The IIHF U18 World Championship 2017 – interview with Adam Žiak
As you probably noticed, our town in cooperation with Poprad hosted this years‘ U18 World ice hockey Championship. A part of the Slovak team was also Adam Žiak, a student of our school, whom we decided to make a short interview with.
Tell us something about yourself..
My name is Adam, I am 17 and I live in Spišská Nová Ves. These days I am in the third grade of our school.
How did you get into hockey?
When I was at elementary school , one of my classmates started to play hockey and I wanted to try it too. So I went on to attend my first training. I have never regretted it, because even now, after nine years I still play and enjoy it.
For which clubs have you played in your career? Which one do you like the most?
My first club was HK SNV, where I started and played for 5 years and then I went to play for HK Poprad, where I am now.
I like playing for Poprad more, because I have already won four important tournaments there, one of them being the Slovak National Championship in 2016.
What are your biggest goals that you want to achieve in your career?
One of my biggest goals is to play in a foreign country, but I still don´t know where. Until now, I have played against clubs from Switzerland, Ukraine and many others, but one time I would love to play for such a club myself.
Do you have any “dream” clubs, where you would love to see yourself playing in the future?
That would be surely Chicago Blackhawks, or from Europe probably Örebro in Sweden.
What do you plan for summer?
I don’t know, but I am probably going to spend it in Spišská, because of school, obviously, and even my personal coach is from here, so I will have to adjust.
Did I hear school? How is it between you and school?
Somehow, I manage to cope up. (laughs)
What about the latest World Championship, where you played?
So firstly, I was very glad that I was chosen, because I had to attend qualifying games in Piešťany and in Poprad, where our coach chose 4 lines of 5 players to play at the championship. Luckily, I was in one of them. During the championship itself, we played 4 games baseline and we qualified for the quarter-finals, where we lost to Russia.
Would you like to earn a living by playing hockey in the future?
I would be very glad if I could.
Thanks for your time and we’ll keep our fingers crossed for your next games!
Thank you as well
Adam in action
-Interview by Lenka Plichtová & Alexandra Čupáková
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“Hallo, hello, bonjour” … or the 3rd International chemistry workshop of Clausthal-Zellerfeld
Hallo, hello, bonjour, or shall I just say.. well, greetings everybody, I am Peter, and in the next few lines I would really love to share with you a few ideas of mine that came straight up to my mind when I was given the opportunity to represent the 3rd ICW of CLZ by way of this report.
Chemistry can be fun...
Firstly, let me just give you a quick insight to what I’ve been (and will be) talking about right here – the ICW. The ICW (International chemistry workshop in Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany) is a educationally-oriented meeting of high school students interested in chemistry and this year it took place from 19 of February to 25 of February. It is organized by Robert-Koch-Schule in CLZ and Technical University of Clausthal and as the word workshop already says, the meeting is closely connected with the participants being interned in the practical processes of creating actual things, in addition to getting new theoretical knowledge. What that basically means is that we were given a whole lot of opportunities in terms of widering our practical skills in the fields of chemistry, which is a great thing, considering you don’t get that just somewhere, right? Of course this isn’t just a thing you get to attend randomly – Clausthal is a twin town of Spišská Nová Ves, and our school has a partnership with the Robert-Koch-Schule in CLZ, which hosts this workshop every year (first 2015), inviting students from partnered school all around the world. That being said, students of our school weren’t obviously the only ones participating – the workshop also hosted students from Metzingen, Osterode (Germany), L’Aigle (France), Oborniki Ślaskie (Poland) and Kalyani Nagar (India). How exactly my journey started, we’ll get to see in a moment.
As any person, distillation needs attention, or it will feel lonely. Right?
