News

On 3-11 January, the 18th Christmas Session was held at the International green school that was attended by children and educators from Zaporizhzhia Region. The session was headed by representatives of the NGO "One Family" Oleksiy and Yulia Makarenko.

The students of the Green school were inspired by the Christmas atmosphere in Kosmach, became acquainted with traditions and histories of local citizens, gained new experience, and shared their knowledge.

The section of Interesting physics by Oleksiy Voronkin was in the program of the session. During training, children performed experiments with soap bubbles and an ultraviolet lamp, checked the objects on the brightness of the luminescence in ultraviolet radiation, and studied spectral analysis of sound, resonance phenomena, unusual musical instruments, and more.

Oleksiy’s video about the activities of the physics section at the Christmas Session 2018 can be found at the link.

Also, in parallel with physics, the ethnic workshop under the direction of Natalia Overchuk took place. In a friendly circle and with the comfort of a tile oven, children made a Christmas tree from the hay, rolled angels, and straw spiders, molded things from clay, made masks for Malanka, and painted them with ultraviolet paints.

Local masters taught pupils how to make pysanka (Easter Eggs), cheese grasshoppers, varenyky (the national Ukrainian dish) and how to dance Hutsul dances. It was nice to hear from our neighbor Olena about the ancient traditions of Christmas celebration in Hutsulshchyna and listen to the carols she sang in her childhood.

Apparently such Carol, as this year, has not ever been heard in Kosmach. With the accordion, trumpet, clarinet, and other musical instruments, we sang the carols in churches and houses of local citizens. Not only we carolled, but local girls and guys came to us and sang the carols as well!

Also, a Speaking club with Peace Corps volunteer Janine Winn was held. Both adults and children played different games in English. Moreover, Natalia Gutaruk, a teacher of English from Zaporizhzhya, held an interesting event for children in English, aimed at spreading knowledge among youth about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. They also received interesting and useful knowledge of psychology from Galina Novik.

In one cozy evening we made varenyky with Victoria Kaminska, the representative of "Volunteer Varenyky ZP." Victoria also read an interesting lecture during which she emphasized the importance of patriotic education in educational institutions.

There was also a lesson on robotics with the teacher of Kosmach school Anna Gorganiuk in the International green school. The children programmed a robot to recognize colors, perform tune, and more.

At the end of the Christmas session, the participants presented a bright shadow theater under the direction of Natalia Overchuk. The play was set with a song in English, which was about the preservation of nature. The children learned the song previously and sang it during a demonstration of the play.

A wonderful evening atmosphere was made by talented children and adults from the village of Gnarovsky and the city of Zaporizhzhia. They presented musical gifts to all who was present.

Video about the session by Oleksiy Voronkin can be viewed here.