From 30 March to 5 April, four Vilnius Jesuit High School 10th-graders Benas Manstavičius, Pavel Murashov, Kotryna Plyniūtė and Rusnė Ponomariovaitė, together with their Chemistry teacher Rasa Rudzevičienė, took part in an Erasmus+ project where they carried out practical laboratory work on yeast production.

Students from eight countries – Poland, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Greece, Lithuania and Denmark – met in the small Danish town of Thisted. Working in mixed teams, the pupils learned a lot about other countries' cultures and shared curiosities about Lithuania.

The experiment involved finding out the most efficient way to grow yeast by calculating optical density, glucose and ethanol concentrations. They also learned how to use micropipettes and a photometer.

The Lithuanians performed well: in the knowledge test Benas Manstavičius came in second place, which he shared with a student from Slovakia.

The pupils lived in host families and experienced authentic Danish daily life. They also travelled to Aarhus to learn about Danish history at the Moesgaard Museum and hiked along the North Sea coast.

The project is funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union. 

From March 31st to April 4th, a group of VJG teachers visited Jesuit schools in Barcelona: Jesuïtes Sarrià Sant Ignasi and Jesuïtes Gràcia-Kostka. The trip included primary school teachers Inesa Gasianec, Margarita Sachanevičienė, and Neringa Micutaitė, physics teachers Indrė Česonė and Mykolas Mališauskas, and biology teacher Simas Ignatavičius.

At the visited schools, the teachers shadowed lessons and observed the practical application of project-based learning methodology. They analyzed how the school integrates STEAM principles into the curriculum and how interdisciplinary projects are created and implemented to achieve holistic learning. The teachers discussed and shared best practices, and talked about the challenges of both countries' education systems. During the visit, collaboration was established between the Jesuit schools of Spain and Lithuania – at the end of the school year, VJG will welcome teachers from the Barcelona school.

Six 11 grade students experimented with microbe DNA in an international educational biotechnology project.

Today Milda Liubinienė, representative of the Lithuanian Tennis Association for Persons with Disabilities, visited the VJG and handed out certificates of appreciation and symbolic gifts to the gymnasts of our school, who volunteered during the International Disabled Tennis Tournament Lithuanian Open 2022. Thank you to them!

Together with Milda, we discussed further cooperation and volunteering opportunities, and we are very happy to expand our list of social partners!

Two years ago, our Gymnasium's friendship with the Liceo Classico F. Vivona school in Rome developed into a joint eTwinning project with the participation of the students of Class IIIb this spring! 

Together with students from Italy, they created the online magazine "Behind the Masks".

The school's laboratory is decorated with new graphic design works by 12th graders. The walls of the lab will tell serious and witty advice to the students.

Authors of the graphic design: Astijus Saulevičius, Vilius Gegužis, Aurimas Jurkus, Simonas Dirgėla.

On 23 May, 12th graders rang the last bell, took part in a symbolic last lesson, and were greeted by first- and fifth-graders. The Headmistress of the Gymnasium, after presenting a certificate of appreciation for special merit, wished the entire 26th generation "courage and openness to accept all that awaits them under the Lord's Heaven".

On Saturday, the Educational Media Centre "Lojoteka" hosted a high-speed chess tournament "VJG Cup-2022". The tournament was registered for FIDE rating calculation, so those who successfully played received or raised world ratings.

20 players took part in the competition: not only students, but also their parents, brothers...

The tournament was very tough. Not a single chess player managed to avoid defeat. Linas Matačiūnas, a student of VJG 6th grade, and Giedrius Surplys, the father of student Faustus, scored 5,5 points each. Linas was the winner according to the additional indicators. The third place went to Mantas Mikšys, grade 8, with 5 points.

The best among the girls was Violeta Domarkienė, mother of student Rokas, with 4.5 points. Yevhen Lukianenko, a guest from Ukraine, who was competing at this level for the first time, scored several nice victories.

Congratulations to the participants and winners!

Thanks to Karolina Nadzeikaitei for capturing these moments

• VJG taurė

Every year, spring brings the start of the Geography Olympiads and competitions. This school year, our gymnasium students were successful!

The 2nd Lithuanian Geography Olympiad for grades 7-8 was held in April. 110 7th graders from different municipalities of Lithuania participated in the Olympiad. Our Gymnasium was represented by Benas Manstavičius, a student of grade 7a, who won a silver medal.

Another piece of happy news came from the 21st National Geography Competition for students of Česlovas Kudaba organised by Vilnius University. Elzė Grinevičiūtė, a student of class Im, took the geographic challenge by logging into the VU e-learning system and solving geographic tasks. Elzė overcame the challenge perfectly - she won the 1st place in Lithuania in this competition. She was awarded a first place diploma and a National Geographic subscription for her extensive geographical knowledge.

We are delighted and proud of the students' knowledge and achievements together with the whole VJG community!

On 4 May, Ukrainian children from the high school community and their teachers Svitlana and Sofija visited the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania.