The history of the school in odrzykon

1. Thehistory of theschoolinodrzykon „Obce rzeczy wiedzieć dobrze jest swoje obowiązek”. Andrzej Maksymilian Fredro

2. The beginnings of teaching in the village Odrzykoń reach the 18th century. At that time in Odrzykoń there was a parish school. The evidence for its functioning is a note made by WalentyŚnieżyński in 1699. The next notes about the existence of the parish school can be found in 1839 and 1699. Thanks to the efforts of a priest SzymonSerafin, in the intervening years, a small, wooden building was raised, which was consecrated a year later. It was the first building that was created for the needs of teaching only.

3. The first lay teacher was AndrzejGromek. The parish school existed in Odrzykoń until 1857. Later it was changed into a public schoola one-grade trivium school. The name trivium comes from the number of three subjects that were taught at this school namely: reading, writing and counting. There was religious education too. At that time, attending school became compulsory for all the children. After 1868 there was a two-grade school which was independent of the clerical power. The teaching at the school in Odrzykoń was conducted in Polish. Although the education of children up to the age of 12 was compulsory, there was serious illiteracy in the village since peasants reluctantly sent their children to school.

4. In 1909 the building of a new school was started which was to replaced the old, two-grade one. The building works lasted for two years. The year 1911/12 was started at a new school.

5. In 1924 the school in Odrzykoń was converted into four-grade school and on 1st September 1927 it became a common school on the force of the directive of the chief education officer of Lviv oblast. During the next years the school’s structures were being further reorganized. The teaching in the school in Odrzykoń was conducted from the 1st to 6th grade. In order to introduce the system of education that counted 7 grades, certain steps to extend the building of the school were taken. As the result of these efforts, two additional classes and a room for study aids were built on. Once the building works were accomplished the school could fulfill a function of a school were children were taught from the 1st up to 7thgarde. The headmasters of the school betweenthe years 1860-1950 were respectively: J. Fijołek, N. Raś, N. Sielecki, J. Mazur, E. Soświńska, J. Adamski, K. Kulczycki.

6. The outbreak of the Second World War caused that the school year 1939/40 started not earlier then on 20th November. The teaching at school was conducted clandestinely and with irregular breaks. The situation worsened in 1941 when the school building was taken over by German soldiers. Thanks to the headmaster KazimierzKulczycki the education could still be conducted clandestinely in private houses.

7. Although the situation got worse teachers continued teaching exposing the lives of children as well as their own lives to danger. During the occupation time, the German had an undeniable impact on the education and the up-bringing of children and the youth. As the result of the German’s interference, subjects like geography, history, and Polish were removed from the school curriculum because they reminded children of their polish roots, enhanced the attachment to the national traditions and deepened the respect for national symbols. That is why, the teaching was conducted in Kulczycki, Salomei Gromek and Stanisław Cebula’s private houses

8. The German issued a directive which forbade the teachers to use old coursebooks instead a new curriculum was introduced which concentrated more on science and practical subjects. Children were taught German at school moreover, they received certificates written in Polish and German. The years after the war brought no relief for the teachers who had to deal with many problems like the lack of books and money since the school could function only thanks to voluntary donations made by common people and the money they managed to raise organizing school performances. There were many student organizations at school such as the theatre club or Scout pack. In spite of all the difficulties that the teachers had to cope with, the management work as well as the educational and pedagogical were highly evaluated during the further inspections.

9. The school still counted seven grades. Additionally, a new subject was introduced namely Russian language which was taught from the 5th to 7th grade. On the cusps of 60’s Religious Education was removed from schools. However, thanks to the efforts of a contemporary parish priest a building meant for studying religion was built. The year 1966/67 brought further changes. The eighth grade was introduced however, there was no room for additional classes. On account of that, the community took certain steps in order to obtain two additional classes in the Community Center for the needs of teaching.

