On Thursday, the 3^rd of November 2016, employees of Milke Šobar-Nataše visited the Franc Uršič Military Post in Novo Mesto. The military post got its name after a member of Territorial Defense Forces, who died during an air raid near Medvedjek at the time of the Slovenia’s War of Independence in 1991. After the introductory presentation we were invited to see the museum’s collection of photos, weapons and tools, military uniforms and protective clothing, and other items from the time of the independence war.

The soldiers must be well prepared and qualified to protect and save lives as their military duty is to participate in natural and other disasters. With their help, we renewed our first aid knowledge, especially basic resuscitation procedures and the use of an external automatic defibrillator.

In their daily training the soldiers use various outdoor and indoor ranges. We got to know three. In small groups we tested our accuracy, especially our steady hands. We shoot with a bow, air rifle and a pistol. The majority of the employees never had a gun in their hands, still they performed very well and repeatedly hit the target.
Time passes quickly when interesting things are happening and after lunch we had to say goodbye. We got back with nice impressions and  some new experiences.

Thank you to the Military Post Novo mesto for the friendly reception.

Bjanka Bogovac

From 13th to 15th October 2016, our school hosted 30 staff members from a school with special curriculum from Tuzla and the Centre for the Deaf Tuzla. They have gotten to know the Slovenian educational programs for persons with disabilities and became familiar with the work of our counseling office. They visited our school as well as VDC Črnomelj. The guests were formally welcomed by Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Črnomelj, Mr Štefan Misja. During their visit, we also prepared some fun activities like a friendly football match among the teachers.

The guests visited cultural and natural heritage of Bela Krajina. We surprised them with a visit to the fire brigade of PGD Črnomelj and with a wine tasting in the wine cellar at Prus family in Krmačina. We prepared a nice dinner with typical Bela krajina delicacies and musical accompaniment by Košmerl family and our school musicians. On Saturday morning, we caught a glimpse of the FS Dragatuš folklore group rehearsal.

It was a great opportunity to exchange different views, ideas, experiences and suggestions. Confident that we will continue our cooperation, we said our goodbye with good impressions.

Matjaž Barič

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On a pleasant autumn afternoon, 28^th September 2016, our school, Elementary school Milke Šobar – Nataše opened its doors to ouside visitors.

We named the day Heritage around us, because this year our school joined a project ‘European Heritage Days’, which is held annually in September at the initiative of the Institute for Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia.

Our guests closer presented the heritage of Bela krajina landscape. We learned about many handicraft and other skills from our grandmothers and grandfathers, we sang Bela Krajina folk songs, danced and played old shepherd games.

Surrounded by books and recordings of the typical Bela Krajina instrument ‘tamburica’, we enjoyed the Mrs Tončka Jankovic embroidery with Bela Krajina motives.

Extremely interesting was the making of baskets. Mr. Žan Škrinjar and Mr. Slavko Pavlakovič from Semič have with their rich interpretation captivated the children, as they

In one of the workshops it smelled very nice. With Mrs. Slavica Jankovič we learned how to make fragrant soap dressed in a soft wool and nicely decorate it. From now on, we will wash our hands even more.

Soon winter will come and there will be no flowers outside. But never mind, because Mrs. Marija Golobič from Semič showed us how to make paper flowers of various kinds.

Who does not know Bela Krajina eggs ‘pisanica’? Did you know that when writing, we also need a burning candle? As well as a steady and gentle hand. All this we learn from Mrs. Vesna Veselič, which, like all of the invited guests, is a real master of crafts.

The most fun was the music workshop with Urska Klobučar. We danced traditional Bela Krajina dances, sang folk songs and played games like Is there a solid bridge.

At the end of the day, we prepared an exhibition of the made products.

To the mentors, the Pensioners Association Semič, Kolpa Regional Park and to visitors, thank you for this special day we spent together. The following year, hopefully, we will get together again!

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On Wednesday, 29^th June 2016, elementary school Milka Šobar-Nataše got a very special visit. Namely, ethno musical group FS  Zaite from Colombia. They presented traditional Colombian dances and thrilled us with their temperament and passion with which they dance. We enjoyed as they taught us some of their basic dance steps.

On Friday, we prepared a celebration for the Statehood Day, which the country celebrates on the 25^th of June. The cultural program,  prepared by the students, was honored by:
– Mr. Slavko Malešič, a representative of the Association of Veterans of the War for Slovenia;
– Mr. Janko Bubaš, President of  Belokrajina Club of Toronto;
– Mr. Joseph Simonič, a representative of the Slovenian Armed Forces
Mr Matjaž Barič, the school’s head teacher, awarded praise and school certificates to the students. He ended his speech by wishing them all beautiful thoughts for the holidays.
As for the birthday girl, our country and its 25^th  birthday;  we baked her a cake and sang Happy Birthday.

With thoughts on a long and joyful holiday we headed to the dance floor.