Alphatronic @ Maryland Tech Invitational

The Alphatronic Robotics Team has just returned home, again as winners, this time in a very high stakes competition in Maryland, which reunited the best 40 teams in the world. Alphatronic even beat the World Champions! 

Congratulations to the students: Alexandru Ciornai, Răzvan Grădinaru, Tudor Cocărlă, Tudor Maier, Arshpreet Singh, Antaeus Kudo, Sofia Manyet, Sakura Orsi, Alexandra Șerban, Alexandra Cristureanu, Nina Gaghi, Tudor Harosa, Luca Pop, Andrei Covaci - and the mentors, Mr. Flaviu Cherecheș and Ms. Gabi Iușan and many thanks to Ms. Diana who was able to join the team and help them with everything they needed there.

LYCEUM AWARD for Alphatronic @ Gând-IT in Romania Gala

We congratulate the Alphatronic team for receiving the Lyceum Award at the Gând-IT in Romania Gala, in Cluj on 28.06.2025, on the National Theater stage. Mr. Călin Grigorovici, one of the Alphatronic mentors, received the award on their behalf, as our amazing team is currently in Maryland USA participating in another robotics competition.

As the organisers mentioned, "this Gala is not a gala in the sense of walking trophies and diplomas from one place to another and socializing. All the award winners do not need any additional recognition. Their notoriety fortunately covers all continents and all those high and rarefied spaces of authentic performance."

Behind these galas (3 editions organized until now at the Romanian Athenaeum) a permanent work extends throughout the entire year. The portrait films of all the admirable award winners are uploaded on www.ganditinromania.ro, on Youtube and not only. They are starting to circulate non-stop on all social media channels in campaigns targeted primarily at teenagers and young people. By choosing their models and, why not, mentors from among these people that we choose to promote, teenagers' lives and perspectives can fundamentally change. 

At the end of the Gala, the famous British band The Tiger Lillies  performed. Why them? "Because in the era of the explosion and implosion of artificial intelligence, there are music creators whose music could never be created by artificial intelligence." (organizers)

Zoom interviewes were taken in advance, trying to sketch the "portrait" of Alphatronic and also of Transylvania College. The material was uploaded to our educational platform www.ganditinromania.ro  and on Youtube, starting its journey to young Romanians to whom we want to offer another type of role model. Fragments of the film was also presented at the Gala.

Exchange with Netherlands testimonial:

As we make our way home from this enriching exchange experience in the Netherlands, we reflect with deep emotion on the intense and inspiring week we’ve shared. Yesterday marked a highlight, as our students presented the outcomes of their collaborative work on sustainability—focusing on critical topics such as water, sustainable fashion, biodiversity, agriculture, and Europe. In mixed teams of Romanian, Dutch, and Spanish students, they addressed today’s pressing sustainability challenges with creativity, teamwork, and innovative thinking.

We are especially proud of our Romanian students, who stood out for their leadership, creativity, and dedication. Their ability to communicate complex ideas in a clear and professional manner left a lasting impression. We return home filled with enthusiasm, strengthened by meaningful connections with our Dutch and Spanish peers, and energized by ideas for future projects. The friendships and collaborations formed this week promise to be long-lasting and fruitful.

Sportsfestival

"We had a wonderful time on Saturday at Sportsfestival, running together to support Via Transilvanica. I love this community!"

Alphatronic @ Star Assembly factory

What an incredible experience for Alphatronic! Today’s visit to the Star Assembly factory was truly inspiring. Witnessing firsthand how cutting-edge technology and precision engineering come together has shown our team the level of innovation driving the world’s leading industries.

Our students understand that the tools and systems they’re learning to use in Alphatronic are the same ones being used by top-tier companies around the globe. This is more than just robotics ….. this is preparation for the future.

🥾Duke of Edinburgh GOLD Expedition: 

    From Sarmizegetusa Regia to Ulpia Traiana!

We are happy to congratulate Sara Pop, Matei Grigorovici, Aurora Capuano, Catrinel Precup who have successfully completed their Duke GOLD expedition  along a stunning section of the Via Transilvanica trail, connecting two of Romania’s most important historical landmarks: Sarmizegetusa Regia and Sarmizegetusa Ulpia Traiana.