It’s all begun sometime in November, when we were given the information that something like this is happening in a few months, and that was the moment when I knew I would love to attend. So I went on to sign in and some time later, an email with the first information, starting with a multicultural “Hallo, hello, bonjour” (that’s why the title) arrived. Jumping over a few months’ time, we took a 20-hour train journey through 2 countries and at the end managed to accomodate ourselves in the Academy of sports (probably a university dorm, as far as I know). The first day we went on to meet all the people whose names we, until that moment, could only read in the caption of e-mails we received. Our manager, Mr. Franke, came up to be as expected from the style of writing, a very nice and friendly type of guy who, even against the language barrier, tried to satisfy all our needs and calmly went through any hardships that came out during our stay. In the evening, all the participants met with the lecturers, sponsors and managers of the workshop in a restaurant, where we had dinner. The next day, the real workshop started, as we were introduced to the Institute of Anorganic chemistry, a few hours later also to the Institute of Organic chemistry, where we worked on many different experiments. The first few days were basically in the “nice to meet you all” mood, as we had to adjust to the new environment, get to know all the new people around, etc. That was the times when we actually could see the language barrier, mostly among our teachers, whose desire in chemistry is not always met with desire in foreign languages, and then humorous situations can occur. Similarly, slowly getting into speaking English on a daily basis, I found myself speaking English even to Polish participants, whom a standard Slovak can easily speak Slovak to. My teacher haven’t found it hard to understand and even less difficult to speak to them in Slovak, that wasn’t my case, though. So as I started speaking English to them, that became the language we used in our conversations, even though we live maybe 500 kilometres apart and our languages and very similar. See, that’s how ridiculous the world is. The workshop continued as expected, but we also (undesirably) got to see a bit of the town by way of having to walk everywhere, and when I mean everywhere, the town didn’t have any kind of public transport service so I suppose you can imagine what I mean. Apart from walking, the managers of the workshop also intended on not giving us any free time by any means necessary, so we were, overworked and exhausted, dragged all across the town once to play bowling, antoher time just to have a nice walk in nice evening weather (by nice I mean the typical London-ish “if it doesn’t rain, it rains” which was probably the motto of that week’s weather in Clausthal). A great idea on Tuesday evening was Potluck – a dinner contest in which the participants were expected to prepare their country’s typical meals and present them to the others, eating it all afterwards. We had lots of fun that evening, I must say. On Wednesday, a tour in a chemical company was prepared for us, a very interesting one, as the company was nothing else than Sympatech, which offers services in particle measurement, being a unique one on the market. On Friday night, we had a farewell Chemistry-show, prepared by our manager, Mr. Franke (otherwise, a chemistry teacher). We left on Saturday morning, visited Dresden on the way back, and after the long journey, came home, bringing lots of new knowledge, foreign friend contacts, but most importantly lots of new experience on how the things are in foreign countries. I certainly learned a lot, improved my language skills and also had a lot of fun, which is always important. I really loved to be a part of such a programme. To see how it all went, I am attaching a few pictures from the workshop.
Chemist in his natural habitat
And for the end, the whole crew!
Peter Hron 3.C
Read MoreStudents of our school
We asked a couple of students these questions:
1. How do you like our “orange school”?
2. Is there anything what would you like to change here?
3. What do you see being the biggest difference between the elementary and high school?
4. What are your feelings about imatrikuly?
5. How would you describe your classmates?
6. Are you looking forward to the school skiing course in February?
And what were the answers?
EMA SLOVINSKÁ (1.C)
1. Our teachers are very nice, so I’m very satisfied. 2. I wouldn’t change anything. 3. There are other teachers who have a different type of teaching. 4. It wasn’t bad, but it could be better. 5. I think we are a great team and I like them. 6. Yes, of course.
BIANKA ROCHOVÁ (1.A)
1. My expectations were worse, but I like it here. And there are great people. 2. Nothing. Here’s everything as it should be. 3. There is different attitude of teachers. 4. It was funny, but organizers could be more creative. 5. They are cool people. 6. Of course.
ANNAMÁRIA RIMBALOVÁ (1.D)
1. I’m very happy with that. 2. Maybe more baguettes. 3. There are a lot of people 4. The worst thing was public embarrassment. 5. They are okay. 6. I look forward to it for three years.
OLIVER GONDA (1.C):
1. I think it is cool. 2. I would buy new desks for the second floor. 3.We have better teachers and free lessons. 4. I think that the previous ones were much better. 5. I’m very glad to be in 1.C. 6. I’m looking forward to it. I expect there Ms. Spišiaková and a lot of snow 
.
ERIK PINČEK (1.D):
1. I really like it here. 2. Could be more toilet paper in toilets. 3. I need to study more. 4. The worst part was the weather. 5. Some of them are a bit strange. 6. I’m really looking forward.
