”Jedan mijenja svijet” turns the spotlight on teachers of physical education, whose expertise and love of the profession lay the foundations for our children’s healthy lives. This week the sports caravan of the Montenegrin Olympic Committee, the company One and Sport Vision, supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation and led by the golden lioness Ivonom Pavićević arrived with a valuable donation of sports equipment at one of the oldest primary schools in Podgorica, ”Milorad Musa Burzan”.
”We believe physical education is one of the most important subjects in schooling, because childhood is when we lay the foundations for a whole life. It matters enormously that children come to love sport early and that movement stays part of their lives for good. That is why the role of the teachers who teach this subject is so important, and why we honour them through our initiative ”Jedan mijenja svijet”. We believe the strength of one really can do good and change the world. That is universal, whatever the profession, and it matters especially in work with children”, said Ivona Pavićević, Montenegrin handball player.
At OŠ ”Milorad Musa Burzan” the teachers point out that, in a time of technological progress and evident physical inactivity, physical education and physical activity must be a priority for a modern school.
”Today children can sit at home and finish everything they once had to go out and walk for. Because of that, well organised and well led physical education becomes our basic task as teachers. Play is the best way for body and mind to rest, and to rest actively. A physical education lesson has to be enjoyable and to be a safe space in which they grow”, said Bojan Baranin, teacher of physical education at OŠ ”Milorad Musa Burzan”.
”Children are less and less physically active, their attention divided between schoolwork, exciting content on the internet, games and social media. That is exactly why physical education, and education in general, matter more today than ever. I believe that if we as teachers can make children love sport through our lessons, we are helping them go in the right direction, helping them to be healthy, happy, smiling, communicative and physically active!”, stressed Danilo Strugar, teacher of physical education at OŠ ”Milorad Musa Burzan”.
By highlighting the role of the important figures in their lives, this Olympic network project, guided by the idea of togetherness, promotes Olympic values among the youngest.
”We are extremely proud of the project ”Jedan mijenja svijet”, which we designed with heart and which everyone looks forward to — children, parents, teachers and the whole community. Today we are at the school ”Milorad Musa Burzan”, where I took my own first steps both at school and in sport. I am glad to witness the commitment of the school management and of the physical education teachers themselves to what I can freely call the most important subject for every child’s physical and mental development. Besides caring for our children’s health, physical education teachers also teach their pupils important values in life such as teamwork, respect and solidarity, but also persistence and determination. That is why they — the physical education teachers — are at the centre of this project. They are the ones changing the world!”, said Jelena Marković Čađenović on behalf of the company One.
It is exactly such a memory, the finest kind, the kind made of movement and play, that the pupils of this large school in the capital will carry into their future after this sporting get-together, together with their teachers.
”It is a great honour for us to be one of the eight schools taking part in the project. It is a fine initiative that deserves the support and the gratitude of JU OŠ „Milorad Musa Burzan”. A school is an educational institution, a place where, alongside the first letters, children also take their first steps in sport — steps that lead to health and to a love of sport and physical activity”, said Milica Vuković, head of pedagogy at OŠ ”Milorad Musa”.