This expedition was not only a physical challenge, but also a valuable lesson in history, geography, teamwork, and resilience. 

Each day, the team hiked between 17 and 22 kilometers through mountainous paths, traditional villages, scenic meadows, and breathtaking landscapes in the heart of Transylvania. Our students were responsible for organizing every aspect of the expedition—from planning the route, arranging accommodations and meals, to packing equipment and navigating. They tested their limits, overcame challenges, and successfully completed the journey, showing great maturity, responsibility, and initiative.

A particularly meaningful moment was passing by the 10 Via Milestones adopted by Transylvania College on the Via Transilvanica — a proud reminder of our school community’s involvement in supporting this national cultural and tourism project.

Congratulations to our participating students for their determination and the enthusiasm they brought to this unforgettable experience!

Thank you, Miss Daniela Ganea & Miss Alexandra Oană for accompanying the students! 

Our Science PBL @ "Science on Stage" 

We are proud to announce that our Year 7 / Grade 6 students are representing our school in the prestigious "Science on Stage"  national contest with their eco-innovative project: "My Little Green House." 

This exciting project is among the 17 selected entries from Romania, showcasing young talent, creativity, and scientific thinking at its best.

Our students, guided by Miss Codruța Oșan, Miss Gabriela Iușan, Mister Nitin Singh and Miss Ioana Șerdean have worked with great dedication to promote sustainability and green living through hands-on learning and innovation.

We wish them the best of luck in the next steps of the competition and congratulate them on already achieving this impressive milestone! 

Transylvania College is the only UNESCO school from the participating schools across Romania.

Alphatronic @ We  love STEM Day

We’ve arrived at We  love STEM Day at Emerson with a part of the amazing Alphatronic team: Ciornai Alexandru, Cocarla Tudor, Ganea Emma, Orsi Sakura, Tudor Maier. The students are in great spirits and ready to shine. 

Ziua buna pe Via Transilvanica 2025

We spent a great day (Tasu team and Eco team students and teachers) with parents and siblings and with students and teachers at Daia Romana school on Via Transilvanica on Saturday, doing maintenance and cleaning.

Congratulations, Alphatronic team !!! 

We are extremely proud of our Alphatronic team!!! They won two important awards in the FIRST Tech Challenge 2025 World Robotics Championship: 

• Design Award in the Edison division

• Finalist Alliance 1st Pick 

Romanian students achieved valuable results and prizes at the FIRST Tech Challenge 2025 World Robotics Championship, held in Houston, USA, between April 16 and 19 (https://www.firstchampionship.org/ ). Over 250 teams from around the world participated in the competition: South Korea, Mexico, Canada, Vietnam, Jamaica, Lithuania, USA, etc. The theme of the competition was “Into the Deep”, which “challenged teams to develop technological solutions designed to explore a simulated underwater environment, emphasizing innovation, precision, strategy and teamwork”.

Romania was represented by 5 teams of high school students and 4 Dean’s List finalists, qualified following the national stage of the FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics Championship.

Global Leadership in action! TC at Global Leaders Championship!

We’re thrilled to celebrate five of our outstanding students—  Jonathan Filimon, Norbert Farczadi, Sakura Orsi, Mara Marian and Stefan Kelemen—who successfully represented Transylvania College at the Global Leaders Championship at Clayesmore School, UK! 

Our students joined over 100 peers from 14 schools, across 10 countries, taking part in an unforgettable, two-week leadership experience that blended global competition, cultural exchange and personal growth.

We are extremely proud that our wonderful team made it to the semi-finals and won the Business Award! 🔥🏆

Overall, the championship included:

💼 Business Mastermind –  featuring pitching business ideas to top financial executives in London 

🗣️ Global Unity Debate – MUN real-time diplomatic simulations 

🎭 StarStage Quest – a creative drama project inspired by Romeo & Juliet

🕶️ Virtual Gallery Tour – using VR tech to showcase our school’s culture and identity

🌆 Highlights of the event:

• Pitching business ideas at the iconic Gherkin Tower in London

• Visiting the Natural History Museum, Globe Theatre and cruising the Thames in London  

• Exploring the historic sites of Winchester and Bath

• Living and learning in a traditional British boarding school campus

Big shout-out to our debate coaches, Miss Mihaela Romaniuc and Miss Alexandra Oană, for guiding and supporting the team throughout the event!

