The students of Kopyl Gymnasium write that their town is pretty small but very old. It was first mentioned in 1274. Kopyl is 120 km from Minsk, the capital of Belarus. The town is situated in an extremely picturesque place. It stands on the hills and it is surrounded by a small river. There are also 3 lakes and, of course, forests everywhere! Many people call this region ‘ a small Switzerland’, writes Irina, ESL teacher. The air is clean and smells pine.

The main attraction of Kopyl is the Castle Mountain in the centre of the city. Being a student Irina took part in a real archeological research and they found out that the settlement dates back to the 11th century.

Kopyl is not an industrial town, but they have a dairy production and butter produced there is the tastiest. In one of the specialized cafes you can try Kopyl yogurt and ice-cream.

The population of Kopyl is approximately the population of Koltsovo, about 10,000 people.

 In school there are 338 students with 18 – 20 in class. A big two-storied building consists of two parts: so called ‘old school’ for primary school, and the new one.

The symbol of school is an open book with a branch of bay. This symbol is on school badges and ties. The gymnasium ties are dark red with emblem on them. I know that in Belarus schools they  have pioneer organizations.

Kopyl school was opened in April 1901, 110 years ago. Since May 2001 it has the status of gymnasium. It means that it is a school with intensive learning of English and formal sciences.

There are 30 computers in 3 computer rooms and in the library. English, Maths, Chemistry, Сomputer Science, History are most loved subjects.

School is partly of gender type. Senior students, boys and girls attend most of classes separately but not all classes. They have English every day. In general schools English is twice a week.

Many students are involved in doing science research work from primary school. The result is that  most of the students enter universities.

Opportunities are provided for going in for sports such as football, basketball, swimming, handball, badminton, figure skating.

What do students in Kopyl like?

Their favorite music groups are Selena Gomes, Ranetki, VIA GRA, A-studio. The teens read Pushkin A., K.Chorny, Y.Kupala, Y.Kolas, O’Henry.

They prefer such TV programs as Winx, Animal world, Let’s speak (talk-show), America’s next top model, and all kind of musical programs.

Favorite food is a mixture of national and international dishes: cakes, pizza, ice-cream, kolduny (potato pancakes filled with meat), milk shake.

Video or computer games are different from those that our students mention: Father’s daughters, Super Cow, Alex Gordon, Flatout 2, Teen Talk. But the pointed websites are almost the same: tut.by, vk.com, YouTube, yandex.net, odnoklassniki.ru

Other class favorites are also alike: singing, playing musical instruments, drawing, dancing, handicrafts, playing computer games.