High school students at the Academy of Innovation in Gainesville recently honored victims of the Ukrainian war with a couple of class projects.
The students decorated Pysanky eggs and planted sunflowers, both of which have a connection to the Eastern European country.
"Some of them were frustrated at the actual work with the eggs because it really is difficult to use hot wax to write with a tiny stylus onto an egg and try to be precise with it," said Sandy Blankenship, a high school teacher at Academy of Innovation. "Tt was frustrating, but it was rewarding in the end, I think."
Pysanky eggs are small eggs decorated with wax using a small stylus. The Ukrainian tradition takes place around Easter each year- similar to that of an American Easter egg.
Sunflowers were named the national flower of Ukraine following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
"Sunflowers were used to help clean up the area after the Chernobyl accident, and they pulled the toxins from the soil and were then declared as the national flower of Ukraine," said Blankenship.
Blankenship said she wanted the students to learn about Ukraine without focusing on the current destruction. They decorated the eggs and planted the sunflowers themselves, taking some of the eggs home and using some as fertilizer for the sunflowers.
"We were very pleased with that and kind of made us feel a connection with Ukrainian culture," said Blankenship.
The sunflowers themselves will take around two-and-a-half months to grow and bloom, but Blankenship said the students will tend to them along the way. The sunflowers were planted in a garden outside the school made specially for the project.
"They've taken some ownership over the projects and yes, indeed they are concerned about Ukraine for sure."
