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Well wishes from Scranton: Students make cards for hospitalized children in Ukraine

Howard Gardner second grader Ryan Greene prepares a greeting card for a child in Ukraine.
Aimee Dilger
/
WVIA News
Howard Gardner second grader Ryan Greene prepares a greeting card for a child in Ukraine.

Students in Scranton carefully copied Ukrainian words, soon to be read by hospitalized children in a country at war. The children at the Howard Gardner Multiple Intelligence Charter School read the English translations.

“You’re an example of courage for all of us.”

“Wishing you strength and a quick recovery.”

“You are a true hero.”

The cards, made Thursday at the East Mountain school, will be attached to teddy bears. The Scranton Rotary Club joined other clubs and will send the greetings and $300,000 worth of medical equipment to Ukraine next month. The items will be shipped to southeast Ukraine, barraged by missiles and fighting since Russia’s invasion almost three years ago.

Children who receive the teddy bears, including the cards decorated with the country’s colors, will be recovering from injuries or receiving treatment for chronic illnesses.

“These are kids that have seen unbelievable evil and darkness, destruction and war. No child should have to go through that,” said Joe Riccardo, a Scranton Rotary board member.

Children from the Gardner school, many adorned in festive holiday attire, sought blue and yellow crayons to draw flags and hearts.

Annabelle Moyer, a second grade student at the Howard Gardner school looks at greetings written in Ukrainian to make a card for a child in Ukraine.
Aimee Dilger
/
WVIA News
Annabelle Moyer, a second grade student at the Howard Gardner school, looks at greetings written in Ukrainian to make a card for a child in Ukraine.

“It's a great service learning exercise for them, as well as really doing something good,” Riccardo said. “I think they understand the magnitude of what they're doing.”

Photos from bombed hospitals and other catastrophic damage in Ukraine hung on a wall.

“I feel very sorry for them. It is a very scary place, and I just hope that they feel safe with their parents and or if they don't have parents, their guardians.” said 9-year-old Olivia Catalano, a fourth grader. “I just hope that they have a good holiday.”

The activity was especially meaningful for world languages instructor Zlata Korniichuk, who fled Ukraine early on in the war and joined her boyfriend in Pennsylvania. She began teaching Spanish and Ukrainian at the school in January 2023.

“I'm extremely honored, and at the same time humbled to be part of this very meaningful project provided by the Scranton Rotary Club,” she said. “Words cannot simply describe how grateful I am.”

World languages instructor Zlata Korniichuk, a native of Ukraine, collects cards to be sent to Ukraine from fifth grader Lila Tschampel.
Aimee Dilger
/
WVIA News
World languages instructor Zlata Korniichuk, a native of Ukraine, collects cards to be sent to Ukraine from fifth grader Lila Tschampel.

Sarah Hofius Hall worked at The Times-Tribune in Scranton since 2006. For nearly all of that time, Hall covered education, visiting the region's classrooms and reporting on issues important to students, teachers, families and taxpayers.

You can email Sarah at sarahhall@wvia.org