new school-year is also the Teachers Day and the teachers are presented with flowers and all are in high spirit. Really a nice tradition with lots of parents attending.
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