The Web-based Lectures as Leverage for Developing the Sense of Belonging in the All-Russian Creative School-Contests

In modern Russia, the most gifted and motivated students of high schools usually enter the leading universities in biggest cities of the country, receive excellent education and usually never return to their native towns. A part of them finds jobs in abroad. As a consequence, the population of middle and small towns has been diminishing. In 2017, the authors launched an All-Russian Web-based creative school-contest for school children “Portrait of your town”. It is a delicate opportunity for the child or an adolescent to tell about the beauty and originality of her/his town, to find her/his sophisticated look at the outstanding or usually not noticed facets of her/his town. In 2019, the track “Say thank you” was included into this school-contest. Its participants are to realize what persons from their native towns have made a difference in their life. The analysis of the sketches submitted to this track shows that it supports and improves emotional intelligence of the participant, analytical and critical thinking, creativity, figurative thinking, the ability to think and act in terms of public good. It may be conjectured that a new way of contributing to diminishing the acuteness of the mentioned social problem has been found.