10. The 70s brought a lot of changes to the system of education. The old school building did not fulfill the requirements due to the fact that the school in Odrzykoń had become ZespółSzkół. Then some works were done to construct a new building. A special committee was appointed to supervise the works. The corner stone for the new school was set on 1st December 1976. Next spring the building materials were brought to the construction site. There was also a special part of the building designed for the kindergarten. After six years of hard work the new school building was ready.

11. On 1st September a unique opening ceremony of a school year in the new building took place. A lot of invited guests, teachers, students and inhibitants of Odrzykoń attended the ceremony. JózefTofilski and StanisławaZygmut made an official opening of the new school building. It consisted of fifteen classrooms, five workshops, a gym, a common room, a library and a consulting room. New equipment, teaching aids and well- decorated classrooms made a good impression. In 1984 a common room and a canteen started working.

13. Since 1999 it has been not only a building of a primary school but also of a junior high school. Students from Ustrobna, Bratkówka and Wojkówka started to attend school here.

14. Among the first organizations established by students were The Students’ Council , Scouts Association and Student’s cooperative. One of the most prominent organization was a music band and a choir led by mrsKlimczak. Musically gifted students performed during various celebrations held in the local, district, provincial or even national community. They frequently won prizes. They even created their own song “ Patron nasz”, devoted to AleksanderFredro- patron of our school. There were also additional classes organized by teachers of different subjects.

16. While the school was being built some work was done to choose a proper patron for our school. During the special meeting of teachers and students AleksanderFredro was chosen a patron of the school in Odrzykoń. The choice was quite obvious as a famous comedist was connected with the Odrzykoń castle called Kamieniec. Polish lessons were devoted to getting acquainted with his biography and works. School started to collect as many documents and materials connected with the artist as possible. A lot of letters to theatres in Cracow and Warsaw were written asking to send photos and posters about plays written by Fredro. In this way a lot of materials were gathered, which were placed in a special room devoted to our patron.

17. Then the further efforts were made to approve AleksanderFredro as the patron of the school. Soon the project was accepted by The Local Education Authority. On 14th October 1985 on Teachers’ Day an official ceremony of giving the school name of AleksanderFredro took place. Teachers, parents, students and a lot of invited guests took part in the event. The earl Jan KazimierzSzeptycki, a great- grandson of AleksanderFredro, was a guest of honour during the ceremony.

18. The ceremony began with a Holy Mass conducted in the parish church in Odrzykoń. The people who took part in the Mass were mainly the invited guests, teachers together with other workers of the school, parents and the students. The Mass during which the Banner was consecrated, was conducted by a priest Julian Bieleń and a parish priest KazimierzPożniak. Afterwards, everybody went to the school building where further parts of the ceremony were presented. After all the guests were warmly welcomed a group of parents placed the Banner in the hands of the contemporary headmistress BożenaŁeppek. Then the headmistress placed the Banner in the hands of the students asking them at the same time to represent the school with due respect and to obey the values placed on the Banner: God, Honor, Homeland, Education.

19. Thebanner The banner was conferred to the school in Odrzykoń on 14th October 2003. This year there was also the 20th anniversary of opening the new building of the school and the 18th anniversary of naming the school after the writer AleksanderFredry. The banner was funded by the board of parents.

20. Next everybody sang the School Anthem and students took the oath. The next part of the ceremony was a performance prepared by the students. The ceremony ended with a performance of the local brass band created by the members of the local fire brigade.The ceremony itself was very solemn. It has certainly rooted in the memories of many people and it will be a part of the history of the school in Odrzykoń for ages.

21. Bibliografia Kronika Szkoły Zeszyty Odrzykońskie . Dzieje szkoły podstawowej w Odrzykoniu .Zeszyt 13 /2006. Stowarzyszenie Odrzykoniaków . Zeszyty Odrzykońskie . Dzieje Szkoły podstawowej w Odrzykoniu 1939-2000. Zeszyt 14/2007. Stowarzyszenie Odrzykoniaków.