We continue the rubric "Teachers of Bulgaria" with Nelly Hristova, a primary school teacher at Secondary School "Hristo Botev", Vratsa, who has been practicing the profession with enthusiasm and a smile for more than three decades.

Nelly is a teacher's child. She grew up among the problems of foreign children, which her parents inevitably take home. Dedicated teachers, like Revivalists, put their heart and soul into the profession and "teach" their daughter principles and unconditional kindness.  Thus, in the small village with the strange name Kravoder, Nelly's dream of being a teacher was born. She likes to play being in the role of a teacher - she teaches dolls, her grandmother, her grandfather ...

Decades later, at a meeting of her elementary school classmates, Nelly remembers this childhood dream in an unusual way. At the meeting, they receive a letter from their first teacher, with their first essays about what they want to become when they grow up. A few have achieved what they dreamed of - and one of them was Nelly!

Later, the future Mrs. Hristova graduated in elementary pedagogy, and the first practical lessons were in her native Kravoder. At that time, the principal of the school was her father, who greeted her with the words: “Nelly, if you think you are a teacher after you have finished your education, you are very wrong. You become a teacher practicing the profession, so she prepares for a very serious period of trials.” Nelly faces another challenge - to work alongside her first teacher! This makes her prepare for school every day as a state exam. At the first teachers' council, she sits down next to her teacher and trembles all the time, both with joy and worry about whether she will meet her expectations. Today she realizes that she was lucky to be side by side with her teacher and to be under the critical eye of an extremely good professional and demanding father. This builds her and gives her confidence to move on.

Vratsa is the next step. The young Mrs. Hristova became part of a large school, with mostly young teachers. Working there brought her incredible pleasure, the atmosphere is like a student meeting. Everyone is thirsty for work, they get together, they discuss. One night they get so caught up in developing a project that they stay locked in the school and have to go out through the window. Again, according to Nelly, she is lucky to be among people who have accepted the profession as an adventure, as well as among older teachers who have accepted the enthusiasm of young people and channeled it in the right direction.

The program "Step by Step" attracts the attention of Nelly Hristova, gets acquainted with the experience of teachers from Europe, Canada, America. She participates in national and international forums, which give her the opportunity to assess the high level of Bulgarian education, both as a way of communication and teaching, and as knowledge and achievements of students.

And so the time came for Nelly to get scared and apply to one of the best schools in Bulgaria, the school she graduated from - Sofia University "Hristo Botev" in Vratsa. 

For me, school is a temple

Every morning, when she enters the courtyard and sees this majestic building, Mrs. Hristova is filled with joy.She is happy only with the thought that she is in a school where in its nearly 200-year history it is a spiritual home of such patriotic Bulgarians as Krastyo Pishurka, Asen Bosev, Elisaveta Bagryan. Petko Slaveykov was the head teacher there, and today it is Mrs. Hristova. She accepts this continuity as a personal reward and a huge responsibility that generates her spiritual strength and energy. The school is unique, it combines tradition and innovation. The atmosphere itself is like entering a temple, each room carries the spirit of the children and the teacher who teaches there, and the specialized classrooms are like classrooms of the future, says Nelly. Sometimes she takes her young students to the classrooms, especially to the history classroom, where, as if in a museum, the whole history of mankind can be traced. For the first time, the children humble themselves, stand and watch as if they were in a temple.

"You have to devote yourself to this profession," Nelly is convinced, grateful that now, in the years in which she has gained a lot of experience and knowledge, she has the opportunity to work without restricting her freedom and creativity. "It's good that things are changing for the better. We just have to keep learning and moving forward, ”she said. Today's teachers are constantly looking for new approaches, new forms of communication and learning: “We need to see what is positive in the new generation and develop it. And to develop it, we also have to be on a level. "

I worship all the parents

after their participation in distance learning last year, said Ms. Hristova, fascinated by their commitment and responsibility. For teachers, this is a moment of challenge, but also of mobilization. There is no room for hesitation as to whether they will cope with both the platform in which they teach and the online lessons. "But teaching a first-grader in an electronic environment would be unthinkable without the involvement of a parent. A connection was built between us. They were our partners in words, but now I really feel them as the third pillar of education. Extremely motivated people to educate their children in the best way. I think this is a characteristic feature of the Bulgarian - he gives everything for the education of his child. "

Mrs. Hristova's grown-up students are successful and accomplished people who keep alive the connection with their first teacher, invite her to baptisms and weddings. At Tihomir's wedding, she received a big surprise from her first class. The host announces that before greeting the young family and parents, the groom has a special greeting for the woman who built him as a person. Unexpectedly, Nelly hears: "And now greetings to his first teacher, Mrs. Nelly Hristova!" Shivering, she accepts the huge bouquet from Tihomir, who invites her to a dance to the sounds of the song "Dear teacher, I kiss your hand". All the guests line up in a circle of respect, and Nelly can't stop her tears of happiness because she hasn't received such a gratitude.

"Bulgarian education is based on the native teacher, who works diligently to ensure that children are literate and educated," Ms. Hristova is convinced. "As long as there are teachers who carry the Revival in themselves, who not only make a living, but understand that the development of life and the state is due to them and accept this as their cause, there will be progress in Bulgarian education."