Embassy Events
Anniversary of "Treca Gimnazija" Reopening
March 23, 2007
Ambassador McElhaney addressed BiH high school students, teachers, and parents at Sarajevo’s "Treca Gimnazija: (Third High School) as part of a March 23 ceremony to celebrate the anniversary of the school’s re-opening in March 2000. The school was severely damaged during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, forcing students and teachers to go underground during the war and to hold classes in makeshift facilities afterwards. In 1999, Former President Clinton launched the reconstruction of the school, which was financed largely by USAID. In 2001, U.S. Fulbright Scholar David Berman published a book about the school and its wartime experiences, The Heroes of Treca Gimnazija. At this year’s ceremony, the Ambassador paid tribute to those heroes and encouraged current students to continue their school’s legacy of courage and perseverance.