Stužková ceremony 2018

The time of year has come again when ribbon-clad students proudly roam the streets of town, now that Stužková is over, anxiously anticipating the time of graduation. For decades Stužková has carried its tradition in Slovakia and is handled with a certain special fondness by students and teachers alike. To foreigners, Stužková is most likely an unknown event however its premise does not differ greatly from a graduating celebration, with the exception of a few features which make it a unique tradition. It is a formal event where students, parents and teachers gather to celebrate the success of future graduates. Stužková is typically an evening full of speeches, dances and songs with the main part of the ceremony being the pinning of green ribbons, “stužky”. The green ribbons are a symbol of hope for the successful graduation from secondary school.  

Last Friday Year 13 celebrated our own Stužková, held in the Penati Club. It was a very successful event organised by three IB students, Patrícia Mozolová, Tereza Riavová and Dominik Hirko who put an incredible amount of effort and hard work into creating a memorable event for all of us. The whole evening was carried in a cheerful and agreeable atmosphere, hosted by Ester Perďochová. The celebrations began with two sentimental celebratory speeches given by Miss Eastwood and Mr Darwell, followed by a student speech given in English, Slovak and Korean.  Then the pinning of the green ribbons ensued, accompanied by very often, unflattering but cute baby pictures of each recipient who walked up on stage. Each student was given the ribbon by their form tutor and then everyone got on stage to enjoy the last student speech of the evening about the successes and opportunities we had throughout the course of the IB Diploma.

The guests were entertained by two student dance performances, separately by a group of girls and boys choreographed by Patrícia and Barbara and a short film about the expectations and realities of IB life. The evening ended with all of the Slovak students gathering on stage to sing “Stužková”, a classic song for such an occasion.

We are grateful to the organising team for keeping this Slovak tradition alive and sharing it with the diverse international community of our school, making the evening extra special and distinctive for all of us. We hope this Slovak tradition, with all its charm and uniqueness will keep its presence in BISB and live up to the great standard of this year’s event. Thank you to everyone who shared our joy last Friday night and we hope to see you all soon on the Graduation Ceremony in May.

Simona Ivanová 
IB Student