SCHOOL HISTORY

Public Primary School No. 1 in Stalowa Wola was established in 1938 and is the oldest educational institution in the city. Its history is closely connected and engraved in the history of Stalowa Wola. A great deal of good teachers and educators has worked here since the beginning. They started their professional careers here, cooperated for many years, and made up the hard core of Stalowa Wola’s education. The first school headmaster was Waclaw Gorski and the teachers were Paulina Kania, Maria Lisikiewicz, Stanislawa Koper, Helena Gorska, Salomea Trzepla, Adam Bochniewicz, Antoni Sawicki and the Reverend Jozef Skoczynski. Then, 7-grade Primary School in Stalowa Wola had eleven classes with 384 pupils altogether and was constantly growing.

The students and teacher staff (from the left: A. Bochniewicz, M. Liskiewicz, W. Górski, H. Górska

The year 1938 brought the War. On September 14, 1938 the Germans seized Stalowa Wola and occupied the school building while the teachers and pupils were moved to the Plawo district. Despite the gloomy occupation reality, teaching started again at the end of October. A special form of resistance and fight with the Nazi invader was secret teaching and the saving of cultural goods. For such activity teachers were sent to concentration camps or even executed. In spite of this fact, the following teachers didn’t stop teaching: Matylda and Antoni Sawicki, Helena and Waclaw Gorski, Maria Stec-Liskiewicz, Stanislawa Koper, Salomea Trzepla, Paulina Kania, Izabela Jencz, Helena Kislinger, Wladyslawa Szajner and Barbara Wydra.

The German army firstly occupied the Primary School’s building and for several years, beginning in 1941, it was used as a hospital. It was here that the dramatic rescuing of the Armia Krajowa second-in-command for the Nisko district took place. Armia Krajowa, or Home Army, was a Polish underground military organization active during WW II. A plaque unveiled in the school on the 55^TH anniversary commemorates this event.

The members of the Home Army and the headmaster of the  school J. Puskarczyk

                                                                                                  during the meeting with the youth.

On August 1, 1944, the first units of the Russian army entered the city. The authorities wanted school to begin again. The school headmaster, Waclaw Gorski, was wanted by the Gestapo and had yet to return so Antoni Sawicki took on the hardship of organizing education in Stalowa Wola. When headmaster Gorski come back on September 28, 1944, lessons started in the former school building. Primary school was situated on the ground floor and grammar school occupied classrooms on the first floor. Lessons took place in the morning and in the afternoon. In December 1944 a drama section, led by Izabela Jencz was created.

In 1947, headmaster Gorski was ordered to build a new wing with six classrooms. However in the same year, he became a victim of Stalin’s regime. After that, Antoni Sawicki became headmaster of the school. In the following years the city was developing and the number of pupils was steadily growing. In 1952/1953 there were 1350 of them. Thanks to the donations from Huta Stalowa Wola (the Stalowa Wola Steelworks) the number of teaching aids increased. Despite the lack of space, Primary School no. 1 was still considered an institution of high quality teaching. In the 1960s room conditions improved as other schools were opened in the city.

1952/53 The staff and headmaster A. Sawicki

In 1966 the school was named the leading school in the city because of high educational achievements. In 1967, Antoni Sawicki retired and Henryk Strutynski took his position. He worked in this post for six years. In the school year 1973/74 Halina Gebala managed the institution, then Zofia Zawilo in the years 1975 – 1979. In 1978, on the 40^th anniversary of the schools existence, the school received a standard.

The next person in charge was Stanislawa Kleczek. She held the function of a headmaster until 1996, when she retired. In 1988, the school was honored by a medal “OF MERIT FOR STALOWA WOLA”, given by the National City Committee.

From the left: J. Korczyńska, M. Pikuła, E. Ptak, A. Baran, A. Kuźnia, Z. Kadi, L. Lewicki, H. Osek, B. Wieszczek, S. Klęczek, M. Piłat, M. Kowalczuk,

W. Stój, M. Kurzepa, m. Paterek, B. Piłat, S. Trojnar, J. Urbańska, M. Dąbek, R. Wiciński, A. Owak, B. Sypulska. 

Proper comprehension of the schools history helps individuals to understand the past. People’s positive attitudes will ensure that goals for the future, the distant future as well as the near future, can not only be made but also met with success. Often times are difficult and bring various hazards but if one wants something and has dreams he or she may make them come true by overcoming internal weaknesses and outside threats. This kind of attitude inspires the whole school society, creating better work and development. After the reform of education, beginning September 1, 1999, the school functions as a six-grade primary school.

Since 1996 the function of headmaster is held by Joanna Puskarczyk, MA, chosen in a contest. Wanda Parysz, MA, holds the function of deputy head.

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