Jones, who serves as liaison for community partnerships and is also a board member of HFF, shared, “I am so proud and impressed with our students. The Ukraine Support Club was initiated by one of our high school students, James Kamm. He approached me earlier this year after creating a card to send to a student in Ukraine and wanted to be more involved. He inquired if he and a group of friends could have a more personal correspondence with high school students in Ukraine. I contacted the Hugs From Friends team and Natalia Chapovska, who is a HFF board member and is also Ukrainian, responded immediately and used her family contacts to make this connection possible.”

Prior to the virtual meeting, students from both AAA and Ukraine shared music playlists with one another to learn about each other's interests. The students were surprised to discover that much of the music they like is similar. Having this common interest allowed the conversation to flow easily. Students began asking questions about hobbies, studies, pets, food, and college. A big takeaway for AAA students was the level of fluency in English that their fellow Ukrainian students had as well as the number of languages that they can speak. (Thank you, students in Dnipro, you have inspired our kids to study harder for their English finals next week!). A second virtual meeting has been scheduled for next Friday, before school, as there is an eight-hour time difference, where AAA students will perform favorite songs from the playlist.

Thank you, James, Tyler, Mataline, Naylii, Charles, Jan, and Mr. Keith Todd, for your desire and willingness to support. Together we can all make a difference! And thank you to Hugs From Friends, Ms. Liza (high school teacher in Ukraine) and her students/ our new friends in Dnipro, for allowing us to participate in this school partnership opportunity. We look forward to our next meeting!

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