CHRISTIAN ERNEST (1.A):
1. I like it here. There’s fun and I have already got used to here. 2. Probably nothing. 3. I need to learn more and I have to pay more attention during the lessons. 4. I was expecting more difficult tasks, but it was great. 5. My classmates are nice. 6. I’m really looking forward to it.
Dominika Deptová 1.C
All about our Christmas Concerts
As you all know the Christmas Concert is coming! We, the reporters, are so thrilled about it that we decided to ask Ms. Majerníková a few questions.
Q: How many Christmas Concerts have already been at our school?
M: That is an interesting question. Let me see… I think the first one was in 2008 so this will be the 8th one.
Q: Do you think that Christmas Concert is a contribution for professors and students?
M: Certainly yes, because it is an opportunity for all kinds of students to show their hidden talents apart from their knowledge. They play various instruments, they can dance, sing… There we can see such activities, the students take outside the school.
Q: What cannot be missing at the Christmas Concert?
M: Good atmosphere and christmas songs… The whole concert is based on christmas tunes whether students dance or sing. It is all about Christmas.
Q: What should we look forward to at the Christmas Concert?
M: For various numbers. There are going to be several dance performances, thanks to Julieta. She will bring some Colombian rhythms like salsa or bachata. There are also stage dances and other figures to look forward to.
Q: What does it take to prepare a Christmas Concert like this?
M: It is about teamwork, so apart from me, there are other professors who help with the preparation Mrs. Turcsányiová and Mrs. Repaská then Mrs. Timková with Mrs. Jedináková who take care of decorations and very helpful is Mr. Roško who helps with technical equipment. As I said, it is about teamwork and students are part of the team as well. So we all have to find some time to put it altogether, but we are all excited about it and that is important.
Q: Is something special going to happen this year at the Christmas Concert?
M: Special? Hmmm…. Not really… Maybe some special costumes and christmas characters will be there too, but that is a secret. I can tell no more. We are still working on it. 
Kristína Zahradníková 1.C
Read MoreMeet Julieta – our exchange student
Tell us something more about yourself.
My name is Julieta, I’m 18 and I’m from Colombia. I consider myself an extrovert and I’m a joyful person. My greatest passion are the arts, I adore singing, dancing and acting.
How and why did you get into the exchange program?
To be honest since I was a very little kid I always wanted to be away from home on my own. As I grew up this feeling increased and when I reached my last school year I was just desperate to go very far away. Fortunately my mom had a close friend who was member of the rotary club which is currently in charge of my exchange.
What are your expectations?
My expectations as an exchange student are to get to know a new culture and of course to have the greatest year of my life. Also I see this year as a great opportunity to get to know myself better and to acquire more responsibility.
How do you spend your time here?
Besides going to school I attend dancing lessons in the art school and singing in a choir in Košice. Also I have been able to make a lot of friends who make my time here much more funny and busy.
What do you like the most of our country?
Until now I have enjoyed a lot of your beautiful nature and this beautiful town, I also love that people have been really welcoming and nice to me. Oh and of course, I adore Horalky.
Do Slovak people surprise you in some ways?
In my country I’m very used to hugs and contact with people that I appreciate, it is something really common. Something that was a little shocking for me is that people here are a little more serious, they don’t like contact that much and I’m trying to get use to it. But it has been really nice to see that the friends that I have made until now started hugging me because they know it was something I really miss.
We know that you already graduated, what do you think about Slovak schooling system?
It is not that different than in my school in Colombia. The only difference is that in Colombia we had the option to stay after class doing activities that we liked.
Do you like Slovak cuisine?
I have found that it is very different to my typical cousine, and even though I don’t like everything I can say that I love goulash and spinach halušky.
Julieta, thanks for the interview and we wish you a great year here in Slovakia with us.
Lenka Zentková (4.E)
A closer look at Pride and Prejudice
On our English lessons we read a book and compared it with a movie.
This activity made our lessons funnier and more interesting. We had to work in groups, we learnt new words, how to use direct speech and other grammar structures. In groups everybody was given important roles and tasks to do,we worked with hand-outs, prepared facts from the story and used English all the time, what we aprecciate the most.
That is why we recommend reading not only P and P during your lessons.
Our presentation offers intersresting facts from author´s life, differences and similarities between the book and the movie, and a lot worth of seeing….
1.C students
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