Here’s to more global adventures and lifelong memories! 

#TransylvaniaCollege #GlobalLeadersChampionship #LearnerChain 

Photography exhibition ''With love, for Romania'

We have honoured the invitation extended by Her Royal Highness, Princess Sofia, to the Award Centres, to the opening of the photography exhibition, ''With love, for Romania'' - an impressive selection of photographs taken by Her Royal Highness. The captured landscapes, from all corners of the country and in all seasons, make up an authentic celebration of nature and the beauty that surrounds us - viewed with sensitivity, patience and respect.

This coincided with the occasion of her visit to Cluj-Napoca and took place on April 10, at the Cluj-Napoca Art Museum. The event was addressed to the Duke of Edinburgh Award partners, the program being under the patronage of the Royal House.

Leadership Challenges Celebration:

Great testimonials from our students on their leadership behaviours this month, as well: 

• "I always achieve the learning objectives each lesson by listening to the instructions and executing them successfully. Even though sometimes it may be harder, I still try to achieve the objective."

• "My goals for this week are to end this week in calm, and have fun during our school trip to Rome, Italy. How will I achieve these? Well, for the first one I just need to pay attention in class and have fun, that was it will finish faster, and of course I will have fun in Italy because I’m going with my friends."

• "I prioritised my homework and my school plans. For example I prioritised my Romanian project which was due in three days over some optional homework I got for maths. I still did the maths one but I first finished the Romanian project."

• "I feel that I am respectful towards my teachers and my colleagues, I am courageous enough to raise my hand for the more complex and difficult tasks in lessons and I have fun at school."

• "In the blue wolves community in grade 6 year 7 I contribute by cleaning the classroom, arranging the chairs and tables. I help to make a circle. I also check uniform for blue wolves."

• "I respect and encourage other to do their work, and I do my own. I have a geography project and I made the info while my colleague made the template picture and researched for the other half of the slides. I respected her work and our project turned out to be very good."

• "I grow my grades by listening in class at what the teacher said and my colleagues' answers. I learn and recap before tests during breaks with some of my colleagues. I am not late to classes because I take the responsibility to be on time. I have a watch and use it wisely."

• "I have respect for colleagues and teachers and I listen to everyone’s opinion."

TC @ Global Leaders Challenge

Our wonderful team of five students: Norbert Farczadi, Jonathan Filimon, Mara Marian, Sakura Orsi from Y10 and Stefan Kelemen from grade 9 are representing our school at the Global Leaders Challenge, at Clayesmore School, Dorset, England. They will be there until the 13th of April. 

Thank you for taking on the challenge, Miss Alexandra Oana & Miss Mihaela Romaniuc, and for being so inspiring when coordinating these students in developing such good public speaking skills!

Leadership Day 2025

On April 1st, our school celebrated Leadership Day, a special occasion dedicated to recognizing students' contributions and encouraging leadership within our community.

HS Leadership & Award Ceremony  - students were recognised for their leadership skills & involvement in different areas of school extracurriculars.

Lessons Role Swap! - Middle School and High school  

• The teachers dressed casually like students 

• The students: Stepped into the role of teachers! They were leading lessons and experiencing education from the teacher’s perspective. To make the swap even more fun, students dressed as teachers, embracing a professional or semi-formal look.

This was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate leadership, creativity, and teamwork while gaining new perspectives on education. 

Leadership challenges celebration

We continue to celebrate, please see more of our students inspiring testimonials:

• "I always listen to the teachers and students when I have a task to follow so I can get the instructions right. I always manage to accomplish the succes criteria due to my listening skills. În Math I did this and now all lessons feel easy for me."

• "I pay attention in lessons and ask questions when I don’t understand and when someone has trouble understanding I am able to help them."

• "I have a voice and I choose to respectfully contribute to the lesson and school community."

• "I always try to think win-win. This is because I have a lot of empathy and I listen to the other, so I can find a way for both of us to profit. Sometimes this may be hard, but not impossible. I mostly manage to accomplish this."

