The undying creativity of Gargždas “Rainbow” centenary

February is important for graduates because of a special event – there are one hundred days left before the exams start. Preparations for the celebration begin approximately three months in advance: scripts for the official part of the event are written, plays are staged, and halls and classrooms are to be decorated.
Although there has been a lot of discussion in the public space recently, whether such a celebration still excites and is interesting for graduates as it was for previous generations, but at the Gargždai “Vaivorykštės” gymnasium, the centenary is still a great opportunity for both students and teachers to show their creativity and intelligence.
Every year – surprising ingenuity
The pedagogues of the final classes of “Vaivorykštės” gymnasium do not hide that in recent years, the enthusiasm of eleventh (third) and twelfth (fourth) graders to help create and participate in the celebration has been fading. There are various reasons: not only employment, the stress of preparing for exams, the need for financial resources, but also the increasingly fractured bonds of community between classmates, the increasingly strong individualism, which has become especially evident after the quarantine.
However, the Klaipėda concert hall, where the evening part of the centenary was held, was bursting with the number of participants on February 15. The gymnasium does not have such a large hall to accommodate about half a thousand graduating high school students, so at the moment, when the Gargžda Cultural Center is being renovated, premises have to be sought in the port city.
The experience of previous years is only positive emotions, the centenary of the gymnasium. Therefore, the surprising ingenuity of high school students and teachers to create and implement such a scenario of the festival every year, which absolutely captures the attention of the audience for three hours and causes thunderous ovations, is exceptional.
This year, on the centenary, the experiential theme “The Last Excursion”, which is extremely close to both students and teachers, and which arouses many emotions, has been cleverly developed.
The organizers of the celebration and the authors of the script, as always, are the eleventh (third) graders themselves. According to the inspiration of the centenary celebration, director, Lithuanian Rasa Rusteikienė, Ieva Sutkutė and Laurita Moliakovaitė revealed themselves as the most creative screenwriters. The main and very convincing roles in the play “The Last Excursion” were played by third graders Nedas Kymantas, Urtė Andrijauskaitė, Ieva Sutkutė, Laurita Moliakovaitė, Kotryna Žabinskytė, Joris Vytis, Mikas Grikšas, Vilius Šunokas.

Unexpected plot twists
Trips grow, toughen and test both organizers and excursionists. Thus, in the “Last Excursion” of the high school students, many countries were visited and various adventures were experienced until the destination – Hawaii – was finally reached. At the same time as the characters of classmates were revealed on the palm of your hand, it became clear who can be trusted and who should be avoided from afar. Gražina Pupšienė, Zofija Vaitkuvienė, Laima Rimikėė, Giedrė Jakaitė, Aušra Naujokienė and Vida Mockuvienė, the heads of the third graders, who supported their pupils on stage and played the flight attendants in the play, deserved applause.
Valentas Marcinkevičius, Inga Ulonienė, Raimonda Kundrotienė, Rita Batečko, Jurga Venckauskienė, R. Rusteikienė rested on the Hawaiian beach and “unexpectedly” had fun together with their students at a party.
At the centenary celebration, the “Awards of the Year” caused a wave of applause: the most fashionable, the most musical, and the most romantic did not pass the commission’s eyes. Good luck is wished to the graduating student, former president of high school students Darija Sermontyta.
At the last moment of the performance, when all the excursionists fall on the stage and look at the stars, dream out loud, and then, with the support of their musicians, sing the farewell song “7 minutes to be by your side”, you could not remain indifferent, you could not be happy that there are still many beautiful young people growing up in Lithuania.
The tradition is soon a century old
In the Gargždai “Vaivorykštės” gymnasium, all the traditions of the centenary have been preserved: the morning festivities at the school, the 100-day calendar, witty half-stories, teachers’ performances, graduates dancing on stage and their sincere thanks, surprises, flowers to the first teachers, class leaders.
After the evening part of the centenary, leaving the Klaipėda concert hall, high school students and eleventh graders beamed with smiles. “Oh, bite your nails, those who didn’t participate,” someone muttered.
We will remind you that the centenary began to be celebrated in Lithuania during the interwar period. In a couple of years he will turn a century. It is believed that the initiators of this celebration are students of Kaunas “Aušras” gymnasium. The school’s website tells about 1926. Mr. Spud’s history lesson for eighth-grade high school students. The lesson talked about the French Great Revolution, and more attention was paid to Napoleon’s return to this country. Napoleon ruled it for only 100 days. That’s when high school students came up with the idea of ​​organizing a celebration of the 100 days left to study until the end of the school year. After calculating the date of the hundredth day, it was on that day that a fun party for high school students was organized. A year later, the centenary celebration in Kaunas became traditional. Later it spread throughout Lithuania.
Prepared
Vilija BUTKUVIENĖ
Author’s photo: Moments of the celebration of the western part of the Gargžda “Rainbow” centenary.