Global Teacher Prize Ukraine provided the Voice of Sokalshchyna with a story about a teacher from Sokal – Gesyk Myroslav, who expertly supported children during the war, organized lessons that took the Record of Ukraine.
Myroslav himself received an award from the Ministry of Education and Science.
Here is the story in his own words:
“My story began already in the second or third week after the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Since I live in, one might say, a safe region – directly physically from the crimes of the Russian Federation, fortunately neither I nor my family were harmed. But not everyone is the same the situation itself.
Therefore, I, together with other colleagues, began to think of ways not to abandon the teaching of physical education in Ukrainian schools. It was decided to try to conduct joint online lessons and broadcast on YouTube. Starting with a few like-minded people, and a month later, about a thousand teachers from different parts of Ukraine gathered. Someone invested a lot of their time and energy, someone did not have such an opportunity due to the fighting physically, but together we grew up and launched the project #WINNING FROM THE MORTAR with the support of the UN, UNICEF and the MES.
As one of the first in the project, I was lucky to be the coordinator. Jointly organized lessons with TV stars, presenters, singers, athletes. It was hard to work, daily ZOOM conferences, dozens of chats, phone calls, and all this in order to give three high-quality physical education lessons for our children every day. The lessons were designed in such a way as to maximize children’s motor activity, improve their physical and psychological well-being, and all this without any special equipment! We did not forget about the accommodation of the students, because many of them are literally watching us from shelters, so all the lessons were designed for a small area. By the way, as a result, our project was awarded a Ukrainian record.
But my work did not end there, because the project continued already under #MOVING MORE and started organizing online sections on various sports, which continue to this day. For this difficult, but at the same time, work from the heart, I had the honor of receiving thanks from the Ministry of Education and Culture for conscientious work and high academic achievements.”
The National Global Teacher Prize Ukraine, which has been honoring change-making teachers since 2017, this year is collecting stories about the heroes of the educational front to tell about them throughout Ukraine and the world. Ukrainians will see some of these stories on October 2, on Teacher’s Day, on the air of the national telethon.
Instead of determining the finalists and winners, the organizers of the award, the “Osvitoria” public union, will show a courageous and brave portrait of teachers embodied by real heroes, namely:
teachers who joined the ranks of the Armed Forces and are now fighting at the front.
educators who became volunteers during the war.
teachers who teach children in difficult conditions – in bomb shelters, to the sound of sirens.
teachers resisting in the occupied territory.
changemakers who, despite everything, find new ways of teaching and develop education in Ukraine.
“Each hero, about whom we will tell on October 2, is a symbol of wartime teaching. We won’t have a winner this year, because every teacher is already a winner for us in some sense. We started collecting stories back in the summer because we saw the courage of teachers and wanted to tell the world about it. Their stories are already resounding in the information space, but the courage and dignity of teachers do not have a deadline. They continue to impress, especially now that the new school year has begun. That’s why we decided to continue collecting stories in order to learn as much as possible about the modern heroes of the educational front,” says Zoya Lytvyn, head of the “Osvitoria” public union.
Each story is a symbolic thank you to all teachers for their contribution. These stories are now being published on the award page on Facebook and Instagram, and are being broadcast on television and radio. In order to remember these stories, “Osvitoria” is working on a collection of “100 heroes of the educational front”, which will be published in two languages - Ukrainian and English. Anyone can submit a story about their hero on the Global Teacher Prize Ukraine website until November 30 inclusive.
Information about the Global Teacher Prize Ukraine
Global Teacher Prize Ukraine is a prestigious national award that honors teachers who are agents of educational change. It is part of the world prize of the same name, which was founded by philanthropist and billionaire Sunny Varki in 2014. The Global Teacher Prize is the first and only award of its kind in the field of education. The $1 million global prize is awarded annually to an outstanding teacher for their achievements and contributions to the profession.
In Ukraine, the national prize Global Teacher Prize Ukraine was founded in 2017 by GS “Osvitoria”. This year, the award will honor the heroes of the educational front who are choosing the future for Ukrainian children.