writes about war from a young person's view #bannedbyrussia
Visiting Cardinal Slipyj school always feels like going home. I love the teachers and the kids and love the caring environment where those taking refuge from Russia’s war can feel a sense of security. Many knowledgeable questions and conversations about Winterkill and the Holodomor and the current war.
This morning I did a virtual visit about Winterkill and the Holodomr with RF Morrison school in Winnipeg MB and late this afternoon, I spoke with St Theresa Catholic MS in Sherwood Park, AB. What both of these schools have in common is a large contingent of Canadian students whose first language is English but who have opted for Ukrainian language classes, plus recent refugees from Russia’s genocidal war on Ukraine who have come to these communities because of their welcoming populations and are attending schools where they can speak in Ukrainian but learn English.
The other thing both of these schools have in common? Utterly dedicated, compassionate teachers who do everything they can to make their new students feel welcome. I think these teachers have figured out how to bend time because when I hear about all that they’ve accomplished, I am in awe.
At RF Morrison, the students from Ukraine were particularly interested in what my connection to Ukraine was and why I wrote so much about Ukrainian history. From their perspective, having grandparents arrive in Canada from Ukraine more than a century ago made me seem pretty darned Canadian. They were curious about the Canadian connection with the Holodomor in Winterkill, about the idealists who joined the Canadian communist party and traveled to Soviet Ukraine to assist with Stalin’s collectivization plans.
With St. Theresa, there was a technical glitch, so the students who were in the auditorium could see and hear me perfectly, but I couldn’t see them. Their questions were typed in and I had no way of knowing how they responded to anything I said. Thankfully, Ms Pohoreski texted me feedback, which helped tremendously. I found it interesting that the students from Ukraine at St. Theresa learned more about the Holodomor in Canada than they ever did while in Ukraine.
It was an enriching experience for me to speak with all of these students and I’m grateful to HREC ED for making them possible.
It was an interesting experience, speaking with St. Martin students from Edmonton AB this afternoon. We always log in on the virtual visit fifteen minutes or so early to ensure everything is working, and it was. But Microsoft Teams gods were not with us, because once the students settled in, the screens for both classrooms went blank and no matter what Ms Pohoreski or Ms Alexandruk did, that’s how the screens remained. So I presented to two blank screens. When students asked questions, their voices were crisp and clear and their questions were well-considered. I made eye contact with the web-cam and pretended it was a student. I was grateful to get this pic to see all the lovely students I was talking to! Many thanks to HREC ED for the funding!
It was a lively and informed discussion with a great group of students, alumni, scholars and readers, touching on the research I did in order to write this book and the reasons for including uncomfortably historically accurate Canadian characters. We also discussed the tendency in Holodomor literature to portray people as all good or all bad and why I went out of my way not to do that, and also what else I consciously avoided.
Visiting with St. Sofia Byzantine Catholic students feels like coming home. No I was never a student at St. Sofia, but I’ve visited so often, virtually and in person, and their students and staff are so welcoming. This year, with the heartbreaking war in Ukraine, there are many more students. And speaking about Winterkill and the Holodomor with kids who have fled war as they sit among the kind and welcoming people of St. Sofia is a poignant experience.
Here are some pics.
Quoting Mrs. Van Wyk from her Instagram page: Our students had the privilege again today of meeting with the amazing Marsha Skrypuch to talk about her newest book, Winterkill. There are always so many take-aways from these meets; including perseverance, critical thinking, and the need to tell the stories of those who have been intentionally silenced. 4 million Ukrainians were forever silenced during the Holodomor. 4 million. The past informs the present. Think critically. Thank you Marsha.
It was a fun couple of days presenting to all of the 5th grade students from Riverside Elementary in Evans GA over the course of two sessions, and then catching up with two schools who had been scheduled for quick drop-ins for World Read-Aloud Day but who got ice-stormed out.
It was a small but mighty group in St. Louis MO made up of avid readers who asked GREAT questions. Their teacher emailed later to let me know that one of her students left the meeting completely in AWE and said “my year has been made!” Isn’t that the kind of feedback that melts an author’s heart?
During one of the sessions with Riverside, a student who is writing a big fat fantasy novel with a friend came up to the screen and we had a GREAT discussion about what to do when you write yourself into a corner. At St. Pat’s in MI, we had a great conversation about how those things that challenge us also become our gifts.
I miss seeing readers in person, so it’s great to meet with kids through the ether this way.
