Skopje, 5 August 2026 (MIA) -- Schoolchildren from Zagreb, Osijek, Zadar, Rijeka, Dugo Selo and Sveta Nedelja attended this year's Summer School of Macedonian held in Selce, Croatia, to promote the Macedonian language, identity and culture among young members of Croatia's Macedonian community.

The school focused on Macedonian language classes. It also featured arts and crafts as well as sports activities. From watching children's shows through being exposed to traditional music to celebrating birthdays and splashing in the water, participants learned Macedonian through fun and games, organizers said.

Participants practiced the Macedonian alphabet and learned about the role the cult Macedonian children's show "The Unruly Alphabet" played in teaching many generations the Cyrillic script. They also crafted their initials using clay. 

Art teacher Natalija Lekovska ran a workshop encouraging students to create works inspired by Macedonian landscapes. She ran another workshop dedicated to the design of the Macedonian currency, the denar.

"During the classes on history and legends, young people learned about the legend of the natural phenomenon of Kuklici and the ancient town of Kratovo, located in one of the oldest volcano craters in Europe," organizers said.

Macedonian painter Zhivko Popovski Cvetin's message of peace across the Adriatic Sea was read during the summer school activities, which also included karate classes aimed at improving the children's balance and focus with karate teacher Stefan Cvetanovski.

There were also water games and five birthday parties, organizers said.

At the closing event, all participants performed on stage, many of them for the very first time. They were all given diplomas.

The event featured a presentation on Macedonian traditional attire by Ivana Dunovski, the summer school's folklore workshop leader, and ended with a folk dance performance by Rijeka's Ilinden ensemble.

"Our students are the guardians of the Macedonian identity, our greatest and most genuine ambassadors worldwide, carrying on the legacy of Koneski, Misirkov, Miladinovci, Racin, Ante Popovski, Petre M. Andreevski and Goran Stefanovski," said Ivana Brezovec, the project's leader, board member in the Community of Macedonians in the Republic of Croatia, president of the Zagreb-based Macedonian Pearl cultural club and Macedonian language teacher in Zagreb's First Gymnasium High School and Sveta Nedelja Elementary. 

The Summer School of Macedonian was organized by the Community of Macedonians in the Republic of Croatia with the support of the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Youth, Sveta Nedelja town council, Rijeka's Ilinden cultural club and Osijek's Miladinov Brothers cultural club. mr/