UKELODEON: For The Next Generation (02/09/03)

UKELODEON

For The Next Generation

Plast youths enjoy 24th Ski Camp at Gore Mountain

NORTH CREEK, N.Y. - The 24th Plast Ski Camp organized by the Burlaky fraternity was held here in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York during the Christmas break, December 25-31, 2002. It was perhaps the largest group of skiers and snowboarders ever as 124 youths between the ages of 11 and 18 were registered; the camp command and administration comprised 38 persons.

The camp got off to a most interesting start as a huge blizzard hit the Northeastern U.S. on Christmas, the day the camp began. This made it slow going for campers arriving by car. And, it caused delays in the arrival of two busloads of Plast youths from New York and New Jersey, among them campers from Texas and California. Others, including participants from Chicago and Detroit, were delayed as their flights were diverted and/or postponed.

The campers were housed at a motel in Glens Falls, N.Y., and were bused each day to the slopes at Gore Mountain, where they had daily ski lessons given by professional instructors plus time to perfect their skills as they skied with their friends.

The camp program also included outings, such as one to a hockey game, the annual election of the most popular male and female campers (the "Snihovyi Did" and "Snizhynka"), and a humorous St. Nicholas program complete with fun gifts.

Each camper received a long-sleeved camp shirt, camp badge, postcard, souvenir camp booklet, group photo of all the campers and a CD with assorted camp photos. Many were able to earn Plast merit badges in skiing.

* * *

To find out just what attracts young Plast members to this very popular camp, UKELODEON's own reporter, Petro Pytaye, asked several first-time participants what they liked about the ski camp. Following are their comments.

Andrew Melnyk, 12, Long Valley, N.J.: What I liked the most about ski camp was getting our own rooms [there were four campers to a room]. It was fun to be on our own. Another thing that was most fun was actually being there and skiing. The skiing at Gore Mountain was great and it was a lot of fun sharing it with my friends.

Christine Wirstiuk, 12, Philadelphia: It was the best "tabir" ever because I learned how to ski, I got to see my friends from Vovcha Tropa [the Plast camp in East Chatham, N.Y.] from various states, and we got hotel rooms.

Paul Hadzewycz, 11, Morristown, N.J.: Ski camp was awesome. The things I liked best about this camp were the skiing itself - there was something like two and a half feet of fresh snow - and seeing friends from different states.

Arianna Lebed, 12, Parsippany, N.J.: What I liked about ski camp was that it was a lot of fun. And, it was easy meeting new people.

Ohio student keeps racking up science awards, achievements

NORTH ROYALTON, Ohio - Ulyana Horodysky, who by now must be a familiar face and name to UKELODEON readers, keeps racking up those awards and achievements.

Most recently she was selected for membership in the National Society of High School Scholars, which annually inducts the most exceptional high school upperclassmen into its ranks. Membership is by invitation only, which is extended by Claes Nobel, honorary chairman of the society. (Yes, he is related to the Nobels who in 1901 established the prestigious Nobel Prizes in literature, medicine, chemistry and physics, plus the Nobel Peace Prize.)

During the summer of 2002, Ulyana won first place in the international competition "First Step to Nobel Prize in Physics," which is conducted by the Institute of Physics at the Polish Academy of Science in Warsaw, Poland. The research reports of the five winners - which included two from Latvia, two from Singapore, plus Ulyana from the United States - are to be published this spring.

In January of this year, Ulyana was named a semifinalist in the Intel Science Talent Search, which is often considered the "Junior Nobel Prize." She is one of 300 semifinalists selected from a field of 1,581 applicants.

Obviously, Ulyana Horodysky is poised to go places. Remember that name. Who knows, perhaps somewhere down the line we will be reading about her winning THE Nobel Prize.

A little artist's works on exhibit

MILLBURN, N.J. - Sophia Stockert's artwork was selected to be on display at the Millburn Education Center at 434 Millburn Ave. in December and January. Sophia is 6 years old and attends kindergarten at Wyoming School in Millburn, N.J.

Mishanyna

Following up on last month's Mishanyna, which was prepared with the National Geography Bee in mind, this month we have another challenge. Four groups of countries appear below: first come the names of countries that border on Ukraine. Then come the names of Ukraine's Black Sea neighbors. Next, there are the names of countries that are part of the regional alliance that goes by the acronym of GUUAM. And, finally, there are the names of the three Baltic states, located immediately to the north of Ukraine's northern neighbor Belarus.

Your assignment is to name the countries whose capital cities are listed below. We've given you a clue by providing the first letter of each country's name and spaces corresponding to the number of letters that follow. Then, search for the names of those countries in the Mishanyna grid above. Please note: some of the countries appear in more than one category, but their name appears only once in the grid. So, the challenge is to find the names of 15 countries in our Mishanyna.

Happy hunting!

Bordering countries:

Bratislava - S _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Bucharest - R _ _ _ _ _ _
Budapest - H _ _ _ _ _ _
Chisinau - M _ _ _ _ _ _
Miensk - B _ _ _ _ _ _
Moscow - R _ _ _ _ _
Warsaw - P _ _ _ _ _

Black Sea neighbors:

Ankara - T _ _ _ _ _
Bucharest - R _ _ _ _ _ _
Moscow - R _ _ _ _ _
Sofia - B _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tbilisi - G _ _ _ _ _ _

GUUAM countries:

Tbilisi - G_ _ _ _ _ _
Kyiv - Ukraine
Tashkent - U _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Baku - A _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Chisinau - M _ _ _ _ _ _

Baltic states:

Riga - _ _ _ _ _ _
Tallinn - _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Vilnius - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

ATTENTION!

Ukrainian elementary and secondary schools, and schools of Ukrainian studies:

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