Between 20-23.04.2021, 13 students and 2 teachers from “Mihai Eminescu” National College, Petrosani – Romania, participated together with 37 students and 10 teachers from Geniko Likio Hortiati, Thessaloniki, Greece, in the virtual activities organized by the teachers and students of the ISTITUTO ISTRUZIONE SUPERIORE “E. MEDI”, LEONFORTE, ITALY. The theme of this learning activity / exchange of good practices was: “Let’s continue our meeting in Sicily”.
On the first day, the students made a virtual trip to the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento (Unesco Monument dating back to the Era of Magna Graecia), found out about the folk festival “MANDORLO IN FIORE” which is organized every spring; followed by a virtual tour of Agira (Medieval Castle and the city) and a virtual visit to the “Glorioso”, a meat processing factory in Nissoria, where they received information about the local traditional products from the mayor of the town, who is also the owner of the factory. The group activity, which consisted of learning some traditional Sicilian recipes, was followed by watching a documentary about the “Rocca di Cerere” Geopark. On this occasion, the students found out information and discussed about the geological evolution of Sicily, about the geological formations that are part of it, about the relief forms, etc.
The activities continued the next day with a virtual trip to the city of Palermo (with the cathedral and the 2 theaters), to the town of Assoro and to the pork processing factory “Mulinello”. During the group activity, the students learned specific Sicilian gestures.
The third day of activities began with a virtual tour of the city of Syracuse, on which occasion the students found out what are characteristic of the Baroque style. After a presentation of the Easter traditions specific to Assoro and Leonforte made by students from Italy, students from Romania and Greece presented the traditions of Holy Week specific to the two countries, followed by discussions highlighting the similarities and differences in terms of how they are celebrated in the 3 countries. At the end of the day, the students from Romania and Greece presented activities that they carried out within the project, activities that illustrate, once again, the existing links between the 3 nations (Ianza Castle in Romania ; the contribution of philhellenism in Europe to the success of the Greek revolution of 1821 with special emphasis on the revolutionary ferment that took place in the region of present-day Romania, as well as the contribution of the Italian Philhellenes).
On the last day, after the messages of thanks from the mayor of Leonforte and the headmistress of the high school, the students watched recordings from the three days of activities, expressed their point of view on the virtual activities they have participated and the experience gained as a result of participating in this Erasmus + project. At the end, the coordinating teachers and those who are part of the project management and implementation team talked about the significance of this project in terms of their professional development, about the friendships that have formed between students and teachers from the three schools, about the difficulties encountered in carrying out the activities caused by the pandemic, etc.
The activities carried out aimed at acquiring knowledge about the Sicilian cultural heritage, in order to identify similarities and differences with the heritage of the other partners. These activities helped the students in the target group to understand the importance of conserving cultural resources in all aspects; to develop communication and language skills; the ability to recognize and value European and local cultural resources and the self-confidence and self-esteem, recognition and appreciation of the cultural values that define the identity of each nation.