The Senate honored the most creative teachers of 2025. The competition was inspired by EXPO

The award ceremony took place on November 4, 2025, in the Frýdlant Salon of the Wallenstein Palace. The awards were presented to the honoured teachers by Jiří Drahoš, First Vice-President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, Jiří Růžička, Chairman of the Committee on Education, Science, Culture, Human Rights and Petitions, and Ondřej Soška, General Commissioner of the Czech participation in EXPO 2025.

“Creative teachers are drivers of change – they prove that education can be an adventure that children enjoy and develop. I am honoured to support initiatives that connect Czech education with international projects, such as the EXPO 2025 World Exhibition, which I personally visited in October,” added First Vice-President of the Senate Jiří Drahoš.

“Teachers who can collaborate across disciplines and develop students' creativity and independence are key to the future of education. The competition shows that even traditional subjects, such as mathematics, can be inspiring when combined with imagination and creative thinking,” said the Chairman of the Committee on Education, Science, Culture, Human Rights and Petitions, Jiří Růžička.

The first place was awarded to mathematics teacher Pavla Petráková for her project titled Bento Box - Harmony of Tastes, Colors, and Numbers, which connects Japanese culture and mathematics. A bento box is a traditional Japanese lunchbox with various compartments, used for a balanced meal. This form of lunch is very popular among the Japanese.

Second place went to Andrea Zoubková from Zdiměřice Elementary School near Prague for her art project Nagano. In art classes, students created T-shirts inspired by traditional Japanese kimonos, with the aim of connecting elements of the kimono with Czech folk costumes. The project also referenced the Czech ice hockey success at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. Third place was awarded to Pavlína Hrdlíková, a teacher at Velehrad Elementary School in the Uherské Hradiště region, for a project focused on Japanese culture, where first-graders spent a day and a half on activities such as origami, working with chopsticks, and artistic depictions of cherry blossoms (sakura). Thanks to the project, students playfully learned about the traditions and art of Japan.

“EXPO is a place where we can show the world that we are not just a small country in Central Europe, but a nation that can think boldly and create with a global impact. That's why I considered it essential that the Czech presentation include an educational program that leads our children to this creativity. And that's why it's important to recognize teachers who develop important values in children and help shape our future,” said Ondřej Soška, General Commissioner of the Czech participation in EXPO 2025.

The Creative Teacher of the Year competition is held under the auspices of the Books a Little Differently project in cooperation with the National Pedagogical Institute. It originated directly from the Czech participation in EXPO 2025 and is becoming a symbol of the continuation of international education cooperation.

“The competition stems from the belief that teachers are incredibly admirable and their work is invaluable,” says Petra Čiháková, the founder of the project and director of the competition, who is also the coordinator of educational projects within the Czech Republic's participation in EXPO 2025, adds: “I believe that a creative educator is key to awakening in children the courage to create, seek connections, and come up with their own ideas. The Czech Republic's participation in EXPO 2025 also wanted to show that education is not just about imparting knowledge, but also about the ability to see the world with openness, empathy, and imagination – and at the same time, to learn to follow through and turn ideas into reality.”

During the celebratory morning, guests were also introduced to the results of the educational program for the Czech participation in the EXPO 2025 World Exhibition in Osaka – a unique initiative that connects the exhibition's global themes with education in Czech schools. In the past school year, it led to the creation of 14 school projects, involving dozens of teachers and more than 2,000 students from 38 schools of all types – from elementary to vocational and grammar schools.

Following the successful first year, the competition will continue – the second year will focus on developing creativity in education in the age of artificial intelligence and will inspire educators on how to foster creativity even in traditional subjects, so that education retains space for aesthetic thinking and students' personal creativity.

You can watch videos of all the finalists here: Creative Teacher of the Year 2025.

About the educational project Books a Little Differently
The educational initiative Books a Little Differently was created as a response to the Education Strategy 2030+ and the need to transform the school environment into a space where children and educators become co-creators of the future of education. The project systematically connects pupils, schools, cultural institutions, experts, and public spaces, thus fulfilling the principles that the European Union defines as key competencies for the 21st century.

An example is the project Record Holder René, which was created in collaboration with all schools in the town of Pelhřimov (a regional town in Czechia, editor's note) – including a school for pupils with specific needs. Pupils led the project together with teachers and organisers, negotiated with the town hall, media, technical services, and other artists. They participated in regular meetings, set tasks, and implemented outputs – from the design of the mascot to material specifications and presentations to the public.

The result was a giant, almost eight-meter-long banner with the image of the official mascot of the Czech Republic's participation in EXPO 2025, composed of linden leaves (the linden tree is the Czech national tree, editor's note), on which children wrote their wishes for a better world. The resulting work holds the Czech record for the highest number of national leaves and the collaboration of 1121 pupils. This banner with a unique version of the mascot René was also displayed twice in the Czech pavilion at EXPO 2025.

About the Czech Pavilion at EXPO 2025
Czechia participated in the World EXPO as an independent state for the sixth time. Ondřej Soška has been the General Commissioner since September 2022. The design of the pavilion in the shape of a glass spiral came from an open architectural competition, which was won by Apropos Architects studio in March 2023. The supporting structure of the building consists of modern wooden CLT panels, and the facade is made of artistic glass, which has a centuries-old tradition in Czechia. The national pavilion offered a dignified base for the Czech participation in EXPO 2025, which took place from April to October 2025 on the artificial island of Yumeshima in Osaka Bay. The pavilion houses a permanent exhibition, the Daisue Hall multifunctional auditorium, facilities for business meetings, a restaurant, a CTP lounge, and a relaxation zone with a sea view available for visitors in front of the pavilion. Cultural performances took place almost every week from Friday to Sunday. The pavilion was successfully approved in early April 2025 and is the largest wooden building of its kind without a metal supporting structure in Japan. It officially opened to the public on April 13, 2025, and closed on October 13, 2025.