It was wonderful to speak with avid readers from Southside JH this morning. It was great to answer some very good questions and some of them were ones I had never been asked by students before. What I particularly enjoyed were the connections that students made between the Holodomor and the current war in Ukraine, and between Stalin and Putin. One student asked how an American kid could help people in Ukraine. I told them that if they wanted to raise money, the best place to donate is the US-Ukraine Foundation but also said that doing things that keep the reality of war in Ukraine in the minds of regular people was very important too. There’s a simple way to keep it in people’s minds and that’s to follow #KidsFleeWar on social media and to share the images. What is #KidsFleeWar? The Shevchenko Foundation, myself and educators from across Canada who have Ukrainian refugee kids in their schools have been facilitating and sharing artwork about the war from a child’s perspective. Following, commenting and sharing these images keeps the injustices of the war on the radar of regular people but it also gives a voice to kids. I also host those pics on my website here.
Southside students were introduced to Winterkill and the Holodomor many weeks ago by their librarian, Jenna Remedies-France. Many thanks to HREC ED for funding this visit. Here is a quote from Jenna: I read Winterkill a few weeks ago; I absolutely LOVED it! I have to be honest and say that I had never heard of the Holodomor before, much less knew anything substantial about it. I love history! I cannot believe that in all my schooling it was never brought up. Thank you for writing such a beautiful book about this tragic time in history. The story deserves to be told, read, and known by everyone. I will definitely do my part in making that happen! Jenna Remedies-France, Middle School Librarian, Southside Junior High, Denham Springs, Louisiana
