RussiansenjoyStOliver’s CommunityCollege visit
THE red carpet was rolled out at St Oliver’s Community College last week when students and staff welcomed the Ambassador of the Russian Federation, His Excellency Yuri Anatolevich Filatov.
The Russian flag was flying over the Rathmullen Road school and the special guest was met with the traditional Russian greeting “bread and salt”, and children were dressed in colourful traditional Russian dresses.
“This was the first ever visit of the Russian ambassador to the state Irish schools and it was a great honour for us to welcome such an important guest,” commented Russian language teacher Ms Oksana McNiff.
“The ambassador was pleased to find out that the Russian language has been taught at St. Oliver’s for eight years as a Leaving Certificate subject and has been available for three years for TY students.”
The students played the Russian anthem for the diplomat, followed by the beautiful sound of Irish pipes.
“Our TY students also prepared the wellknown Russian song “Kalinka”, and the ambassador also enjoyed looking at the international exhibition “Children draw Peace” which were presented by the historical and cultural centre “Mobius”,” she added.
His Excellency Yuri Anatolevich took time to participate in a ‘questions and answers’ session from the Leaving Cert students, and children from the Navan Russian school “Matryoshka” read wonderful poems. The official part of the visit was finished by the launch of the Russian Oral Work Book written by Ms McNiff and published by Irene Gahan.
Finally, before he left, St. Oliver’s College presented the Ambassador with a copy of a beautiful book on the town.