• "I made progress from the beginning of the year and I am proud of myself. I work very hard every day and set targets for myself. When I don’t reach them, I am positive and treat myself with kindness."

• "I learnt a lot while in the student led conference. I set many targets that I will accomplish as soon as I can. For example I set a target to minimise screen time and I did manage to reduce it by 1 hour. This was only the start and I will reduce it more. "

Leadership challenges celebration

Great testimonials here, we hope you feel inspired:

• "I've been learning the concept of proactivity since the start of my journey in Transylvania College. It helped me be a more responsible person, for exemple I learned that is very important to study for tests."

• "My colleagues and I were the first people to offer for the class cleaning project we started recently. So, our class came up first place with 20 points, the maximum."

• "Since last week, I feel that I am able to understand the lessons better. The learning objective seems easier for me and I am able to achieve it every single lesson, and it’s all thanks to my proactivity and my focus on habit 2."

• "Since a few weeks ago, I feel that I have grown, academically speaking. I get better grades, teachers congratulate me and I feel that I understand lessons better."

MoneyFest week in Primary

The financial education program and shops in primary were a success. Funds were raised for the service-learning programs. Partners from several projects were invited to join. 

Please see details and more of the primary celebrations in their February editions of the newsletter, here - No.11 and here - No.10 

Primary Newsletter - January

Please visit the January edition to see the primary celebrations, here - No.9.

Teachers - Adventure Team 

The adventure team signed up for new challenges in 2025, synergising to push the limits and conquer the "hidden heart" of the underground in Gruet Cave Rosia, Apuseni Mountains. Thank you, Virgil Ganea, Iulia Bratfalean, Mihaela Romaniuc, Alexandra Oana, Daniela Hernandez, Mara Hernandez, Radu Poenaru, Irina Simion and Daniela Ganea. Ready to challenge the students!

MS Lighthouse Team Service Project!

The Middle School Lighthouse students had their trip to Muntele Cacovei, as part of the ongoing Service Project for the elders in that small rural community. Thank you all MS students for fundraising during the Winter Bazaar and all the parents who contributed with their donations. With your help, we can bring a little Cristmas joy in their homes. 

Alphatronic - LEAGUE CHAMPIONS & WORLD-CLASS PERFORMANCE! 

We just crushed our first League Meet with an EPIC final score and landed an incredible 7th place WORLDWIDE in the autonomous robotics division! 

Our Alphatronic team has been working tirelessly, and this result proves that passion, teamwork, and technical skill can truly make magic happen. From countless late-night design sessions to precise programming, every moment led us here.

Big shoutout to our incredible team members  who made this possible! 

Duke of Edinburgh - Celebration and connection time 

Duke Students, Award Leaders and Coordinators came together to celebrate their achievements so far and to set up new, challenging goals for the year ahead. 

Alphatronics @ National Conference of Mathematics Teachers

On Saturday, Dec. 7th, the Alphatronic team presented their paper, "Applied Mathematics in First Tech Challenge Robotics," at the National Conference of Mathematics Teachers! The team had the chance to connect with the STEM community and showcase how important Mathematics is in their robotics journey.

The energy at the conference was amazing, and our team loved engaging with educators and STEM enthusiasts.

Well done, Miss Gabriela and Mr Flaviu - great role models and inspiring teachers! A big thank you to Mr. Flaviu, who made this opportunity possible! He also presented his paper about the role of technology in Mathematics Lessons. 

Normandy International Youth Leadership Summit

During the last week of November, Sara Pop, Catriel Precup and Matei Grigorovici, accompanied by Miss Iulia B. Igna, represented Transylvania College  and Romania in the 11th edition of the Normandy International Youth Leadership Summit, at Institution saint Joseph, Le Havre, France. Delegations from 20 schools from across the world (USA, South Africa, Nederlands, Spain, Italy, Estonia, Romania, UK,) met to discuss about tomorrow’s challenges so that they could contribute to prepare our future and make it better.

The NIYLS doesn’t only aim to limit its influence in dialogues, but wants to sort out key ideas so that concrete projects can be achieved in response to the 21st century challenges. Among these projects are the environmental issues, education, politics, trade, culture, sciences and many other themes with which these students confronted themselves so that they could adapt them to our generation.

