Monday, November 26, 2012
The Ukrainian students weren’t the only ones who came away fulfilled. Host families, mentors and their families back home all gained from the experience.
The group of Ukrainian students visiting Hopkins has had no shortage of experiences since the students arrived Oct. 31. The youth—whose visit was part of an exchange program with Hopkins’ sister city, Boryspil—got to experience Halloween, Election Day, Thanksgiving and, of course, Black Friday. They toured the state Capitol, local companies and Hopkins facilities. And they developed plans for how they can be leaders back in their home country. But the teens weren’t the only ones enriched by the experience. The support network around them—host families, stateside mentors who talked with them about their experiences and their families back home—all benefited. Read below to see how the program affected a representative from each of those …
Sunday, November 18, 2012
The students visited Spirit of Hope United Methodist to pack books that Children’s Chance is shipping to Kiev.
- VOLUNTEERS IN THE NEWS
- James Warden
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Sunday, November 18, 2012
The students visiting from Hopkins’ sister city of Boryspil have done a lot since they traveled to Minnesota from Ukraine. They’ve seen the state’s landmarks, toured major businesses and shadowed local students at Hopkins schools. And on Sunday, they loaded boxes into a shipping container. The boxes weren’t just about manual labor, though. Hopkins nonprofit Children’s Chance is shipping 25,000 books to the Ukraine to help people there learn English. So the Boryspil students sang hymns and listened to the message at the Spirit of Hope United Methodist service in Golden Valley and then loaded 486 boxes into a cargo container destined for Kiev. Children’s Chance has been delivering books to other countries since 1979. It’s made shipments to …
Friday, November 9, 2012
Ninth grader Dmytro Deyneko, who’s from Hopkins’ sister city of Boryspil, praised a process so many American take for granted.
Americans have no shortage of complaints about their electoral system: There are too many negative ads. There’s too much money. The campaigns are too contentious. But that’s not the way a visiting Ukrainian student from Hopkins’ sister city of Boryspil sees it. Ninth grader Dmytro Deyneko is one of several Ukrainian students in the community as part of The Ukraine/Minnesota Civic Leadership Engagement Program for Youth. The students are attending local schools, participating in civic leadership development activities and sharing their thoughts with the Minnesota youth. As part of the program, Deyneko got to observe this year’s election process. When the City Council officially welcomed the students Wednesday, Deyneko took that as an …
Monday, October 22, 2012
Last-minute changes forced some families to drop out.
Organizers of the upcoming sister city visit are looking for more host families to step in for those families whose schedules couldn’t accommodate the last-minute changes brought on by visa difficulties. The Ukraine/Minnesota Civic Leadership Engagement Program for Youth brings young civic leaders together to learn from one another. Boryspil students learn about community engagement in Minnesota, and the American students learn about “challenges faced in an emerging democracy,” according to a description of the program. The students will attend local schools, participate in civic leadership development activities and share their perspectives, hopes and challenges with the Minnesota youth. Families must willing to provide a bed and daily …
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
The State Department says the Ukrainian students need a different type of visa in order to visit Minnesota.
The U.S. Embassy is standing in the way of a Hopkins sister city exchange trip that is supposed to happen this fall, according to program organizers. Although the embassy granted security clearance for the Ukrainians who are supposed to visit Minnesota between Sept. 15 and Oct. 13, it denied their request for visitors visas because it said they need student exchange visas instead, said Richard Fursman, president of executive search firm Brimeyer Fursman and one of the sister city organizers. “It is completely baffling,” Fursman said. The Ukraine/Minnesota Civic Leadership Engagement Program for Youth is intended to bring young civic leaders together to learn from one another. Students from Hopkins’ sister city of Boryspil learn about …
Friday, September 23, 2011
A delegation from the Ukrainian city will visit Hopkins on Tuesday.
Earlier this year, city officials announced that Hopkins and Boryspil had become sister cities following Mayor Gene Maxwell’s trip to the Ukrainian city. On Tuesday, a delegation from Boryspil will visit Hopkins, tour local facilities and meet with civic organizations and business leaders. Hopkins will also host a “Sister City Celebration” from 7 p.m. to 8:30 pm that evening at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. The celebration is open to the public and will include a sister cities announcement and ceremony, a short performance by Stages Theatre Company and music by the JT Bates Quartet and Crooked Grass. Tickets are $5 and available at Hopkins City Hall, Driskill’s and Midnite Market. Maxwell was one of nine Twin Cities representatives who …
