The month of August has arrived. Crowds of parents and their children rushed to the gates of the CEC to celebrate the first school day. As the population of the village was small, there was only one CEC. This only added to the excitement of the enthusiastic parents who were genuinely proud that their children were entering a new phase of life. Where they had yet to learn about such concepts as ‘independence’, ‘self-discipline’, ‘responsibility’, and so on. And also to learn a lot of new things.
The Education Centre was a three-storey rectangular building with several classrooms connected by spacious corridors. There was a canteen on the top floor, and common toilets on each floor. Depending on the specific profile, the classrooms were equipped with everything necessary for classes. For example, there was a study of architecture and construction, where there was a large number of children's constructors of various shapes and colours, which were intended for children of different ages. For three-year-old children – bigger, for six-year-old children – smaller.
There was a sports room, where there were children's exercise machines, a football and fighting ground. In this room, children were deliberately provoked into conflicts in order to identify their leadership skills, team spirit, stress resistance and other useful qualities.
A low platform was erected near the entrance to the Education Centre for the first school day. On it, the presenter, teachers, director and older children who have been in the institution for at least one year performed. Thus, demonstrating what they have already learnt from teachers and coaches. As the holiday was not only for new students, senior students, there were a lot of people gathered. All of them watched the festive show, which consisted of dancing, singing and handicrafts.
Lars, a little tipsy because he had had a couple of beers before going out, stood emotionlessly in the centre of the crowd with his son, glancing around every now and then. Theodore held his father's hand tightly, seeing almost nothing but the backs of the people ahead of him. Caring fathers put their children on their shoulders so that they could see the performance better. But Lars was not such a father. He stood silently among the other people, as if serving a punishment for his misdemeanours.
One of the last numbers was a children's song. Many people were amazed at how the children, who had studied only a year or two at the education centre, had already learned to sing, hitting the notes exactly and feeling the rhythm. Not so long ago, they could not even speak. However, nothing so humbles and amuses the gathered mums and dads as the successes of young talents. Naturally, those children who had a certain talent for music and dance performed. In all probability, these children will go on to study vocal art and play some musical instruments. The song ended to great applause from the audience. In the middle stood the vocal teacher, and on the sides of him, holding each other by the hands of children of different ages. All of them, at the signal of their teacher made a simultaneous bow to the audience, which prompted the audience to clap even more fiercely and louder to support the little artists.
After the performance, the CEC headmistress came on stage again. She was dressed in a bright luscious pink bouffant dress. Taking the microphone on the stand, the headmistress thanked the children who had performed and invited the parents for a short tour of the educational centre where their little ones would be studying for the next three years.
After entering the main door of the CEC, the tour group found itself in the main hall, to the left and right of which were administrative and training rooms. In the middle of the hall was an escalator leading to the upper floors. It was unusual in that it worked in two directions, switching automatically depending on the time. For example, now the time was 10-00, and it was moving upwards. And at 10-30 its direction changed and the steps started moving in the opposite direction. The escalator itself was fenced on all sides with protective glass fences so that kids could not get on it without being accompanied by adults.
Headmistress: ‘This is the main corridor to get to any classroom. Mine, is at the very beginning. It's right here. And just beyond that is the teachers' lounge area. The toilets are at the end of the corridor.’
Man: ‘This escalator…it only goes up. How do you get back down?’
Headmistress: ‘Firstly, it changes direction every half an hour. Secondly, in case of force majeure, of course it can be stopped, or the direction can be changed manually. Let's go. Let's go into each room in turn.’
The group animatedly followed her guide, snaking around and entering the student rooms. Some of the parents were amazed at how organised and elaborate everything was inside, others were not surprised at all, as they had moved like Lars from larger communities where the CECs were even more modern and advanced. Lars and Theodore weaved in the tail. The boy's eyes were burning with excitement. He was curious about everything and wanted to start playing in these unusual and fun classes with his peers as soon as possible. For kids who had never studied with teachers, the CEC at first seemed like one big and amazing sandbox with lots of toys and hobbies. Many wanted to poke, touch and visit everything.
In the first year, learning was conducted in a playful way, gradually revealing the strengths and interests of young students, preparing them for more complex subjects. From the second year onwards, special techniques were introduced to help children better absorb the necessary information and delve into core subjects such as language, children's maths, logic, music and so on. That is why, by the age of six, children entered school ready for full-fledged study in the training profile chosen by their parents.
The group walked to one of the outermost doors at the end of the corridor. It was painted a dark purple colour. It was painted dark purple and had volumetric stickers in the form of flasks of various shapes with liquids inside. The headmistress stopped near the entrance and said proudly: ‘And this is one of my favourite classes. The chemistry room.’
Inside the room, the walls were painted the same purple colour, with orange stripes in the middle. There were also small multi-coloured blotches on them, reminiscent of ink stains carelessly left by a poorly-behaved student who couldn't write. The floor was covered with a special waterproof coating that could easily be used to clean up spills. In addition, it was very soft, so the students sitting on it were very comfortable. The kids sat on the floor, and in front of them were long wooden tables on which various liquids were spread out. Those were carefully trying to mix them together, watching with interest as the colour of the solutions changed. The children began to look round at the visitors who had just entered.
Headmistress: ‘Well, let's not distract them from their lessons. Let's move on!’
One of the mothers turned to the centre director, looking worriedly at the students: ‘Isn't this dangerous? Can't the children drink these liquids and get poisoned? What if they get some of it in their eyes?’
Headmistress: ‘Don't worry about anything. All liquids have a special composition that is edible, hypoallergenic and has an unpleasant taste. Therefore, children should only try it once to then stop doing so. Simply put, all liquids are ordinary water, even though they have different colours and mixing them leads to different reactions. The safety of the children is our centre's highest mission.’
The first floor was no different from the first, except for the high glass partitions that enclose the edges of the surface from the chasm in the middle of the floor, from which one escalator takes people up and down to the ground floor and another does the same to the second.
