Leave No One Behind: Teenagers from Poltava region Learned Entrepreneurship in the Carpathians

"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 brings together children from two regions: two dozen teenagers from Poltava and Kremenchuk came to the Starokutsk School of the Kutske Village Council.”

Six teams from three schools presented their own unique business ideas, ranging from services to innovative developments. For example, the team from School No.10 of the Poltava City Council presented the idea of producing a unique material mix.

"On the first day, we had to create a prototype of an accessory for a gadget. Our team came up with a case with cooling features that would protect the device from overheating. Later, we decided that we could develop cooling parts for any technology," says eleventh-grader Maria Klepets from Poltava. Of course, no specific material has been invented yet, and research and experiments are needed. According to the young innovators, it could be metal exchanges that can absorb heat.

The next task from the camp coaches was a round of business discussions between the teams. The goal was to protect their own position, convince the competitors teams and agree on a profitable partnership. 

“In communicating with their peers, children learn to defend their own interests and compromise for the purpose of achieving certain goals. We introduce teenagers with tools that develop entrepreneurship and innovation. Design thinking and negotiation skills are needed not only when developing a business but also when dealing with any life situation,” says Maksym Kolyada, a trainer and assistant professor at the Department of Economics and Business at the UCU Faculty of Applied Sciences.

Under the terms of the educational charity project, after successful presentations, the teams of the three schools received certificates for computer equipment for their computer science classrooms. Viktoriya Sayko, deputy director for educational work at the Ivan Piddubnyi Specialized Sports School in Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast Council, noted that the new equipment is very much needed and is also a motivation for the School students to take part in the project. 

Viktoriya Zamula, a teacher of computer science and technology at School No.10 named after Korolenko of the Poltava City Council, won the regional Teacher of the Year competition last year. She uses interactive teaching methods and encourages her colleagues to use technology in the educational process.  

"In my classes, children at once scan the QR code, follow the link, and put together puzzles. And based on this puzzle, they learn the topics of the project and the lesson," says Victoriya, who recommends giving children useful links and pages where they can quickly find more useful information. In her opinion, students should be carefully taught how to work with artificial intelligence. 

The team of the Poltava School No.10 includes winners of competitions of the Minor Academy of Sciences, winners of the regional Olympiad, and representatives of student government. The team of teachers is constantly looking for opportunities to fundraise for the modernisation of the school, which currently has 860 students. Last year, they applied to participate in the Leave no one behind partnership charity project and will soon be able to exchange their certificate for a set of modern laptops. 

The Leave No One Behind partnership project is being run by the All-Ukrainian Democratic Forum with the support of Taiwan and with the assistance of Member of Parliament Mykola Kniazhytskyi. As part of the initiative, training camps have been held in Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv regions, and 69 participating schools are receiving modern technical equipment from Taiwanese company Acer. In total, the project will cover one hundred educational institutions from the three regions.

"We are running the project with the support of the people of Taiwan. 

Technological and intellectual development will become a guarantee of our future strength, stability and security," says Mykola Kniazhytskyi, founder of the All-Ukrainian Democratic Forum.