Elena Andreicheva, an Old Girl has won both an Oscar and a BAFTA for her film Learning to Skateboard in a War Zone (If You’re a Girl) . Elena accepted the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject alongside fellow film-maker Carol Dysinger this week. The girls of Rye St Antony school celebrated the success of their now famous alumna (Class of 2002) and have been learning about Skateistan, the original skate school in Kabul, Afghanistan which was founded in 2007 to enable girls from impoverished areas to read, write, and skateboard, something that they would not previously have been allowed to participate in.
Jannicke Stevens, English Teacher and Old Girl said, “I was in the same year and form as Elena at school. Even then she had a strong creative vision, and a natural ability to lead a group. We had drama lessons together and she would always take on the role of director or technician. I remember her as being extremely talented, achieving great things in music, art and academic subjects during her time at Rye.“
