A large group of people greeted me at the English Club at the Library on Saturday (5 February), an unexpected surprise. Turns out it was the English Club from the Agricultural Lyceum (yes, they have an English Club!), which is where my wonderful calendar designer Nik teaches physics. The Lyceum is a great option for students who want to continue their schooling after high school graduation but aren’t sure yet what they want to study. The Lyceum offers practical and technical courses, and general classes in history, sciences, and languages. It’s similar to the original concepts of our community colleges or technical schools, and most every town in Ukraine has at least one.
The leader of this wonderful group was their English language teacher Artom, an articulate and thoughtful man who also teaches at public school #3. Joining Artom, in addition to 10 students, was Ina, a biology teacher; Iryna, school psychologist; Rita, a writing instructor; and of course Nik.
Actually, this was Nik’s idea. He decided he wanted to organize an exhibit of the "Starobelsk Memories" calendar and the Starobelsk Library English Club at the Lyceum, with photos and signs in English and Russian. He recruited students and teachers to help him, with their first task being to attend a club meeting at the Starobelsk library. Good going, Nik! He wanted to get us together and create new opportunities for sharing, discussion and photos for the exhibit. Young people like Nik and Artom are Ukraine’s future!
The leader of this wonderful group was their English language teacher Artom, an articulate and thoughtful man who also teaches at public school #3. Joining Artom, in addition to 10 students, was Ina, a biology teacher; Iryna, school psychologist; Rita, a writing instructor; and of course Nik.
Actually, this was Nik’s idea. He decided he wanted to organize an exhibit of the "Starobelsk Memories" calendar and the Starobelsk Library English Club at the Lyceum, with photos and signs in English and Russian. He recruited students and teachers to help him, with their first task being to attend a club meeting at the Starobelsk library. Good going, Nik! He wanted to get us together and create new opportunities for sharing, discussion and photos for the exhibit. Young people like Nik and Artom are Ukraine’s future!
The students were bright, talented (several musicians among them) and attentive. Some were more proficient, more confident, in the language than others. Most struggled in English the way I struggle with Russian, and I let them know this. I understand, I told them. I could hear a few sighs of relief. No one was expected to perform; it was okay to stumble. We went on to introduce ourselves and talk about where we live, our families, what we like to do. New members and regular members interacted and learned from each other.
I had prepared two lessons for this meeting, one on the "Meaning of Freedom," using documents from the "Know Your Rights" project, and with Egypt and other earth-shaking protest movements in mind, and the February theme of Love and Valentine’s Day. It was too much to do in one session, but we made a beginning. Both subjects engaged the students and teachers, and we had some good discussion, with great effort to be inclusive and give everyone a chance to participate, and to shine. Any responses in English were greeted with a huge smile from me and applause! Iryna, the director of the Library, rewarded us with tea and offered cake. It was a lovely meeting.
I had prepared two lessons for this meeting, one on the "Meaning of Freedom," using documents from the "Know Your Rights" project, and with Egypt and other earth-shaking protest movements in mind, and the February theme of Love and Valentine’s Day. It was too much to do in one session, but we made a beginning. Both subjects engaged the students and teachers, and we had some good discussion, with great effort to be inclusive and give everyone a chance to participate, and to shine. Any responses in English were greeted with a huge smile from me and applause! Iryna, the director of the Library, rewarded us with tea and offered cake. It was a lovely meeting.
Usually I never know what will happen at an English Club meeting: who will come, what news will emerge, what issues will be discussed. I go in with ideas, and sometimes I use them. Other times the meetings take on a life of their own. They have unexpected twists and turns, shoot off in unanticipated and interesting directions. If we hit a dead end, I can usually pull something out of my tote bag to fit most occasions--colored paper, pens, a few poems, a few project ideas.
It was a little like that today. We talked about freedom for a while, then about the situation here in Ukraine, then about love, which branched off into talking about love of a dear one, love of family, love of friends, and love of country. What is love? How does it make you feel? We made quite a list of adjectives: warmth, security, safety, patriotism, family ties, belonging, trust, love is blind, love can hurt, love smiles, love is a happy face (good one!), and love is kind, love is tolerant, love is forgiving (my personal favorites).
We were kind of all over the map, but we were talking and thinking and sharing. We were encouraging, inclusive, and accepting. No responses were right or wrong. We modeled and mentored in a relaxed, informal way. And that's what the English Club is all about. The meeting turned out to be another enjoyable moment in the waning days of my Peace Corps adventure here in Ukraine.
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