STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Inside of the Zen Den of P.S./I.S. 48 on Friday, Davy Jones, a treatment dog, was being family pet by more than a lots Ukrainian refugee trainees, who landed in the United States almost a year earlier.
Most of the trainees are still finding out English and getting utilized to being far from home, and with the Ukrainian Club at their school that formed throughout this academic year, the trainees have the chance to join one another and loosen up.
“There was a fire drill, and one of the students heard the fire drill and got a little bit nervous about the noise and the shock of everything. They didn’t know what the fire drill was,” said Ragina Volodarsky, speech language pathologist at the school, who likewise equates for the trainees in the club “So the principal decided that we need to offer these students some sort of support, and give them a place within the school where they can go decompress and hang out with other Ukrainian students who are in the same situation — a safe space for them.”
The Ukrainian Club satisfies every Friday afternoon within the Zen Den — an open class assisted in by the school’s social employee D’Arcy Hearn.
“I think a lot of them were a lot more timid and a little bit reserved in the beginning when the club started, and now I see them walking around talking to different people in their classes. They’ve come out of their shells,” Volodarsky said.
The school deals with Luv on a Leash through the Pride Center to bring treatment dogs to New Language Learner (ENL) trainees, the Ukraine club (for Ukrainian refugee trainees), and the intermediate school Gender Student Alliance club.
Davy Jones, Arlene Egan’s friendly dog, brought pure delight to the Ukrainian Club for the 2nd time on Friday.
“I like the Ukrainian Club a lot. When I came to here, it was difficult making friendships with some of the American students and I got made fun of,” Kseniia Bogriashova, 13, said. “When the club started, I was able to interact with the students who speak my language and it’s a comfortable setting for me and it’s a nice environment.”
Bogriashova relocated to Staten Island from the Ukraine last summertime. She is delighted about having fun with Davy Jones since she is a dog fan and her one dream dream is to have her own dog. However, since her bro has asthma, she can’t have one, the trainee said.
“It’s been very difficult for me leaving home. I miss my home and my father, who is still in the Ukraine,” Bogriashova said. “He comes to visit. He left two and a half months ago and every time he comes he leaves for longer and longer periods of time. He works there, so it’s difficult. I really miss him.”
ATTENDING TO TRAINEES’ REQUIREMENT
After seeing an increase of trainees from the Ukraine at P.S./I.S. 48 and understanding what the scenarios were, ENL organizer Christine Vitale recognized this needed to be dealt with at a various level than what they would typically do when offering services for trainees in the ENL program.
“As an adolescent, just the language barrier is enough, but then coming from all these situations, we were really concerned about how we were going to address this,” Vitaly said. “We needed to help the kids because they’re here trying to learn in school, they’re trying to learn a language, and some of them left running with just the things that they had in their hands.”
Vitaly and Hearn interacted in developing a “safe haven” for the kids to decompress. The Ukrainian Club now runs in combination with the English language Learner (ELL) trainees program.
“In the beginning, they were so shy. They didn’t really understand. They said ‘we don’t really have to do anything,’ and I said, ‘No, you can just be in here. It’s just a place to just be,” Vitaly said.
“At first we were playing Jenga with them because we couldn’t speak with them, and we were doing activities where [they] could understand us without using words. And now, they are speaking English to some degree and making friends with other kids, and I can see how close their friendships are that they formed here.”
