Shkendije Nagavci and Laura Pruthi, teachers from “Zekeria Rexha” primary school in Gjakova, received third place in the Teachers Prize at the European Innovative Educators Forum held March 23rd in Lisbon, Portugal. But Lisbon isn’t the end of the road for them – in November, they will be headed to Athens to represent Kosovo teachers at the Microsoft Global Forum. This will be the first time that teachers from Kosovo qualify for this type of competition which will include teachers from around the world.

Nagavci and Pruthi’s project, “Fractions everywhere”, involved a range of innovative practical activities to help their students gain a better understanding of a difficult math skill. Not only did the students improve their knowledge and skills through these activities, but they found that math can actually be fun! Their work was even more impressive because their school was closed for two weeks before the competition due to heavy snowfall.

The winning project display at the European Innovative Educators Forum in Lisbon.The journey to Lisbon (and now to Athens) began in February, when they won first prize in a national competition organized by USAID’s Basic Education Program, Microsoft Partners in Learning and Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. Their win in that competition qualified them to attend the Lisbon Forum, where their project competed against over 80 other projects from throughout Europe. Microsoft and the Municipality of Gjakova funded the trip to Lisbon for the two teachers (THANK YOU!).

Please join us in congratulating the two teachers (and all of the other innovative teachers in Kosovo) for their great work. We’ll definitely be following them as they continue on the road to Athens! Great job!