As the summer heat seems to tame and the leaves put on their colourful festive dress, the Foundation welcomes autumn and with it the new school year.
With the experiences of an eventful and meaningful summer, young people are looking forward to the challenges of this school year. Some are entering their first year of higher education as freshmen, others are starting high school today, and some are starting fifth grade as the youngest members of Csányi.
We took a break from the tiresome summer camps, where all our beneficiaries had the opportunity to improve their language, thinking, financial, natural or historical skills, depending on the theme of the camp. The aim of our camps is for children to learn about the culture, target language or other specialities of the region, both abroad and at home, in an experiential, hands-on approach with recognised professionals and artists.
This year, we also organised language camps abroad: the top scorers in the language competition had the opportunity to improve their language skills in England, Germany and Croatia, while with our Transylvanian partners we offered unforgettable experiences in Csíksomlyo to the children of Covasna and Harghita counties who did well in the language competition.
Of course, the abroad was not just about language; several classes were able to learn about our history beyond our borders in Transylvania, the Highlands, Southern Hungary and the Őrvidék region. Our adventures in Hungary continued in Veszprém, Tokaj, Kőszeg, Balatonszemes and Mohács, while our local camps in Kaposvár, Pécs, Nagybajom and Mohács enriched the children’s knowledge and skills.
Sarlóspuszta was again the star of the summer this year, hosting the freshman camp for the youngest children, the financial and drama camp and the much anticipated All-Art camp, which – surpassing last year’s numbers – won the most popular camp award again this year with 177 participants. The high number of sections and participants called for the creation of another camp, so in addition to the now traditional creative writing camp in Szentes, the nature photography section met before the Arts and Crafts camp to capture wildlife in and around Baks.
In an innovative twist, for the first time this year, Fauna and Flora and the Csányi Foundation, with the support of Dr Katalin Karikó, organised a joint camp – the nature camp in Békáspusztán was a great success with the children.
After a busy summer, we’re looking forward to a busy autumn – as last year, the S10 Academy will be launched this year with an expanded range of courses, aiming to expand the knowledge base of young students so that they can embark on their careers with knowledge they wouldn’t learn at school, encouraging them to adopt an informed, intellectual approach. As a complementary programme to the S10 Academy, this year we will again be welcoming our students to the S10 Dinner Nights with a range of exciting speakers.
Of course, science is not just about higher education – with the support of a grant from Dr Katalin Karikó, our science projects will continue, and we hope that research and innovation will help children to showcase their talents in more academic competitions this year, just like our chess team, who will be playing their passion for chess at this year’s Global Chess Festival.
We wish you all an accomplished, uplifting and inspiring academic year and look forward to meeting new – and old – friends!