UKELODEON: For The Next Generation (06/12/05)

UKELODEON

For The Next Generation

World traveler Magister Mykhailo visits America

by Ivanka Bihun

GOSHEN, N.Y. - In November our SUM group (riy) the Vovky (Wolves), sent a letter to invite a furry SUMivets to our oseredok to spend the winter with us. Magister Mykhailo is a stuffed brown teddy bear "born"/created in Canada. He travels all over the world where SUM (Ukrainian American Youth Association) exists and teaches SUMivtsi about other fellow members around the globe.

He travels with a backpack filled with pictures, letters and articles about the places he's been to and the SUMivtsi he has met. His travels so far have taken him to Ukraine, Great Britain, Australia and now the United States.

He came to our branch on the eve of St. Andriy's feast day, just in time to spend Andriyivskyi Vechir with us. Everyone was happy to meet him - except for Tania and Danylo, who wanted a real live bear! We presented him with a jar of honey. He arrived dressed in his SUM uniform and a beret on his head.

Because bears usually sleep through the winter, Mykhailo had never attended the festivities of Andriyivskyi Vechir. Nonetheless, he eagerly participated. One counselor, Podruha Hanusia, read his fortune by letting wax from a lit candle drop into water and seeing what shape it took. His fortune said he still had a long trip ahead of him.

Magister Mykhailo attended our weekly SUM meetings, and participated as we cheered on the Orange Revolution in Ukraine. During the Christmas holidays, he went caroling with us to Ukrainian homes in Kerhonkson, N.Y., where he met another Magister Mykhailo. But this one was a man, not a bear.

He also went with us on our field trip to the Ashokan Preserve, where he learned how to make maple syrup. He also watched us in the tin smithing shop as we made and decorated candleholders and dust pans. At the Ashokan preserve he met other SUMivtsi from a branch in Whippany, N.J. which is where he went when he left us.

We will miss Magister Mykhailo, but we wish him a safe and pleasant journey as he travels to other branches in the U.S. and the world.

Ivanka Bihun, 11, is a member of SUM's branch in Goshen, N.Y.

Whippany SUM members prepare Easter baskets

by Daniel Odomirok, Victoria Mosuriak,
Tim Gbur and Bohdon Woch

WHIPPANY, N.J. - On Good Friday, March 25, young members of the Whippany branch of SUM (Ukrainian American Youth Association) gathered together to prepare 14 Easter baskets for elderly or sick parishioners of St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Whippany.

We included many different foods of Ukrainian tradition and colorful hand-drawn cards created by the younger SUMivtsi. Kovbasa, ham, butter, cream cheese, eggs and babka were some of the foods that were placed into each basket. We first put butter and cream cheese into single-small cups. After that we also placed beets into small cups and organized what should be placed into the baskets. Next we decorated the baskets with colorful paper and ribbons, and placed all the food into each basket.

When the youngest members finished coloring hard-boiled eggs, we placed those into each basket as well. Huge chunks of horseradish and a pysanka finished off the baskets.

We enjoyed doing this activity because we knew that someone who lived alone was going to have a better Easter. Father Roman Mirchuk, our pastor, blessed the baskets especially for us after the plashchanytsiya (holy shroud) service so that SUM families could deliver them.

As the children and parents delivered these hand-made baskets to the parishioners, their reactions were heartwarming. In the end we decided to do this on every holiday because it made us and the parishioners feel so happy.

Along with making Easter baskets, we also planted flowers around the church so that it would look nicer.

Daniel Odomirok, Victoria Mosuriak, Tim Gbur and Bohdon Woch are members of the Mesnyky group (riy) in the Whippany branch of SUM.

School choir has once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: to perform for president of Ukraine

by Alexandra Savoia

CHICAGO - On Monday, April 4, our choir from St. Nicholas Ukrainian Cathedral School, Dzvinochky, had a golden and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to welcome the president of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, to our city of Chicago.

When we were told that we were going to sing for him, we were so awestruck that we didn't know how to act. Because we learned so much about Mr. Yushchenko and the Orange Revolution in school and on the news, and because we all supported him, this was going to be the acme of our efforts. We couldn't put straight in our minds that we were actually going to see him!

During our Easter break we came every day to school for long practices so we could superlatively portray and represent St. Nicholas School.

On April 4 our choir assembled in school a little before 4 p.m. and then drove to the Palmer House Hilton in downtown Chicago, where there was an extravagant banquet for President Yushchenko. When we finally arrived, we immediately went to see the stage where we would be performing and we practiced our songs several times. After that, we were sent to the room we were going to be waiting until we were called to perform. We enjoyed a delicious dinner while we patiently waited six hours until they called us to the stage.

We then asended a tiny stage which Mrs. Dychiy, our choir's conductor, set us up on. And we waited some more. Guests began to gather in the room. We stretched our necks looking to see whether or not President Yushchenko had entered. Someone unexpectedly did enter the room, but it wasn't Victor Yushchenko. As we took a closer look we saw Vitalii Klitschko, the world heavyweight boxing champion. He came straight to us, shook our hands with a very strong grip and took many pictures with us.

At last, President Yushchenko, his wife, Kateryna Chumachenko Yushchenko, and Mayor Richard M. Daley walked into the room. We stood enthralled and frozen from excitement, not believing what was in front of our eyes! Members of the Ukrainian dance ensemble Hromovytsia welcomed the president and his wife with the traditional bread and salt. The eager crowd sat down.

The music began to play, and we sang "National Independence," "Together We Are Many" and "Ukraino" in Ukrainian. The president's wife proudly smiled, with tears in her eyes, and the president smiled and looked very pleased. Tears began to come to my eyes too, because I felt so proud of my nation and the man who made such a difference, Viktor Yushchenko.

After we sang, we were immediately taken from the hall and sent to our buses back to school. On the bus we shouted, laughed and were so exultant that we had had such a wonderful opportunity. This occasion will remain in my heart forever and it will linger in my mind always.

Alexandra Savoia is an eighth grader at St. Nicholas Ukrainian Cathedral School in Chicago.

Fairs present great opportunity for budding young scientists

by Mariana Perepitchka

I am in the eighth grade at Chicago's St. Nicholas Ukrainian Cathedral School. Each year a science fair is held under the direction of our great science teacher Mrs. Luba Z. Klymkowych, in which every student must take part.

Science projects always require a great amount of work, time and dedication. One of the most difficult steps in the science project process is choosing an interesting and a right topic. The topic that I chose this year is "Extracting Essential Oils."

This project has given me success at our school's Annual Science Fair, where I was awarded first place and received the chance to go on to the Regional Illinois Junior Academy of Science (IJAS) competition for private schools at the Science and Industry Museum.

At the 2005 Regional Awards Ceremony of the IJAS - Region 2 - Chicago and Metropolitan Area, I was presented with the gold semi-finalist award. I was presented with two other awards: the Superior Achievement Award and a $50 U.S. Savings Bond. I was simply overwhelmed with happiness that my project was recognized among hundreds of others.

Moreover, I was proud to be selected to present my project in the State Science Fair Competition at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana campus.

Mishanyna

Now with the summer almost here, it's that time of year when you begin to notice the creatures all around you in the great outdoors, including bugs!!!! Find the names of the insects on the list below in the Mishanyna grid.

ant, aphid, beetle, butterfly, firefly, grasshopper, hornet, housefly, katydid, locust, mosquito, no-see-um, walking stick

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