The director of secondary school No. 21 and the owner of the title "Gomel Woman of the Year" Inessa Karpin - about the secrets of the profession

The director of secondary school No. 21 and the owner of the title "Gomel Woman of the Year" Inessa Karpin - about the secrets of the profession

She firmly decided to become the headmaster of the school at the age of five, Gomel chose on the railway scoreboard as a flight attendant flew around the Soviet Union, and saw her advanced educational ideas in a dream. The owner of the breastplate “Excellent Education” and the title “Gomel Woman of the Year” Inessa Karpina has been heading secondary school No. 21 for 16 years. Cadet classes appeared here earlier than others. Her students in snow-white uniforms keep watch at memorials, win patriotic shifts in Zubrenka, become participants in the international project “Memory Train”. And Inessa Eduardovna is convinced that the main task of the school is to raise people who love their homeland.

Inessa Carpin. Inessa Karpina grew up in Mogilev, in a family of people engaged in entrepreneurship, because her craving for teaching to parents was not clear. At the age of five, she told her mother:

- I want to be a school principal or an artist, because you get lots of flowers!

When Dad brought from Moscow a board with bills and chalk, there was no limit to joy. She planted dolls and taught them mathematics. And then she herself with excitement rushed to study at Mogilev secondary school No. 5. Physico-mathematical bias, classes at the Mogilev Pedagogical Institute, a well-developed system of preparation for the Olympiads, 17 medalists per class - all led to the fact that the childhood dream should be fulfilled. Inessa Eduardovna as the winner of the medal and the Olympiad took to BSU. But she didn't get there.

- Secretly from my mother took the documents and transported to Gomel State University named after Francisk Skaryna, admits Inessa Eduardovna. - Because I wanted to be a teacher, and BSU told me that there would be no such line in the diploma. The choice of the city was entrusted to the railway. I thought I'd go where the first train on the scoreboard will be. The train was going to Gomel!

She did not regret the choice for a second. Studying in Gomel turned out to be very bright, and extracurricular activities are completely diverse: from the leadership of the city team of KVN to work ... as a flight attendant. The chance to climb into the sky gave one of the most unusual student squads. By that time, Inessa Karpina was already engaged in parachuting, so the fear was not discussed:

- I wasn’t afraid, but here played a role rather the ability to calculate their strength and the fact that I always bring the work started to the end. If I said I'd do it, I do it. And I like to keep my word. This probably affects my work now. I always say that if you think like a winner, you win. After graduation, she gave 20 years to work in secondary school No. 60, where she rose to the post of deputy director. And 16 years ago, she headed the 21st school. Admittedly, not because I really wanted to lead: just there were many ideas that I wanted to quickly implement. Famous cadet classes became her main project.

- Our school needed an idea to increase the number of children, recalls Inessa Eduardovna. The school is located in the old neighborhood, where there are no skyscrapers, no influx of children. It needed something that kids would drive from all over town. That was the idea of cadetism. Our cadets appeared earlier than the cadet school in Gomel, before the President signed the Decree “On cadet schools”. There was no legal basis on which to rely, everything was done at the behest of the heart.

It was never intended to induce children to serve or work in paramilitary structures. The main task was to educate those who respect and love their homeland, its history and modernity. Cadets from the 21st school have become a kind of urban brand. In snow-white coats, they mint a step during city parades, carry memory watches at memorials related to the history of the Great Patriotic War, collect memories of veterans, prisoners of concentration camps, children of war and provide them with all possible assistance. At the end of September, schoolchildren took first place in the team-wide standings of the civil-patriotic cadet shift of the Union State “For the Honor of the Fatherland!”, which was held on the basis of the children’s educational and health center “Zubrenok”.

The form is disciplined, the director is sure. You know, you think about your reputation, you won’t do anything wrong. In it, the guys proudly walk down the street, it gives status and imposes obligations.

Gradually, their uniforms appeared in the classes of each profile: from tax to chemical and biological. First-graders and even their teachers wore the same vests - this is another innovation that made kids and teachers closer to each other.

As for the profiles, the school became the first in the region where a medical class appeared and a cooperation agreement was signed with the medical university. Ten years ago, Inessa Karpina anticipated another trend when she opened an engineering center. The guys, who then began to study robotics from the first grade, today shine in technoparks, and their projects win international competitions. By the way, a mandatory element of the form here is a logo with the words “Let’s praise the school, Gomel, memory!”. The modern motto was a line from a poem by one of the graduates of 1939. It was a legendary issue: 37 students of that class went to defend their homeland from the Nazis. The survivors gathered together each year and wrote down their memories and covenants into one big book. It became the central exhibit of the school museum. Their stories are told today by modern students. The topic of preserving historical memory is very important here. No wonder schoolchildren from the 21st repeatedly became participants in the famous cultural and educational project “Memory Train”.

In early September 2026, Inessa Karpina became the owner of the title “Gomel citizen of the year” in the nomination “Patriot of the year”. Inessa Eduardovna comments on this simply:

Patriotism is my way of life. Me and my colleagues. This is our reward for every day’s work. You know, I believe that a true teacher should do three things: love children, love life and love their homeland. This is enough to be successful, create a secure future and educate good people.

valchenko@sb.by