During his visit to Kardjali on February 26th the U.S. Ambassador James Warlick visited PGEE Kapitan Petko Voyvoda. The long-awaited guest arrived at one thirty in our school and was welcomed by an old tradition, with bread and salt. The meeting was jointly organized by the Peace Corps because in PGEE, for the third year already, a Peace Corps volunteer, Jeff Warner, is working as a teacher of English language . In the lobby of the school pupils and teachers from the vocational Kardzhali School welcomed their prominent guest. To welcome him, the Director of PGEE greeted the Ambassador with a few words and presented the school, which he manages. In his speech he accented the 25-year history of the vocational high school and modern specialties in which students are training. "We're the school with the most international projects and we aim not only at knowledge, but to prepare our students for a world without borders." - proudly noted Mr. Kushlev, director of PGEE.
"For the first time I am out of Sofia and decided to visit Kardzhali, and your school is the first Bulgarian school, which I will see. I expect to talk to as many students and teachers, as I can"- said the Ambassador in response to the welcome . He looked with pleasure at the video showing the work of the American volunteer in PGEE and eagerly went to the classroom, in which was held an open lesson with students in grade 10b in the specialty Computer techniques and technologies and with intensive English language learning. The boys and their teacher Jeff Warner had prepared two presentations about their school and home town, which they presented to the important guest in English. The free conversation of Ambassador Warlick with the students continued more than an hour. He was interested in anything that excites the boys of their age: how they spend their free time, do they like their school, what marks they receive, what they want to become. He commended them for choosing to study in this school, because computer technologies is the most modern and fastest growing field, and having the techniques and a command of English language will help them realize their ambitions not only in Bulgaria, but in the rest of the world if they so choose. The future computer specialists answered questions without embarrassment and shared with the Ambassador even what music they like and what are their favorite computer games, which earned a special praise from Mr. Warlick for a good knowledge of the language. He was particularly impressed by the dialogue with the student from grade 10b Georgi Hristov.
When he left the classroom, the Ambassador was shown three small cars running on elecric energy made by the students, which were mentioned in the student's school presentation. To everyone's surprise, the ambassador jumped into one of the cars and drove it down the hallway.
The meeting continued in the teacher’s room where the Ambassador spoke with the teachers from PGEE. The director, Mr. Kushlev, presented the Head of the District Inspectorate of Education Mrs. Emilia Vladeva, who shared her pleasure to be with the colleagues in this important moment for them.
In his brief address to the teachers, the Ambassador explained that he chose the city because of our multi-ethnic environment in which we live peacefully. He thanked them for the opportunity to talk with the students, thanked all teachers for their commitment and shared that he acknowledges what a difficult but important task it is to be a teacher. He was impressed by the work of the professionals in PGEE with the children in the school.
