Trinity Private School has opened in Limassol with an unusual mission to date. L&rsquo;Officiel Cyprus met with its founder, famous top manager Sergey Portnov, was pleasantly surprised by the new ideas, philosophy and concept of&nbsp;private education in Cyprus.

Sergey, before you started an educational project, you worked in a completely different, very profitable area. What was the reason for the transition from gambling to education? 
When you achieve significant success in life and business, you begin to think about more important things, including the mission. I&nbsp;had a strong transformation that affected not only my career but also my values, aspirations and the rhythm of life. The gambling business was my first job. And, of course, it is impossible to cross out decades of life in one fell swoop. Now, I devote myself to education.
What was the gaming business in the digital for you &ndash; a professional passion of a true marketer or a way to earn money? 
All businesses are created to make money. The gambling business is no exception. When I came into the industry as a young man, material aspirations were my main motivation. I have been close to this area since childhood. My father played poker professionally. And I can say that I watched the game all my life. I felt it, and it was embedded in my DNA. Later, I received an appropriate education at a British university, where I was taught how to manage gambling enterprises. But my heart is no longer in this area if we talk about the current moment. The experience and skills of the manager, of course, remained with me.&nbsp;

When did you decide to leave this business and go into education? 
It is difficult for me to name specific factors that transformed the heart. I think that this happened to me with gaining faith. I learned Orthodoxy. And it happened at the age of 30. Until that age, spiritual questions did not interest me. When I started to change, everything around me changed. If we return to the question of my transformation, the old person in me has fallen away, and the new one has requested a new activity. It wasn&rsquo;t an abrupt transition. Everything came from a deep look at life and values.
How did the idea to create a private school for children come about? 
Spiritual people helped me with this. They told me: &ldquo;You are a businessman, an investor, investing in something. The best investment is in eternity. Invest in eternity, and here you will never lose!&rdquo; I then asked: &ldquo;Where is it?&rdquo; And they answered me: &ldquo;Children!&rdquo; If you care for children, you need to invest a lot of effort, but the success factor will not be expressed in money. And that became the starting point. In this case, long-term investments are monetary, and their return is entirely different &ndash; a Personality with the knowledge that the school has invested.&nbsp;
What turned on in creating a private school &ndash; the heart or brain of a businessman? 
When a firm intention to create a school was formed, I could rely on what I understood and on what I could. I organised teams very quickly without calculating risks (gambling distorts the perception of risks and creates artificial immunity to such things). It was with that mindset that I began to approach building the school quickly, on a large scale and boldly. This impulse paid off: I very quickly began to understand many things, and just as quickly, the right people pulled up to me. But such a principle of forming a new project is entirely incompatible with the school.
School is eternal and enduring, an ecosystem that lives quietly and measuredly. Any fluctuations here cause anxiety, first of all, in teachers, and the same anxiety is then transmitted to children and their parents. But the initial impulse helped shape the idea and unite like-minded people. Today, I try to balance academic pedagogy and my business skills to get things done quickly.
Why are you implementing this project in Cyprus? 
We started building a school in Kyiv. But a war began in Ukraine, in which the completion of the project became impossible, and we transferred it to Cyprus. I purchased an existing school. The purchase deal took place in August last year and during this period, I managed to create a team and begin the school&rsquo;s transformation. I realised I should preserve what has already been developed here and innovate smoothly.

What is the status of the renovated school? 
The Trinity Private School has an international status and a bilingual IB training program. We are not tied to any country, are completely apolitical, and have high education standards. Graduates will receive diplomas, which are quoted in any country.
Among the fundamental criteria of your school is the spiritual and moral environment. Why are you focusing on this? 
Faith and spirituality are important components in the life of every person. This is the core and inner strength. In the renovated school, we built a temple. It is no secret that this approach is cultivated by many world educational institutions, especially in the USA and the UK, for example, Harvard with its Harvard Catholic Center or Oxford with its University Church of St Mary the Virgin. There are a lot of Catholic schools in Europe. We are adherents of the Orthodox religion. I can say that the school has only become more powerful. The team has united around this idea.
How did you form the team? 
The main selection criteria for the team were professionalism and energy, willingness to work two hundred per cent and transforming the old into the new. It&rsquo;s a startup mode, 24/7 work, and young people can handle it.
There are three criteria by which stable companies and enterprises are formed: unity-thinking, unity-doing, and unanimity. For our school, unanimity is fundamental. There is work with children, who are given both knowledge and states. Therefore, all employees must be on the same wavelength, in the same spirit.

Sergey Portnov is a&nbsp;successful top manager. Today he is&nbsp;directing his energy and knowledge into the field of education.

Sergey Portnov - Founder

What challenges do you face in this case? 
I am a man of discipline. I grew up in a&nbsp;sports environment and always followed the regime. And I&rsquo;m also a maximalist. Spiritual life has become a guideline for me, allowing me to reveal my potential in society.
What does Trinity School look like from the inside? 
Here is an idea embedded in every brick of the building. We used a lot of greenery and natural materials in the design. Each class bears the name of a famous and worthy person from the world of sports, science and culture. In terms of marketing, we have a lot of chips. Today I can confidently say that Trinity is a school with Orthodox values, the most fashionable in Cyprus. You can see our school&rsquo;s name on the FC Aris uniform. And this is the first school in the world to collaborate with a football club. We tear patterns everywhere.
The school ecosystem also includes children&rsquo;s nutrition. Tell us about it. 
Food is one of the most important components of holistic health, especially during the growth and maturation of children. We invited a team of chefs from Kyiv and asked well-known nutritionists to develop a menu for school students. As a result, we created a unique family cuisine with a diet for each age. The school has its eco-farm, where we grow and process berries, fruits, vegetables and herbs.
You often say about &ldquo;heart&rdquo;. Is there a difference between heart and soul? 
Orthodoxy has a hierarchy: spirit, soul, body and mind. Animals, for example, have a soul, but a person has both a soul and a spirit. Spirit goes to eternity. It is in the spirit that the concentration of virtues and negative qualities of a person takes place. And it is always with you &ndash; before and after leaving. The soul is our emotional state, character, and intellect. Therefore, what needs to be pumped &ndash; the soul or the spirit? Faith, first of all, pumps the spirit, which forms the soul, body and thoughts. The spirit also includes the heart. If your heart is darkened, the mind is darkened, not vice versa. The spirit gives birth to a form. Therefore, you need to be strengthened in the spirit. It will restore everything.

The School Of The Future In The Present

Recommended posts for you

Fashion

Fashion Editorial: Love My Thorns

Beauty

Beauty Editorial: The Little Mermaid

Accessories

The Evolving Styles of Christmas Trees

Fashion

Editorial: Once Upon a Time in New York

Accessories

Gift Tips For Everyone

Psychology

Goodbye Winter Blues: The Best Tips to Escape the Seasonal Mood Slump

Film & TV

Everything We Know About 'The White Lotus' Season 3

Fashion

Balenciaga celebrates Paris with Juergen Teller and an iconic collection