Sister City school administrators elected to city, regional councils in Ukraine

Lyceum “Leader” [is a] UNESCO associated school — school of new type, which was founded not so long ago but is quickly gaining popularity in the city. This year, according to the results of External Evaluation Exam it ranks among top ten of over three hundred secondary schools in the region taking the seventh place.

We are proud of our graduates, but it’s also the credit of their teachers, the Director and Deputy Directors. They do care about how the youth live, what kind of future awaits for them, what the school is like today and the dynamic of its future development. They do care about the development of their native city of Smila and the whole of Ukraine as well. And this was the reason why Sofia Gnidaya and Olha Mykhalchenko decided to try themselves in politics, particularly in local election race and win.

Sofia and Olha ran as candidates from different parties. However, they have a common dream — a happy future of our children, comfortable conditions for kids to live and study in, perfect facilities for getting good knowledge and then using them for the good of our city.

This is the message of Sofia, the Director of Lyceum, addressing the voters — “The future of Smila depends on young creative intelligent people. And the first thing to pay attention to is to create conditions for young people so that after graduating from universities and colleges they will come back to their home town willing to contribute to its development. By supporting the youth we can provide the present and the future of our town.”

Sofia Gnidaya is a highly respected director who has occupied this position for 23 years. She is Merited Teacher of Ukraine and has a lot of awards for the contribution to the development of education system of Ukraine. But the most important thing is the gratitude of hundreds of parents and students. No wonder, people voted for her as they believe her experience and enthusiasm will help make changes in Smila.

Olha Mykhalchenko, Deputy Director, has been working in the field of education for 30 years being the head of children’s vocal group, the member of Folk Amateur Choir “Zahrava.” Numerous awards of her students, the participants of various National and International music contests speak more than words in favour of her being elected the Deputy of the Regional Council.

Working with children for many years Olha came up with a lot of ideas that will be interesting and useful for the children and youth of Smila. In her view, friendship with foreign colleagues willing to cooperate in the field of education and culture will help to implement ambitious international projects aimed at the development and education of the younger generation. Olha has plans how to make the life [of] Smila children meaningful and interesting, and teachers’ work comfortable.

The Lyceum staff are proud of their colleagues being elected deputies of City and Regional Councils and believe they are the right personalities able to bring changes to the life of Smila citizens.

This article was translated from Ukrainian into English by Tetyana Yarmysh, English teacher methodologist and coordinator of all international projects at Lyceum “Leader,” who visited Newton in 2003. On Oct. 25, 2020, Lyceum administrators Sofia Gnidaya and Olha Mykhalchenko were elected deputies to the Smila City Council and the Regional Council, respectively. Olha visited Newton in 2011.