In Kryvyi Rih, the repair of the shelter for 1,149 schoolchildren of the local lyceum №35 “Impulse” is being completed. 700 of them have already returned to offline studying! The shelter was arranged by the KSE Foundation thanks to the contribution of the largest partner of the All-Ukrainian program “ZAKHYSTOK: Safe Education” – Raiffeisen Bank, and with the assistance of the city authorities.
Together with Raiffeisen Bank, the KSE Foundation team has already completed the repair of shelters in 11 schools and kindergartens. Together, we managed to return thousands of children back to the desks.
The renovated shelter of the Kryvyi Rih Lyceum with an area of 600 square meters will make it possible to resume face-to-face classes not only for lyceum students (they study in shifts), but also for the art school next door – the shelter is used by 200 of its pupils.
To inspect the final progress of works in the shelter, a representative from Raiffeisen Bank Artem Nidzelskyi, as well as the head of the Defense Council of Kryvyi Rih Oleksandr Vilkul, visited the educational institution today.
“It is important that such projects as “ZAKHYSTOK” exist and develop, because safe and high-quality education is an investment in the future of Ukraine. Today we are at Kryvyi Rih Lyceum №35 “Impulse”, where, thanks to the support of Raiffeisen Bank, the arrangement of the shelter is already approaching the finish line and more than 1,000 students of the lyceum will soon return to effective full-time studies,” – says Artem Nidzelskyi, director of the South-East region for retail business.
In order to make the room not only convenient and comfortable for children, but also to increase the space in accordance with the norms of the State Emergency Service, the height of the basement was increased by 50 centimeters. Also, a cement-sand screed was installed here, all surfaces were painted, toilet cubicles were installed, lighting was installed and 100 soft benches for children were purchased.
“At the very beginning, we could not accommodate more than 50 children in the shelter. Then we equipped one room by ourselves, so the shelter could protect 150 students at the same time. But there still wasn’t normal lighting and toilets inside, there was clay on the floor,” – recalls Raisa Lysenko, director of Kryvyi Rih Lyceum №35 “Impulse”.
In the shelter, it remains to complete the installation of ventilation and install partitions in the toilets, but the shelter already protects children during air alarms:
“Now we have the opportunity to allocate a place for each class and put rows of desks with benches. Teachers are already conducting play-based learning in the shelter. Parents and students are very satisfied with the new conditions, and the team is very grateful to the team of Raiffeisen Bank and the charity foundation of the Kyiv School of Economics for arranging such a space,” – says director of lyceum Raisa Lysenko.
On the 24th of February this shelter became a refuge for 150 local people, where they hid from russian shelling. Three classrooms were filled with humanitarian aid for forced migrants, of whom, according to official data, there are 75,000 in Kryvyi Rih. The school still continues to make trench candles and weave nets for defenders, and this year it is preparing to open the Point of Invincibility, which will work in case of blackouts – it was opened with funds from the city budget.
Kryvyi Rih Lyceum №35 “Impulse” has been operating for almost 50 years. Last year, the educational institution was ranked seventh in the Dnipropetrovsk region in terms of the NMT (National Multi-subject Test) completion rating. In the 2023 academic year, 14 students of the lyceum graduated with a gold medal, two graduates scored 200 points during taking the NMT (National Multi-subject Test) in mathematics!
Even during the big war, school children continue to win awards. Over the past year, 11th-grader Ivan took first place at the All-Ukrainian contest “Tell about the war.” He wrote an essay about his father, who is currently in russian captivity and fought at the plant “Azovstal” in Mariupol. And Kateryna, a high school student, took 2nd place in the regional stage of the protection of her work with the National Academy of Sciences on the history of the streets of Kryvyi Rih.
Arrangement of shelters is implemented within the framework of the All-Ukrainian program “ZAKHYSTOK: Safe Education” from the KSE Foundation. You can apply for shelter repair by filling out the form at the link: https://foundation.kse.ua/en/safe-education. On the same page, you can make a charitable contribution to support the initiative.