A devoted teacher in the Incesu district of central Turkey's Kayseri province has – through his own efforts – renovated the elementary school's warehouse into a new classroom for his little pupils.
Harun Dağlı, who works at the Üçkuyu Primary School as a teacher and principal, has renovated the area used as a warehouse and storage room for coal and wood, into a classroom for the students.
Dağlı who was appointed to the Üçkuyu Primary School in 2014 and assumed the duty of principal teacher in 2016, had noticed that the warehouse portion of the school, which was turned into a storage room after the closure of the kindergarten in previous years, could serve as a classroom and decided to make it happen.
Dağlı, who determined that there were enough students to open a kindergarten in the village, by visiting every house one by one, corresponded with the Incesu District Directorate of National Education, and as a result got them to agree to the decision to open a kindergarten in the school.
Then after the decision, Dağlı cleaned and renovated the warehouse, relocating everything that was stored inside, and – with the help of the Provincial and District Directorates of National Education – obtaining the necessary items for a classroom such as floorboards, window covers, a stove for heat, toys, chairs and cupboards.
Teachers from some other schools also lent a hand to Dağlı.
Dağlı told Anadolu Agency (AA) that – like any other teacher in Anatolia – he loved his school and students.
Within this context, Dağlı explained that he turned the warehouse into a classroom in order to be useful to his students, and stated that the repair and renovation at the school took about two months.
Dağlı explained that he took care of the school at the end of each lesson, on weekends and even during summer holidays, and although it was difficult, he turned the warehouse into a classroom so that he could reach more students.
Dağlı noted that the floors of the classrooms of the primary school and the school used to look bad.
“The renovation, which we started in July, had to be completed in September. We emptied the warehouse and cleaned it. The windows and door were broken, the roof was leaking, we repaired them. We asked for support from philanthropists in the area of the Kayseri Organized Industrial Zone,” he said.
“We completed the process of painting the classroom and repairing the windows.”
Dağlı stated that closing a classroom is easy, but opening it is difficult.
"I began working (as a teacher) in the Bahçesaray district of Van province. I was working in a combined classroom there as well. I worked there with the same determination and resolution, and I continued here with the same determination and resolution.
“No matter where in the country, a Turkish teacher has to continue his duty in a devoted and hard-working manner under all circumstances,” he said.
“When the kindergarten was opened, our parents came and thanked us. They expressed their gratitude. It is a pleasure to add something new to the school. Contributing to the success of the students firstly clears our conscience.”
Dağlı added that they were working on making the school garden more beautiful as well.
They were working on adding grass, planting trees and painting the walls of the garden so that students when they went on their recess would have access to a more beautiful area and would gain more awareness of nature.
