High school students of Lyceum No. 10 named after Volodymyr Korolenko of the Poltava City Council and the Kremenchug Sports Lyceum named after Ivan Piddubny took part in the entrepreneurship and innovation camp in the Kutsk community in the Ivano-Frankivsk region.
The educational innovation camp took place within the framework of the Ukrainian-Taiwan project “Leave no one behind partnership” and became a unique opportunity for teenagers from Poltava region and Carpathian region to gain new knowledge, skills and make acquaintances. The schoolchildren spent several days in the mountain community, learned about traditions and local crafts, and were interested in the culture of the region.
“We have already held 21 entrepreneurship and innovation camps,” said Ulyana Pak, coordinator of the “Leave no one behind partnership” project. This camp is special because it has children from two regions. Two dozen teenagers from Poltava and Kremenchuk came to the Starokut Lyceum of the Kut Settlement Council.”
Six teams from three schools presented their own unique business ideas. From services to innovative developments. For example, the team of Lyceum No. 10 of the Poltava City Council presented the idea of producing a unique alloy of materials.
“On the first day, we needed to create a prototype of an accessory for a gadget. Our team has come up with a case with cooling properties that will protect the device from overheating. Later, we decided that it is possible to develop cooling parts for any equipment,” says Maria Klepets, an eleventh-grader from Poltava. Of course, a specific material has not yet been invented, research and experiments are needed. According to the ideas of young innovators, these could be metal alloys capable of absorbing heat.
The next task from the camp coaches was a round of business negotiations between the teams. The goal is to defend one’s own position, convince rival teams and agree on a mutually beneficial partnership.
“In communication with peers, children learn to defend their own interests, to compromise for the sake of certain goals. We introduce teenagers to tools that develop entrepreneurship and innovation. Design-thinking, negotiation skills are needed not only when developing a business, but also when solving any life situations,” emphasizes trainer, assistant of the Department of Applied Economics and Business of the Faculty of Applied Sciences of UCU Maksym Kolyada.
According to the terms of the educational charity project, after successful presentations, teams from three schools received certificates for computer equipment for computer science classrooms. Deputy Director of Educational Work of the Kremenchug Sports Lyceum named after Ivan Piddubny, Poltava Regional Council Victoria Saiko noted that new equipment is very necessary and this is also the motivation for the participation of lyceum students in the project.
Victoria Zamula, teacher of informatics and technologies at Lyceum No. 10 named after V.G. Korolenko of the Poltava City Council became a laureate of the regional competition “Teacher of the Year” last year. She uses interactive teaching methods and encourages colleagues to use technologies in the educational process.
“In my classes, children immediately scan a QR code, follow a link, and do puzzles. And already, based on this completed puzzle, they will learn the topics of the project, the lesson”, – Victoria recommends giving children useful links, pages where they can quickly find more useful information. In her opinion, students should be carefully trained to work with artificial intelligence. The team of Poltava Lyceum No. 10 includes prize winners of competitions of the Small Academy of Sciences, winners of the regional Olympiad, and representatives of student self-government. The teaching staff is constantly looking for opportunities to raise funds for the modernization of the educational institution, which currently has 860 students. Last year, they applied for participation in the charity project “Leave no one behind partnership” and will soon be able to exchange the certificate for a set of modern laptops.
The project “Leave no one behind partnership” is implemented by the NGO “All-Ukrainian Democratic Forum” with the support of Taiwan and with the assistance of People’s Deputy Mykola Kniazhytskyi. As part of the initiative, training camps were held in Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv regions, and 69 participating schools received modern technical equipment from the Taiwanese company Acer. In total, the project will cover a hundred educational institutions from three regions.
“We are implementing the project with the support of the people of Taiwan. This is the synergy of two states that stand for democracy. In order to win, we must educate children qualitatively, create the best educational conditions for them. Technological and intellectual development will be a guarantee of our future strength, stability and security”, – founder of the NGO “All-Ukrainian Democratic Forum” Mykola Kniazhytskyi.
