Radowell, UKRAINE — When a Ukrainian child reaches school age, parents search all over to find the best schools possible by Sept. 1. But parents often don’t have much choice.
Places in the best schools get snapped up quickly. In rural areas, the choices are more limited.
Such is the case with the school in Radowell, a village of 1,300 people in Zhytomyr Oblast, 220 kilometers northwest of Kyiv.
Children from as many as 10 surrounding villages come to Radowell to study. But students here are luckier than many others. They have a benefactor.
Businessman and philanthropist Mykhailo Veselsky, a native of Radowell, donated Hr 180 million ($6.7 million) to renovate and reform the local public school.
Now around 400 elementary, middle and high school students not only get proper education, but also engage with international teachers, have access to the newest equipment and a variety of hobby classes.
These opportunities offer hope for a better future.
“I would like us to make a social environment that creates conditions specifically to help the growth of a child,” Veselsky told the Kyiv Post.
The school was just the first step. Veselsky has also funded a local hospital and developed a whole plan for Radowell to thrive and sustain in the future. Philanthropy is still rare in Ukraine.
Locals are used to businessmen and politicians helping their communities to win votes or to whitewash tarnished reputations. Veselsky, 52, was elected to Radowell’s local council in 2020. He says he wanted to help his community through public service, but soon realized he’s not interested in a political career and quit.
Turning point
Veselsky spent the first 17 years of his life in Radowell, attending the same school his millions are helping now. It’s official name is Radowell Biotechnological Lyceum. His mother was a principal of the institution at the time.
After graduating from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv with a law degree, Veselsky immediately started his journey into the world of business.
He soon founded Eurotek, a company that specialized in sunflower oil, wheat production and grain export. The company has since expanded into other markets such as vegetable oils, real estate and opening chains of supermarket stores. More than 3,000 employees now work for Eurotek.
Businessman and philanthropist Mykhailo Veselsky poses for a photograph in front of the Radowell Biotechnological Lyceum on June 2, 2021, in Radowell, Zhytomyr Oblast. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)
But his home village, especially the school, never left Veselsky’s mind. A turning point came in 2014, right after the EuroMaidan Revolution ousted pro-Kremlin ex-President Viktor Yanukovych and started a new chapter in Ukraine’s history.
“I understood we needed to develop as a country and all of it inspired me,” he says.
By 2016, Veselsky had already grown into a millionaire. He delegated some of the company’s management and dived deep into his new ambitious project of developing a dream village.
Renewed lyceum
When entering Radowell, the first thing people notice is the school. Its gates open to an enormous open space for the children to hang out and play in.
A child-size chess board sits to the left and, to the right, sits the large sculptural composition of “Meeting of Dante and Beatrice” by Italian sculptor Adelfo Galli.
The lyceum acquired this new modern look after the 2017–2018 renovation funded by Veselsky, looking more like a private international school somewhere abroad rather than in a poor Ukrainian village.
Classrooms at Radowell have both standing and sitting desks that the children switch to throughout the day. Most classrooms are equipped with smartboards and computers and have a wooden climber jungle gym for the students to stretch. The ceilings are painted with movement arrows to allow them to take mental breaks with visual aids to rest.
There is also an indoor gym with a boxing training area and a large music studio in the basement. But the school’s transformation wasn’t just material.
Veselsky joined the lyceum’s supervisory board to participate. It now has three main veins of development: formal academic knowledge, as well as physical and creative development. All three aim to raise an open-minded and intelligent child.
Educators’ non-traditional methods include providing enough freedom for children to inspire themselves rather than only listen to instructions from teachers.
The school provides several hobby studios for design and sewing, robotics, art and ceramics, wood and metal workshops, and halls for Taekwondo and gymnastics. The children can also take calligraphy, theater, dance and various sports.
Students at the Radowell Biotechnological Lyceum have the opportunity to use smart boards and other resources provided by Veselsky. Taken on June 2, 2021, in Radowell, Zhytomyr Oblast. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)
One of the lyceum’s teachers, Blake Bull, who moved to Radowell from the United States in January, says that at most of the schools he has worked at before, the staff is left on their own. “But here, I really feel like we are given the resources to help the students as best we can.”
Ukraine’s public schools often lack funding to provide students with hobby clubs. For Radowell lyceum to be able to help children develop creativity, Veselsky pours Hr 12 million ($444,000) into it yearly, he says.
“I very much care about the essence of the project, that’s the main thing, and the money spent is secondary,” he says.
International community
Another unconventional approach of Radowell’s school is bringing international teachers for children to engage with foreigners and learn languages with native speakers.
Language teacher Inna Golovakha was in charge of the project when it launched in 2019. Though originally Ukrainian, she spent 27 years in the U.S. before moving to Radowell, inspired by the local development.
“Children in big cities have an advantage,” Golovakha told the Kyiv Post. “Their parents pay for a tutor so they can go to international schools or travel internationally. They become much more advanced, but children in rural areas in Ukraine don’t have those opportunities.”
Golovakha joined the effort to help kids have those opportunities. “My mission and goal were to help the foreign teachers assimilate there. I was teaching them Ukrainian, I was telling them a little bit about Ukrainian culture,” Golovakha says.
Aside from the U.S., foreigners from England and Morocco moved to Radowell to give English classes among other activities. They are joined by Ukrainian teachers from all over Ukraine who, too, moved to the village in order to join the school.
U.S. teacher Vickie Nailing had previously lived in Ukraine as a Peace Corps volunteer and is now one of six foreigners living and teaching in Radowell. In addition to regular lessons, Nailing teaches cooking classes in English in the culinary studio where children bake and drink tea every Monday morning.
Nailing says that her background was in non-traditional teaching, which is why Radowell’s approaches suit her perfectly.
“You can learn anything through anything else,” Nailing told the Kyiv Post, “and whatever a child is interested in, it’s important to incorporate that into your learning.”
An emloyee exits the the Radowell medical clinic on June 2, 2021, in Radowell, Zhytomyr Oblast. The hospital is the second part of a 5 part project that Veselsky has planned to revitalize his village. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)
Just the beginning Before the project started, the village was fading, according to Veselsky, but it has since grown. The lyceum is only one part of a five-step plan that the businessman envisions for his home village.
The second phase is a modern hospital, which was just recently developed. It is set to open in July with a fully trained team of doctors and nurses.
The third goal is to make sure that Radowell prospers economically to support itself in the future. One way is by providing families with greenhouses, so they can grow their own vegetables and have enough to sell and make a profit, as the region is known for its quality berries and cucumbers. Several greenhouses have already been built and are seen throughout the village.
The fourth part of the project is to strengthen the infrastructure. It will include a system of composting and recycling trash at a nearby recycling center under construction.
The fifth phase is building new homes, where both locals and incoming specialists would be able to live comfortably.
So far Veselsky has spent around Hr 350 million ($12.9 million) on the entire project in Radowell. He says that his efforts aren’t an investment, as he doesn’t expect to earn anything from them.
Veselsky thinks that it will take a total of five years to see some growth, but for now it’s still an experiment.
“I can’t ensure it will 100% work,” he says. “But I want to try.”
The full Radowell development plan is available at www.radowell.org.ua.
