The Gala of Professor Józef Pieter Awards for Teachers took place on 14 October in the Silesian Theatre in Katowice. The Award went to Grzegorz Rzeszutek – Teacher of Jan Smoleń Secondary School No 1. in Bytom.
The winner received a prize money of PLN 20,000, funded by Prof. Józef Pieter Foundation.
Grzegorz Rzeszutek is a teacher at Jan Smoleń Secondary School No. 1 in Bytom. Describing his activity in one sentence, one may write that he is an exceptional and committed school teacher, tiflopedagogue, career counsellor, and computer scientist with 25 years of professional experience. When school centres for careers were being established in 2003, he launched the Career Centre at his school three years earlier in 2000.
He authored a preventive project for teachers called ‘A Training Ground for Parents of Teenagers’. He developed a handbook for participants of group workshops conducted since 2013, with the participation of 300 parents of teenagers from primary and secondary schools in Bytom so far.
Photo by Przemysław Kowal
He organised an educational practice on his own at the Stillwater Area High School, USA, in 2000; it resulted in numerous educational programmes launched for adolescents.
He is a founder and co-organiser of ‘Smoleń – moje liceum’, a school competition related to the institution’s community life and its outreach activities in the local environment (with 11 editions carried out so far). He has twice prepared and published a prevention leaflet called ‘ELMowska mapa pomocy i wsparcia’, a map displaying places and types of professional help available in Bytom and surrounding towns and cities.
He is an author and implementor of numerous educational and prevention projects for the youth. Some of them are:
- since 2001: ‘ELM – Emocjonalni Liderzy Młodzieżowi’ training – with over 300 people trained to provide professional support to their peers in difficult life situations;
- since 2009: ‘Ambasador Negocjacji i Mediacji’, an initiative aimed at promoting alternative ways of conflict resolution with over 250 students and members of the Youth Council of the City of Bytom trained;
- since 2017: ‘Bytomski Inqubator Kreatywności’, a creativity incubator;
- since 2015: ‘Od samorządu klasowego do zaangażowania lokalnego’;
- since 2001, he has designed and acquired over 50 grants for educational projects for adolescents;
- in 2008, he initiated a recurring cultural event ‘TyTa – Tydzień Twórczości Artystycznej’, a week dedicated to the promotion of artistic prodigies;
- between 2009 and 2011, a member of Bytom Council for NGOs;
- he has been carrying out actions for the Tato.Net Initiative;
- since 2011: he has been a certified trainer of the largest movement in Europe for conscious and responsible fatherhood. He has been conducting workshops for fathers in the entire Poland;
- in 2016: he initiated the urban game ‘KARBiowska Gra Miejska’, which has been organised to this day.
The teachers’ environment perceives Grzegorz Rzeszutka as an employee extraordinaire and a role model for all. He is considered an honourable and kind man who inspires with his creativity, empathy and individual approach to students and people around him. His meetings with the adolescent are carried out with particular skill and full of a positive approach toward the world and a deep understanding of the other person.
Professor Józef Pieter Award is a prize for teachers that recognises their work and efforts of fundamental meaning for the advancement of the education of children and youth. It is awarded each year to primary and secondary school teachers from the Silesian Voivodeship who share their passion for knowledge and combine their character traits with the skills of great educators and committed teachers; they are open, tolerant and fair, thus showcasing the attitude and values close to Prof. Józef Pieter.