RYCO project

Suggested title: We can do it together

School 1- Gymnasium „Bora Stankovic“
Republic of Serbia
1800 Niš
Vožda Karađorđa 27
School 2 – Mixed high school Vitez
Bosnia and Herzegovina
72250 Vitez
Ilije Petrovica bb

A. Your school exchange idea

1. Our common idea is that through diverse cultural activities (analysis of traditional
song, Bosnian traditional song „ sevdalinka“/South Serbian lyrical song, playing
short theater plays performances that show cultural specifics, dance workshops,
trying out traditional dishes...) we promote the cultural values of both local
communities and thereby break stereotypes and prejudices, reduce ethnic distance.
In addition to that, the common context of the partnes schools is the experience of
peer violence, especially online violence, which has been very present in recent
years, the cause of youth depression, anxiety, and even suicide, which the media
constantly reports on. In the workshops, students will share their experiences of
using the Internet and social networks, as well as access to various napkins for
playing games and entertainment. The safety of young people as well as their
mental health are a priority and a prerequisite for democratic and „healthy
society“, so it is possible to build cooperation betwen our schools on prevention
and protection from peer violence, with a special emphasis on internet violenc.
Through these activities, students will be able to see the similarities of our cultures, as well as
learn tolerance and accept differences. In that sense, our cultural actions will be a bridge that
brings people together.

2. First exchange: Host Gymnasium „Bora Stankovic“ Niš

 Time: First half of April 2023
 Activities by day
DAY 1. Arrival in Nis, welcome at the school, introduction, accommodation.

DAY 2 - "Allow us to introduce you to our city of Niš"

 Formal reception with an appropriate program aimed at getting to know
the cultural heritage of Niš and the south of Serbia (an event aimed at getting to
know our school and the city, interactive stands - historical sites, writers, a specific
dialect, poets, musicians, traditional dishes);
- Lunch in a restaurant for all project participants;
- Tour of the city center, Fortress, museum and other localities;

DAY 3 - "Nišlijska Mehana" performance. Students of the "Bora Stanković" high

school will talk about the spirit of old Niš and its cultural peculiarities as guests in
an improvised tavern. The guests from Vitez will be involved in the performance
itself as performers of folk songs and through acting improvisation.
-
- Lunch in a restaurant for all project participants;
- Panoramic sightseeing of the city by tourist bus, visit to the cultural and
historical site of Medijana, visit to spa town in Nis.
DAY 4. Tour of classes, familiarization with the courses and teaching methods in
our school.
Forum theater - digital violence.
Lunch
- Reception of project participants by the local self-government of the city of Nis;

DAY 5 - Sports competition and games without limits;

- Dance lessons - mutual learning of traditional folklore
- Humanitarian action "Children to children"
(delivery of toys, books and sweets to children from the Home without parental
care "Duško Radović")
- Lunch
- Visit to the Youth Office of the city of Nis

DAY 6.
. - A workshop where the content, texts, Bosnian traditional song „sevdalinka“ and
Serbian traditional lyrical songs will be analyzed. Before coming to NIš, both
partner schools will choose 10 traditional songs each, which we will analyze
together in mixed groups;
- Lunch in a restaurant for all project participants
- Project evaluation workshop entitled "What do I take with me?". The idea is that
students from Vitez, with the help of students from Nis, will create a panel in the
shape of a suitcase on which they will write the most beautiful memories from the
city of Nis, interesting things and what left the biggest and most beautiful
impression on them.
- Leave a mark – A fingerprint tree for guests to leave with their names and
personal messages. The idea is to symbolically leave a mark in our school in this
way.
- Farewell party with the school band and karaoke party in the school hall.
DAY 7 - School gathering and joint environmental action - "We can do it
together" (joint tree planting in the school yard)
- Greetings and the end of the first exchange.
1. Second exchange: Host Mixed high school "VITEZ"
• Time: Second half of April (in this term is the Easter holiday in Serbia) in 2023
(suggestion - FIRST HALF OF MAY?)
• Activities by day
DAY 1. Arrival in Vitez, welcome at the school, introduction, accommodation,
socializing.

DAY 2 - "Get to know our city of Vitez"

Ceremonial reception by the chief and a short address to the participants of
the exchange,
- Tour of the city of Vitez
- Tour of the oldest building in the city of Vitez (Ahmed-aga Mosque)
- Tour of the ethnic village "Čardaci"
- Lunch in a restaurant for all project participants;
- Free activities;

