What next for School no 20?

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 1 September 2022

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Max, Alyona, Serhiy, Oleg, Alina and Vladyslav are leaving school this year - six 17 year olds full of dreams. Serhiy plans an epic bike ride; Max pours his heart into music - and they’ve all turned up for the prom that marks their passage into adulthood. But their school, School no. 20 in Chernihiv, has been shelled badly by the Russian army, and the school leavers face a future with none of the old certainties. In the early morning of February 24th, ’My mother came in and said that the war had begun… it was unreal,’ Alyona says ‘I just went back to bed thinking it was cool that I didn't have to go to school and could sleep in. And then, when I finally realised… it was as if someone took the ground from under your feet, and now you’re kind of weightless.’ Alina tells us of the weeks she spent in the cellar, sleeping on a shelf meant for jam and trying to revise by candle light. When the fighting died down, she made her way across her bombed city to charge her phone at a special park bench fitted with solar panels. All six have found themselves changed forever by the last few months. They are thinking deeply about what will happen next. Vlad is still planning to study IT, but who knows? ‘If my country needs me, then so be it. I’ll serve in the army.’ Yet despite it all, they are teenagers still. Toffee popcorn, model dragons, and dresses all feature in a documentary full of life. The teenagers plan to stay in touch with one another in the years to come, even if their lives are scattered. And Assignment plans to stay in touch with them too. Alyona reaches out in this first episode to other teens in Ukraine and the wider world. ‘I want to say to all the people who are safe - don’t feel bad about it. It’s fine that you can eat, or smile, or just go for a walk and enjoy your life in peace. You must live your life!’ With special thanks to Vladyslav Savenok and the staff and pupils at School no. 20, Chernihiv. Presenter: Olga Betko Producer: Monica Whitlock Editor: Penny Murphy Studio Managers: James Beard and Graham Puddifoot Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman (Image: Leavers from School no 20, Chernihiv, Ukraine. Credit: Vladyslav Savenok)

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's the last day of term in school number 20 in Chernihiv, Northern Ukraine.
0:11.0	Excited teenagers are waiting in the playground.
0:14.0	All their attention is on a special group, these 17-year-olds in the top class, year 11.
0:22.0	All dressed up for this, the graduation ceremony. Across their chests, white sushes, with inscriptions in big golden letters, graduate 2022.
0:39.0	I'm Olga Petko, and on these weeks the assignment on the BBC World Service will be meeting some of the levers from school number 20.
0:48.0	There are a bunch of friends who've known each other for most of their lives. They like bikes and pets and popcorn.
0:55.0	They plan to go to the union and stay friends no matter what. But then came the Russian invasion.
1:01.0	So what's the war being like for teenagers? And what will happen now to the class of 2022?
1:08.0	I am Natalia Malits, Director of Chernihiv School of International School of Arts, Chernihiv School of Arts and Chernihiv School of Arts.
1:17.0	Natalia Malits, the head teacher, felt the graduation had to go ahead, even though shelling has racked her school and made teaching impossible.
1:29.0	This day is important to me because it is important to the children.
1:34.0	Because on this day children leave the safety of their school. Our celebration is bit sweet. But we celebrate.
1:44.0	We celebrate it because this is the first step our school levers take into the adult life.
1:50.0	So despite all the awful circumstances of today, we are making a video for the children so that it stays in their memory.
2:01.0	Traditionally, today would have been a grand affair with a ball and staying up until dawn. But that's impossible in the war. And the teachers are improvising.
2:11.0	A farewell assembly, poems and then the levers will dance a formal waltz. Capture today on video for each one to keep.
2:22.0	If each graduation is a joy, mixed with little sadness, then perhaps this year's graduation is more sadness, mixed with joy.
2:40.0	Because looking at the children, their plans have been destroyed by their aggressor, the Russian Federation.
2:47.0	This video is for everyone to know, to understand that life goes on, in spite of everything.
2:57.0	Despite broken walls, broken dreams, plans, even homes of our children and teachers, we can show that life goes on.
3:10.0	And if someone has destroyed our home, they have not destroyed our desire to live.
3:17.0	I don't know what each of you is planning to do next, but I wish all your dreams to come true.
	...

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