Sochi 2014 Goes "Back to School" with Record-Breaking Flash-mob

The Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee yesterday held a record-breaking educational flash-mob yesterday (1 September), the largest in Russian history to mark the “back to school” day for Russian students. The initiative will encompass over 1,500 lessons dedicated to the “Legacy of the 2014 Sochi Games” for 50,000 school students from 30 Russian cities.

The key goal of the initiative is to inform a wide range of school children about the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, get them acquainted with the concept of a barrier-free environment and educate them in all the ways to ensure that people with a disability are fully integrated in society.

Mr. Dmitry Chernyshenko, President of the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, said: “The record-breaking educational flash mob proves once again that the Games in Sochi is a unique project that is uniting the whole country.

“Hundreds of people are taking part in organizing Olympic and Paralympic lessons because they genuinely want to. Most of all I am happy that our volunteers are the main driving force behind it. It would be impossible to stage the successful 2014 Games without their help.”

The lessons taught to the students were unique and interactive. They were planned using an “EDU–tainment” philosophy, with interactive presentations on the history of the Olympic & Paralympic Movement.

On this year’s Back to School Day, the Sochi 2014 Ambassador team has also gained a new educational member – Mr. Yuri Vyazemsky, presenter of the Russian “Smarty Pants” quiz TV show and Professor of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

For more information on the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, please visit www.sochi2014.com.