DAY 3 - IT workshop for students - programming or web design, and attendance

of students in classes together with our students;
- Visiting the practical classes of our students from the Hairdresser/Hairdressing
course;
- Sports activities
- Lunch in a restaurant for all project participants;
- A visit to the Vizier's town of Travnik and a tour of the town's sights or a trip to
the Vlašić mountain (tasting of Vlašić cheese and ,,ćevapi“);
DAY 4.
- A visit to the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina - Sarajevo and a tour of
historical sights (Baščaršija, Vijećnica), and a ride on the Trebević cable car.
- Lunch in a restaurant for all project participants
- - The play "Contract" . The talented and award-winning student of our school,
together with his friends, will perform a play for exchange participants in the City
Theater "Knight".
DAY 5 - Gathering at the school and socializing, awarding certificates of
appreciation for the successful cooperation between the two schools
- Greetings and end of exchange.
Proposal for other days (the exchange lasts 7 days) - Some quiz (how much do we
know about the Balkans, the proposal is called "How much do we know" or
"Knowledge without limits" between Serbia and BiH), workshop, team building...
The quiz can contain elements of games without limits (e.g. some objects from
Serbian culture should be put in one bucket, others from Bosnian culture in
another bucket, a musician plays a song - the first to recognize gets points, an
association game with cultural symbols made on the computer and a memory
game, have a certain time, for example 40 seconds, to write as many Sevdalinka or
South Serbian lyrical songs as they know ...)
2. Niš: Our local community is fairly homogeneous in terms of ethnic and
religious affiliation - the largest number of residents are Serbs of the Orthodox
faith. Only Romas are represented in a significant percentage. Niš is the third
largest and most populous city in Serbia and as such is the university, economic,
trade and cultural center of the southern part of Serbia. Film Encounters is a
festival of acting achievements that has existed since 1966, as well as International
Choral Festivals, while the International Jazz Festival has existed since 1995.
These three events are a cultural feature of the city. At the aforementioned events,
young people have the opportunity to volunteer and develop culturally. Due to the
existence of the university in Niš, they have the opportunity for higher education.
However, due to lower living standards and the COVID-19 pandemic in the past 2
years, young people have had few opportunities for travel and socializing, which is
one of their basic needs. In addition, due to the homogenous religious national
structure, they do not have the opportunity to personally meet members of other
cultures, nations and religions. Bearing in mind that personal experience is the best
 way to break prejudices and stereotypes and reduce ethnic distance, we see
participation in this project as an opportunity for that.
Vitez: The city of Vitez is an area located in the geographical center of Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Vitez is located in the central part of the Lašva river, 80 km from Sarajevo and
12 km from Zenica. According to the population census from 2013, the city of Vitez had
6,329 inhabitants (and the municipality with all inhabited parts had 25,836). Vitez has a
multinational composition of the population: Croats, Bosniaks, Serbs and others. Ahmed-aga's
mosque is the oldest building in Vitez. The ethnic village "Čardaci" is a favorite tourist
destination, which includes the water park "Ribica" and the restaurant "Kod mlina".

3. Students will:
- Choose and analyze traditional folk songs.
- Design and build stands where local cultures will be presented.
- Being hosts and guides in presenting their cities.
- Create a scenario for the play "Nišlijska mehana" and act in it.
- Create a scenario for an educational forum theater about cyberbullying and act in it.
- Design and implement and lead workshops, quizzes...
- Create games without borders and participate in them.
- To be instructors of traditional dances.
- Participate in sports activities.

4. The target group is, first of all, young people with less opportunities (youth from
remote rural areas, young people with poor school performance, lower social status,
etc.), young people without parental care. The reasons for this choice of the target
group are the lower involvement of individuals from these groups in school activities
and projects because they are not "the best bearers of a good image of the school", and
by acting on these individuals, their involvement in activities can in the long run
benefit society in terms of their emancipation and the development of a proactive
attitude towards social problems. The selection of students for the project will be done
in cooperation with department heads and the professional service (pedagogues and
the school psychologist). After that, an interview will be conducted to assess their
motivation for participating in the project, creativity and
B. YOUR PARTNERSHIP

In the past experience, these two schools have not had the opportunity to cooperate.
The decision to cooperate on this exchange came from the homogeneous religious and
ethnic structure in Nis, or heterogeneous in Vitez, which indicates different
experiences with members of other religions and nations, their culture and customs,
and in this aspect they can complement each other. We believe that this exchange
would in the best way enrich the personal experience of young people with members
of another culture, religion and nation on the one hand, that is, connect them over the
generational problem of cyberbullying on the other hand, and thus contribute to the
realization of our basic idea. Add if you want something…

C. LEARNING OUTCOMES

- We expect to gain better insight into the presence of peer violence on the Internet,
ethnic and religious stereotypes and prejudices.
- We want to show that young people as a social category have more similarities than
differences, some common problems, and that mutual respect and tolerance can be
built on identifying similarities and respecting differences.
- The intention is to develop awareness, exchange experiences and get to know each
other among students to create opportunities for the implementation of this and related
topics concerning human rights (social position and discrimination of marginalized
groups, tolerance of diversity, breaking gender, religious and other stereotypes) in
future extracurricular activities and student parliament activities.readiness for
teamwork and cooperation.