HARTSDALE, N.Y. – I am a fifth grade student at Sacred Heart School in Hartsdale, N.Y., in Westchester. My teacher recently gave my class an assignment to choose any historic hero that changed the world. She wanted to make this a “wax museum” effect. Since I wanted to share my Ukrainian heritage, I decided to select the first and only Ukrainian female ruler of Ukraine – St. Princess Olha.
For the assignment, I had to create a timeline about the important times of her life, write a brief summary and deliver a speech based on the summary and timeline displayed on a poster board.
On February 1, the Grade 5 Wax Museum was open. We all had to look like the historical figures we learned about. To make myself resemble St. Princess Olha, I wore a green medieval dress with long sleeves, a gold crown with crosses, jewels, a veil, and a “gerdan” (a hand-beaded necklace that my sister Oriana crafted), and I held a wood-carved cross.
Our classroom was dark. When a visitor came to my desk and pressed a “wax museum” button, I put a flashlight under my face and recited the life of St. Princess Olha by memory.
This was an excellent and creative means to have an opportunity to look like someone who made a significant change in the world. St. Princess Olha was a revolutionary woman and powerful leader. She was the first Ukrainian ruler to accept Christianity and introduce the religion to Ukraine. It was her grandson, St. Volodymyr the Great, who later converted all of Ukraine to Christianity in 988.
I was very proud to teach my American friends about my Ukrainian history.
Ruslana Orysia Makar, 10, attends at Sacred Heart School in Hartsdale, N.Y. She is also in grade 5 at the Self-Reliance School of Ukrainian Studies, and is a member of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization and the Roma Pryma Bohachevsky dance group, all in New York City.