When it's just beginning to dawn in Calgary and evening has already fallen in Ukraine, an unusual audience gathers on Zoom: 30–45 Ukrainian schoolchildren from different regions of the country — including areas where danger is a daily reality. For them, this isn't just another online call: it's an hour when they can focus on the stars instead of their fears.
Lessons that bring back the feeling of “normal life”
Don Gladiyuk, a geoscientist from Calgary and a long-time popularizer of astronomy, connects every other Monday at 9:00 a.m. Calgary time. During the session, he explains constellations, celestial phenomena that can be observed, and topics that the students themselves ask to explore in more detail.
The format is as lively as possible: at the end, there is an interactive quiz with multiple-choice questions, followed by free discussion. It is this “informal part” that often becomes the warmest: children share news, ask questions, joke — and for a while, they can just be schoolchildren.
An important nuance: English proficiency is not a barrier. A moderator is present during the lessons to help with translation and keep the conversation flowing.
How this initiative came about
Gladiyuk joined the volunteer program in July through the educational initiative Vchysia, which supports students and teachers who remain in Ukraine or were forced to leave after the start of the full-scale war. He also has a personal connection to Ukraine: his grandparents were from there, so he was looking for a practical way to help.
He learned about the volunteer opportunity from his friend and former teacher Julia Vovkadov, who was already conducting online English meetings. That's how the idea was born: to combine conversation practice with a topic that can “spark the imagination” even in the most difficult circumstances.
“Vchysya”: education that relies on people
The Vchysya organization has been operating in its current format since 2024 and focuses on supporting children whose education is constantly interrupted by air raid sirens, displacement, power outages, and general instability.
Project manager Olena Zhupanova says that the English program involves 35 volunteers from different countries who conduct 12–16 classes per week. The goal is simple and very specific: to help children catch up and stay in school despite the war.
Why astronomy “works” for children
Lessons about space have a special effect — and this is evident even through the screen:
- They provide a break without escaping reality. There is a topic where you can be “in the normal world” for at least an hour.
- They naturally improve English skills. Questions and dialogues arise naturally because space is truly interesting.
- They restore a sense of control. When there is a lot of uncertainty around, it is important to have an area where you can understand, ask questions, and get answers.
- Reminds you of your connection to the world. Space is a universal topic that unites people on different continents.
Regularity as a form of support
In this story, the most telling thing is the everyday nature of “every other Monday.” It is regularity that turns the lesson into a point of reference — small but predictable. Sometimes this is enough for a child to feel like a child again, rather than a person whose life is constantly “rewritten” by sirens and power outages.
Source: CBC News (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-scientist-astronomy-lessons-ukraine-9.7017778).