We were warmly welcomed by the principal Nina Karnyushina and her assistants, provided with some basic information about the gymnasium and then shown up to one of the English classrooms. I was amazed how considerable and helpful were the hosting colleagues and even more by politeness of the kids in the friendly hallways who seem by no means to be excited by so many aliens in the school.

The first lesson was in Grade 7, English teacher Nadezhda Feoktistova. All girls and boys were geared up and happy to showcase the final lesson on Music, Matrix Foundation. Every piece of class equipment seem to serve the only purpose - to demonstrate that ‘Music is the universal language of the world’. Having prepared team presentations on some particular kind of music, these junior students used PowerPoint, singing to the guitar, and even drama to make us believe that ‘Music is the universal language’. And the colleague from Chelyabinsk couldn’t help but say in the end ‘…your lesson has touched our hearts’.

After a short break we changed to another classroom. A home reading lesson with Irina Strakhova, English teacher. These Grade 6 kids seem really enjoy reading a Dominoe series book ‘A Close Shave’ adapted by Bill Bowler. Everyone was active and willing to be the first to respond to the teacher’s questions and proposals. At the chalk board, at their Apple iBooks, acting out dialogues for the characters, and even summarizing the whole story. No wonder the teacher was happy to give only excellent and good marks assessing the teamwork.

While in the classrooms I enjoyed every minute and was amazed by the students’ fluency in English, both Grade 7 and Grade 6. But what we were shown in the assembly hall was beyond every expectation. Two pieces were staged by Grade 9 students. We were told then that the school student project ‘Three Men in a Boat’ after Jerome K. Jerome had been a prize winner at the Oxford Quality municipal contest ‘Bookworms’. The research work ‘The Shakespeare Enigma’ was the best one at the international school student contest ‘Unity in Diversity: Russia and Great Britain’. The teachers who have inspired their school students to these unique creative projects are Lyudmila  Zakolodyazhnaya and Yelena Protasova.