Canadian School of Tashkent. CST Unplugged: building one team for the new school year.
News · 20–22 August 2026 · Tashkent
From 20 to 22 August 2026, CST’s teachers, administrators, and leadership team gathered at a resort outside Tashkent for CST Unplugged 2026 — a retreat built around conversation, competition, recognition, and the simple idea of getting to know colleagues outside their usual roles.
The timing was deliberate. Schools often spend the weeks before a new year focused on classrooms, schedules, policies, and lesson plans. CST made room for something equally important: the people who carry those plans forward.
Five houses. One team.
On Friday morning, the full team was divided into five mixed houses, bringing together people across departments, nationalities, experience levels, and responsibilities. The result was a different view of colleagues. A teacher known for a particular subject became a competitor. An administrator became a teammate. A new member of staff found themselves working alongside colleagues who had been at CST from the very beginning.
The Dacha Cup brought plenty of energy, team spirit, and laughter to the day, while a leadership session opened a conversation about CST’s direction and the culture the school is building. Then came CST’s Got Talent, where another side of the team emerged — music, laughter, unexpected talents, and a few performances that may never have found their way onto a school timetable.
A wall for gratitude.
One of the quieter moments carried some of the greatest meaning. Throughout the retreat, team members left personal notes of appreciation in staff envelopes on the Appreciation and Gratitude Board. The idea was simple: recognise a colleague for something they had contributed, noticed, or done for someone else.
In a school, much of the work that matters happens without an audience. A teacher stays late to help a student. An administrator solves a problem before anyone notices it existed. A colleague steps in when someone needs support. The envelopes gave those contributions a place to be seen.
Diversity as an advantage.
CST’s team reflects the international character of the school itself, bringing together colleagues from Central Asia, South Asia, North America, the Middle East, Africa, and beyond. At the retreat, that diversity became part of the experience rather than a line in an organisational profile. Different experiences shaped different approaches; different cultures brought different humour, perspectives, and ways of working. The retreat gave colleagues time to discover those differences — and the common ground beneath them.
Building the professionals behind the school.
CST Unplugged was also part of a larger commitment. CST wants to attract and develop teachers and education professionals who are not simply capable of doing their jobs, but curious about how the profession itself can evolve — creating opportunities to learn from one another, recognise merit, develop leadership, and build relationships across the organisation.
The school’s ambition extends beyond the students currently in its classrooms. CST wants to help inspire the next generation of teaching and administrative professionals — people who will one day shape classrooms, schools, and education systems of their own. That work begins with the culture inside the school.
By Saturday afternoon, the retreat was winding down. Bags were packed, photos had been taken, and the final conversations carried on over dinner. The new academic year was waiting, and the team was ready for it — with a few more stories to share, a few more colleagues to call friends, and a clearer sense of the people standing beside them.
CST Unplugged 2026 was a retreat from school. In many ways, it was preparation for what happens inside it.