Their students earn high marks for sorting waste, create documentary videos about their native village, and design tourist routes of their hometown. And the teachers themselves show that school is not just lessons, but an opportunity to discover oneself and pursue passions.
This is the mission of the participants in the organization Teach for Ukraine, which since 2017 has been developing education in small communities. Active graduates move for a year or two to small villages and towns to become not only teachers but mentors and “stable adults” — the kind you can always turn to for advice.
A year ago, we already wrote about Teach for Ukraine. Now, ShoTam shares stories of three participants who are breaking stereotypes about school education.
Svitlana Solovyova is from the Odessa region. Since September 2023, she has been working as a history teacher at Vilnyanska Gymnasium in Fastiv district, Kyiv region. She has long been involved in historical enlightenment — in her personal social media, she regularly shares interesting historical facts and creates TikToks on historical themes.
“When I started teaching at this school, I wanted young people to also participate in popularizing history. And I wanted everyone to understand that the history of a small village or town is the history of the whole country,” says Svitlana.
Together with her students, she began spreading information about their native land and lesser-known historical figures. Importantly, students join this work voluntarily because they are curious to learn more about their village and its history.
“Since the beginning of the invasion, I have thought a lot about how I can be useful. So I decided to do what I know — teach history and engage in historical enlightenment to introduce young people to our history,” Svitlana shares.
So far, Svitlana and her students have created three videos — about Petro Bolbochan, recently included in the school curriculum; about the history of the Fastiv region; and about the history of Vilne, where Svitlana works.
“I always say that Fastiv is a place that united Ukraine twice. At the beginning of the 18th century, Mazepa suppressed Semen Paliy’s uprising and united the Right and Left Banks of Ukraine. Later, in the 20th century, before proclaiming the Act of Unification in Kyiv, it was first signed in Fastiv,” Svitlana explains.
The videos are made separately with each class — together they research materials, prepare scripts, and film in the school museum. The videos are posted on the school’s social networks, with plans to share them on YouTube as well.
Recently, Svitlana sent students a Google form to learn what interests them now and what projects they want to work on next. Although mobile signal often disappears in the village and only one bus runs, she really likes it here — even the village’s name is very symbolic for her.
“I work in the village of Vilne, but I want every village and town in Ukraine to be like this. Also, I live on Peace Street, and I really want every street in Ukraine to have peace,” the young teacher concludes.
Since September 2023, Yurii Krasnikov has been a geography teacher at Grebinkivskyi Lyceum in Kyiv region. Yurii is from temporarily occupied Berdyansk and left in April 2022 after home searches. First, he lived in Western Ukraine and worked online for a Berdyansk school, then applied to Teach for Ukraine.
Together with his students, Yurii launched the initiative “GrEko” (Ecological Grebinkivshchyna) to sort waste, organize clean-up events, and promote environmental protection ideas.
Yurii says that before he started working at the school, they were already sorting paper and bottles, and there was a manual press. Besides, Yurii and his students hold clean-ups, especially near the banks of the Protoka River. Their first event was organized at the beginning of May. To highlight their work, students and Yurii created an Instagram page dedicated to their ecological activities.
“We also plan to organize a big eco-festival to draw attention to pollution and visibly show that recyclable waste is an important resource. We want to hold workshops for students, like how to make bean bag chairs from old jeans and cereal packaging. We will invite speakers who build eco-houses and make unique things from trash,” Yurii shares.
Combining useful and fun, Yurii introduced a “green grade” in his geography classes — students earn points for sorting waste. For example, each bottle or aluminum can gives them part of a grade. For 20 plastic bottles, 15 cans, and 2 kilograms of paper, they can get 12 points. Yurii shares that one student has already brought a full set three times.
Yurii and his students dream of raising funds for the eco-festival and a sorting station. Yurii created a Monobank fundraiser to buy a projector and has already raised over 6,000 hryvnias out of 25,575 needed.
Yurii says they want to renovate a space and seek sponsorship and grants. They also plan to use sorted waste to fund the future youth center — selling recyclables to buy tea, coffee, treats, and materials for workshops.
“In school, I have a lot of self-education and learn from the kids themselves — interesting geography facts, youth slang, and more. Teaching lets me be a researcher beyond the textbook. It’s about cause-and-effect, personal potential, and forming conscious citizens. Our ecological work shows me a different side of students — who they are in everyday life. I feel their eco-awareness rising and see how it influences their families, friends, and acquaintances,” Yurii reflects.
After university, Nadiia Naida worked as a history teacher in Kharkiv. Being from a small village herself, she immediately liked the idea of developing education in small communities. In 2022, she finally dared to apply to Teach for Ukraine. She got the opportunity to teach history in Bucha.
Besides lessons, Nadiia wanted to organize interesting leisure activities for kids. She initially considered creating a museum in Bucha but later decided to energize the children so that Bucha would not be a place of tragedy but a place of life.
“I now live and teach on a street where two years ago there was a battle, but now you wouldn’t recognize it because the community here is so strong and has changed everything,” Nadiia says.
At the start of teaching, she asked students what they would like to do outside of lessons. Many said they found it painful to recall the occupation because they saw many terrible things with their own eyes. At first, it was hard for her to hear their memories, but she says these conversations about lived experience brought them closer. Later, the students shared they wanted to learn about something interesting, so they decided to find something about their native Bucha.
Nadiia says many people come to Bucha now but don’t know where to relax or have a good time. So they decided to develop tourist routes, especially through parks.
“Bucha is very green, with many parks. We decided to talk about the parks, what’s interesting there, who famous historical figures visited. This will be a cultural map of Bucha, useful for locals and guests alike. The students became friends, communicate with each other, and benefit the whole community,” she says.
Nadiia works with 23 students. They don’t wait for adult help but want to do interesting things themselves. Students visit parks, photograph the area, and look for curiosities worth telling about. Some bring their younger siblings to check playgrounds; others walk dogs to see if parks are convenient for others. Nadiia organizes plans, moderates the process, and gathers students for reports at picnics.
“When they tell me they feel I’m not only their teacher but also a friend, I’m very happy. I have become a stable adult they can turn to for advice,” Nadiia shares.
Two girls started running an Instagram page showcasing their activities beyond lessons. They also plan to create memory routes to mark events of the full-scale war and inclusivity routes to check the town’s accessibility. The young activists are supported by the “I am Buchanets” organization and The Buchacity media. Nadiia often organizes joint meetings of youth with city activists and journalists.
“I consider myself lucky because I combined here what I love very much. I’m interested in history, enjoy talking with students, so I feel energetic and that I’m doing something useful for the community. I was able to create a team of students who enjoy working together and create an interesting project for their native Bucha,” she concludes.
Author: Maria Lavriv, ShoTam Media
