Birmingham International Festival Mini-Grant

Every year, the Birmingham International Center (BIC) offers K-12 students in Alabama schools the opportunity to plan and put on Mini-Festivals whose theme is based on the nation being honored by the Center. This year’s spotlight is on the Czech Republic. Interested principals should download the In-School Mini-Festival information and application from the BIC web site www.bifsalutes.org. (Choose Education at the top of the Home page, then choose In-School Mini-Festival from the Menu bar on the left.) Funds up to $350 will be awarded by a panel of K-12 teachers. The deadline for submission of applications is December 20.

For background information on the Czech Republic and teaching resources, please also see www.bifsalutes.org. The Chair of the 2007 Student Art Program Committee is Mrs. Bobby Hill, Librarian, Minor High School, Jefferson County Schools. Dr. Phil Hammonds, Jefferson County Superintendent, is the Chair of the BIC Education Committee for 2006-2007.

The In-School Mini-Festival program is one of seven BIC Education Programs to foster geographic literacy among Alabama students and teachers, but teachers and students are encouraged to incorporate all subjects into the festival—Czech music, dance, sports, visual arts, technology, science, mathematics, trades, fashion design, politics, history, economics, and literature. As a subject, the Czech Republic allows students to study a new, self-created democracy in which education is viewed as central to citizenship. The literacy rate in the Czech Republic is 99%; its students are also the top scoring world-wide in mathematics.