For My Hometown, students wanted to explore the life of Elvira Vatovec, the individual their school is named after. During the war, Elvira was an activist and a courier, and after the capitulation of Italy she became a partisan teacher. Sadly, she was captured by the Nazis and murdered in 1944, aged only 22.

The students’ research established a few ways in which Elvira Vatovec is already honoured and remembered across their hometown, but they wanted to do more. Students were particularly interested in learning about how such a young and brave woman stood up to such a powerful occupier.

With support from a wide range of historical resources, students consolidated their research and created a pamphlet designed to share the key points of Elvira Vatovec’s life. Students felt not much was known locally about Elvira and wanted to bring more local awareness to her life.

The pamphlet is being printed and distributed to parents, as well as the wider local community. The school is advocating for an annual sports day to be held on the date of her birth, and they are also working with the local community of Pobegi-Čežarji to dedicate a corner of the cultural centre to Elvira.