Ukraine Campaign Winter 2024-25
The challenges facing ORT’s educational communities in Ukraine are even more urgent today than when the war started three years ago.
The ongoing conflict has deeply affected our students, teachers, and their families. It is not just the classroom environment that has faced significant disruption; it is their daily lives, their safety, and their physical and mental wellbeing.
Despite these challenges, ORT Ukraine’s commitment to maintaining educational excellence remains steadfast.
This winter, as temperatures dropped, the situation has become even more dire. With extensive damage to the country’s energy infrastructure, we face the very real threat of extended power outages, leaving schools without electricity, water, and heating. It is critical that we ensure our schools can continue to operate safely and effectively under these harsh conditions.
That is why World ORT’s immediate priority is to raise the funds necessary to make our schools energy-independent, ensuring learning can continue without disruption, no matter the circumstances. But our work will not stop there.
We are also focused on providing comprehensive support to address the broader needs of our school communities across Ukraine, from financial aid for staff and infrastructure improvements to psychological services for those affected by the trauma of war.
Your support is crucial. Since February 2022 we have together raised millions of dollars, already providing stability, continuity, and hope to students and families who desperately need it.
The stakes remain high, but with your help, we can ensure that our commitment to education — and to each and every student — is upheld.
Thank you for standing with us. Thank you for your generosity. Together, we will face these challenges, make a difference and continue to have an impact through education.
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Urgent Needs
We have identified more than a dozen areas of urgent need across ORT Ukraine’s areas of operation:
Winter Needs – including blankets, fleece jackets, thermoses. Funding needed: $62,000
Electrical System at Odesa School – overhaul of power system to ensure safety and functionality. $100,000
Professional Development for Teachers – training projects including webinars, online courses and specialist materials. $43,000
Meals for Shelters – feeding students during prolonged bombing and missile attacks. $40,000
Renovation of Hebrew Classroom in Odesa – new floor, waterproofing, heating improvements etc to create safe learning environment. $33,000
Support for Jewish Formal Education – supplementary payments for Hebrew studies teachers. $31,500
Training for School Psychologists – specialist training for 13 psychologists in 10 educational institutions. $21,710
Continuing Support for Trauma Counselling – funding for our psychological support project covering art therapy, self-regulation techniques, group interaction strategies and psychoeducation for students, teachers and parents. $15,200
Security at Zaporizhzhia and Bila Tserkva Schools – professional security services until summer 2025. $15,600
Meals at Chernivtsi school – providing hot lunches to students in one of the poorest regions of the country, with many families displaced by the war. $50,000
Internet and Networking Equipment for Shelters – installation of fiber internet and reduced power consumption operations. $4,000
Jewish Education Needs – Marking Jewish holidays and other events. $50,000
Power Supply Needs – batteries for schools ($90,000), generator maintenance in all ORT schools ($99,000)
We are seeking an additional $1.5 million to enhance our schools’ energy independence via integrated inverters, solar panels and generators. These would address the expected 16-17 hours of daily blackouts during the winter which are the result of 80 percent of Ukraine’s energy system being disabled.
A new hybrid energy system would be low-maintenance and could operate for between three and five years, reducing long-term operational costs.
Victoria, Informatics and Technology teacher, Odesa ORT Lyceum #94
It’s a hard time for Ukraine. The war has changed my life and the lives of my students. We were happy to start the ORT STEAM project in 2020. My colleagues and I did our best to give our students a high-quality education and the vision of a future profession in STEAM. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude for the support we have received during these trying circumstances.
I work with students across different grades in computer science and technology lessons. Our curriculum focused on essential skills such as information processing, programming and robotics, all designed to ignite their curiosity and creativity. We create and use expanded educational materials for our lessons.
In the first semester of the 2023-24 school year, we conducted classes online only. I adapted our lessons to ensure that all students had access to resources, including video recordings of our sessions. In December 2023 the school’s shelter was opened, and the majority of the students came back to school. Transitioning back to in-person classes has brought a new level of enthusiasm. Although we faced interruptions due to air raid alerts and power outages, the joy of seeing students work together in person has been invaluable.
ORT extra-curricular lessons are very popular among our students – Lego modelling, robotics and introductions for IT for students from the 2nd Grade up. During these lessons, students study the practice of basic principles of STEAM and explore concepts of modeling, project design and teamwork. Even during air raid alerts, we persevere and continue our lessons, building models in the safety of bomb shelters. It was inspiring to witness the resilience and enthusiasm of my students, who often expressed joy and excitement while learning.
As we move forward in the new school year, I am determined to continue nurturing my students’ curiosity and passion for technology. I believe that education is a powerful tool that can help us overcome adversity.
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Alexandra, 11th grade student, Chernivtsi Lyceum "ORT" №15
We celebrated Tu Bishvat in January. This holiday is a great opportunity to emphasize the close connection between man and nature because the tree is a symbol of life, growth and rebirth. The New Year of the Trees reminds us that every human being, like a tree, must constantly evolve and strive for perfection. To better realize this simple yet complex truth, we, the students of the graduating 11th grade, planted trees in pots with soil.
TuBishvat also takes on a new meaning in the current context. Due to the global environmental issues that are becoming more pressing, it is necessary to call for respect for nature and to take care of the environment.
We are all sincerely grateful to the ORT network for the active preservation and promotion of the cultural values of the Jewish people, and also for the support of our school. Thanks to this support, we were able to celebrate Jewish Holidays together.
A shared holiday table strengthens the student body, and observance is important to the Jewish community because it helps preserve spiritual, environmental and family values. The celebration helps to further emphasize and realize the connection to nature, tradition and religion.
See how ORT supporters have helped us provide psychological support projects for teachers and staff at the Odesa ORT Zhabotinski Lyceum #94.