Connecting Classrooms Project Diary. October, 2011

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October 1, 2011 was a special day! Some friends of mine and I  conducted the seminar on our own for 50 senior formers of our school and 15-16 year olds from other schools of our town on such hot debated topics as leadership and project making, healthy way of life, HIV/AIDS, self protection, stigma and discrimination, team building.  I applied for the grant and got 180 hryvnas for all necessary materials for this seminar. We are thankful to our school authorities for their support and donation of  a venue and equipment to make this event possible. It  was a success thanks to a friendly team of staff pupils who conducted the seminar, sharing responsibilities, a carefully planned schedule, a great desire to share our knowledge with our peers got in a summer camp. Solomiya Stepanchenko, Tetyana Potapova, Oleksandr Oliynyk, Tetyana Holovachyk, Oleksandr Pukas, Anton Kravchuk, Kateryna Lelyakh were those pupils-leaders who initiated conducting of the seminar and did their utmost to make it unforgettable for all those present. Peace Corps Volunteers Laura Braff, Jonathan Sung, Jessica Barnette, Lauren Persons, Amanda Stanley helped us a lot in conducting classes. There was a special guest – a doctor who works with HIV infected people . She introduced statistics and showed a video which made everyone think about this crucial problem. At the end of the seminar evaluation was made and we were pleased to read that everyone liked the classes and activities prepared by us, would like to attend such seminars again and would like to be pupils-lectors in future. We have done everything we have planned and we are proud of ourselves!

Oleksandr Pukas 

Form 11

CC Project group leader

CACTUS`11 (Community ACTion Ukrainian Style) is an international English language program aimed at promoting civic society development in the next generation of youth leaders in Ukraine. It is based in the city of Ternopil in Western Ukraine and welcomes participants from all over the country. CACTUS is run by a joint team of Ukrainian and International youth and community leaders. CACTUSis a cyclical program that takes place annually. Participants from all over Ukraine gather in Ternopil for a forum on community development and youth leadership and then with the skills acquired go on implementing their own projects alone or with peers in their local communities. This year I was chosen to be a participant and It was so exciting there!

Oleksandr Pukas

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Feedback from the seminar

I was very impressed with the seminar on HIV/AIDS and leadership, held at School #15. The pupils running it were very well-prepared, enthusiastic, and passionate. The seminar itself was quite organized and ran very smoothly for a first-time project. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, I know how difficult it is to organize and run projects, so I really appreciate the hard work these pupils put into this seminar!

                                                                                                                  Laura Braff,

                                                                                       Peace corps volunteer

I think it’s amazing that this school took the self-initiative to do a HIV/AIDS project at their school by utilizing what they learned from Camp H.E.A.L. and other Peace Corps led camps.  From what I understand, some of the 11^th form students and two English teachers invited 9^th to 11^th form students from school #15 and other schools to participate in this educational seminar. They were able to teach about the biology and transmission of HIV/AIDS, discrimination and stigma, team building, and leadership and project design management. I think it’s even more amazing they are planning on doing bigger seminar in February, all in English, to better promote educational awareness surrounding the issue of HIV/AIDS. The seminar was amazing, informative, and educational and it showcased the power of involving grassroots’ efforts.

                                                                                          Jonathan Sung,

                                                                        Peace corps volunteer