On 31 st of March, Topolowka’s team won the first place at the Polish Finals of Odyssey of the Mind 2012 held in Filharmonia Bałtycka on the Granary Island in Gdańsk. Many thanks to the members: Ania Konobrodzka, Magda Drapella, Szymon Buchocki, Janek Najda, Maks Dobroczek, Mateusz Cetner and Leszek Gorlewicz. They are the champions in the category of problem Weight of Choice, which requires the designing and building of a structure using only balsa wood and glue. The 12 gram structure built by our students held the weight of 157 kilos! To solve long term problem our team presented their device demonstrating the math function of:

They also used elements of magical illusion as well as conjuring and equilibrium tricks.
The 2012 World’s Finals will be take place at The University of Iowa, USA. Our victoriuos team is coached by Topolówka’s math teachers, professors: Małgorzata Klimek & Iwona Kutt and our graduate Aleksandra Najda.
Congratulations!

On the 9th of March Topolowka, as the headquarters of the Association of IB Schools in Poland, hosted a General Assembly after 5 years of its activity. 20 new members from the following schools were accepted: Prywatne LO Sióstr Nazaretanek,II LO Szczecin, Zespół Szkół Ogólnokształcących nr 10, American School of Warsaw,  Kolegium Europejskie Kraków, British International School of Cracow, ZSO nr 2 w Tarnowie, III LO Gdańsk. Also, new authorities were elected. Mrs. Bożena Ordak, the headmistress of III LO in Gdańsk became the president and the board now consists of  Mrs. Małgorzata Dembska II LO Poznań, Mrs. Alina Spychała, III LO Gdańsk, Mr. Artur Stróżyński  II LO Szczecin and Mrs. Agata Żółkoś, British International School of Cracow. The members of the auditing committee are: Mrs. Maria Sawka, Szczecin International School, Mrs. Małgorzata Kozielewicz, IX LO Bydgoszcz and Mr. Aleksander Korzec of the College of Europe. The honorary member was Mrs. Grażyna Bogusz, the first president of the Association and the special guest was Mr. Ake Sorman- the Development and Recognition Manager of IBO regional office for Africa, Europe and Middle East. The main aim of his visit was meeting with the Association and discussing the main issues concerning the IB program in Poland.

21st of March, the first day of spring is traditionally also the day when our school invites middle-school students and holds the annual open day. This year, as always, they showed up in large numbers, as well as their parents and some graduates. We gave out 800 informational leaflets and 43 guides showed the school to our guests. In the classrooms they could talk to students and teachers, get more detailed information and take part in specially prepared attractions. At noon the Talent Show started- there were strong voices, a sense of humor and great instrumental skills.

On April 12th a group from the second iB class had its economy lesson in the Pomeranian Park of Science and Technology in Gdynia, where The Society of Business Week Graduates organized a conference Play with Business. Its main goal was to promote courage and creativity in business among young people. Our students met the special guests: Michał Jaworski, director of corporate politics from Microsoft, Kenneth Globerman, the founder of Global Group, Michał Jaskólski, co-founder of Nokaut, Michał Wroczyński, founder and director of Development Strategy of Fido Intelligence, Piotr Grodzki – president of management board Speednet, Łukasz Osowski, co owner of IVONA Software company and Jakub Krawczyk – investment analysist from Skarbiec Asset Management. They told young people about their ways to success and showed that business not only requires hard work, but provides enormous satisfaction from actions we initiate and results we achieve.

Michał Szczech, I d class student, took first place in XXXV Poland’s Fire Safety Tournament for Higher Schools in our city.We wish him good luck at regional level. It was professor T. Szpakowski, our expert on fire safety, fitness and dancing, who supported Michał in his preparations for the competition. In the picture he is accompanied by firefighting specialists.