The summit brought a good balance between workshops, team projects, cultural performances, social interaction, historical and cultural sites visits, building relationships, enjoying nature, sharing and having fun. Our students made the most of every day they've spent there, had very good contributions during the discussions and project work and they came back home enricht with one more memorable experience. 

Student Led Conferences - Nov. 22nd 2024

Tășu Parents Trip

This weekend, 8th-10th November, was a special one for the Tășuleasa Team. We organised the second edition of the Tășu Parents Trip, this time to Copșa Mică. We had an amazing time together, discovering the next local project we are going to support, going on a 17 km hike, playing, singing and dancing together. 

Special thanks to Miss Mihaela Romaniuc, Miss Mirela Manases and Miss Irina Simion for their help in organising the trip and to Tășu Parents for supporting our project! 

TC delegation @ Youth Leadership Encounter - Istanbul 2024

A great team of 18 students represented Transylvania College at the YLE 2024, on the topic of Managing World Heritage. 

The Argentinian, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, Nepali, Malaysian, Philippine and Romanian delegations presented the UNESCO sites from their countries, the challenges and solutions in managing the cultural tangible and intangible heritage, and also simulated a UNESCO committee deciding on proposals of new sites to be added from each country. 

The TC delegation presented Via Transilvanica -  our service project in partnership with Tășuleasa Social, all the UNESCO sites on each terra and the way Via T represents the national cultural heritage.

Learning and fun as part of the YLE: artistic workshops, trips to touristic sites in Istanbul, traditional shows, museums, Republic Day concert, tip on Bosphorus, Grand Bazaar, new friends - interactions and discovery groups, competitions and prizes.

BRING JOY project @ National Service-Learning Awards

The first edition of the BRING JOY project took place in the 2022-23 school year, in support of the children from the "Every Child" day center and then from the "Căsuța Bucuriei" (starting from October 2022).

Our target community consists of children from different backgrounds and living conditions than our students who need to connect and socialise outside of their small communities.To grow up balanced and become good citizens, our students need to be aware of social, family and living conditions that are different from their own, which will raise their level of empathy, generosity and compassion. As they are asked to come up with ways to help and contribute, their level of initiative, proactivity and motivation should see a substantial increase.Students  broaden their perspective by learning about these different environments, visiting and understanding their living conditions and teaching/sharing different skills, develop a sense of responsibility and initiative by engaging in a variety of activities that provide learning interactions both social as well as emotional.

Following the success of the first year of implementation - and as a positive effect of the dissemination of essential information about the project -, both the empathy in the TC community towards such target groups, and the appreciation for this way of learning, using the Service-Learning methodology, have increased. In the 2023-24 school year the project continued in the original locations and expanded to 2 other locations: Petelea Kindergarten, Mures county and the "A mic" Family Center Cluj-Napoca, involving a much larger number of school students and Transylvania College Kindergarten. 

Great Community Spirit Cellebration

We would like to thank you all, dear students, parents and teachers, for your contribution to a successful Community Spirit event.  You can add photos below.

We would like to congratulate the HS Student Leadership team, for the way they worked proactively to organise this day. Also the Eco team for encouraging everyone to care for our school environment on such a day. 

The jury will announce the Community Spirit Day awards during the assemblies from the first week back. 

House elections

The Middle School students at TC voted for their house captains and vice captains. 

We congratulate all candidates for their campaign and also the Middle School Lighthouse Team for coordinating the election process. 

The new house leaders are: 

Red Bears:                     captain: Raul Comsa                    & vice captain:  Andra Pojoran

Golden Eagles:            captain: David Sătmărel           & vice captain: Cezar Tise

Blue Wolves:               captain: Nicholas Fodor            & vice captain: Tudor Lupas

DoE  Silver Test Trip

We embrace Via Transilvanica whenever we have the chance, that’s why we chose to complete our Duke of Edinburgh Silver Test Trip by exploring Terra Saxonum. We had 3 wonderful and challenging, but rewarding days, in which we discovered the beauty of Transylvania  and its authenticity. We experienced Via exactly as it is, and we encourage you to try it too!