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February 24 began on February 23. We had a meeting of school principals where we were warned about the possibility of war

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and that we needed to prepare ourselves and prepare our children. We talked about go-bags and security badges. You know, parents were dubious on the 23rd,

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and some were surprised that we asked them to make these badges. We made them ourselves, and we had to provide information about the child.

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When everything changed on the night of the 23rd to the 24th, people’s attitudes changed as well. The 24th started very early.

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My colleagues started calling me at around 5 o’clock in the morning, telling me that the war had begun and asking what they should do. I tried to calm everyone down.

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Literally, at about half past six, the head of the education department called and said that children should not be in schools and that we had to spread this information.

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I contacted my deputy immediately. I started calling the parents of the first-graders and up, and she was calling the parents of the eleventh-graders and down.

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It was hard to leave the house, to cross the threshold. I realized that I was not ready, that I had no “go-bag” and that I was not prepared for this situation.

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Nevertheless, we put the essentials in the cellar and went to work. We had a meeting scheduled for 10 o’clock here, at the village council.

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Our head was gathering us to decide where we would place the children, as it was a large school. It was hard to explain what had happened, and we were not morally prepared for this situation.

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Our school does not have a bomb shelter, just a small basement. We went down there, looked around, and decided that we would rather hide somewhere else, between two walls. We held a meeting here,

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in the village council, then held a meeting with the teachers, as we had no classes on February 24. When we were told to switch to distance learning from February 25,

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most teachers were not morally ready for this mode of teaching, so many of them just gave their students some assignments because they did not know what to say to children and parents,

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because we understood that there were both children and parents on the other side of the screen. Our family is very small: my mother and I. My brother died in 2016, so we looked at each other...

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There was an offer to leave. My mom said that she would not go anywhere for sure. We have never discussed this option again. It was very difficult in the early days.

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You know, the hardest part was waking up in the morning and crossing the threshold. There were chickens waiting for you, dogs waiting for you, and you had to feed them.

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It was scary to do that, but our center opened at 8 o’clock. We went there and were not afraid. Shells were flying, whistling, and ringing; sometimes you could hear machine gun bursts,

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but we were there together, and I am very grateful... I said then, and I say now, that I am truly grateful to our local authorities and our village head, Larysa Viktorivna, for allowing us to use our school facilities.

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We fully utilized the kitchen. Our stoves worked, we had power, and we used everything to the fullest extent, without any restrictions. Why did you choose a school? As you can see for yourself,

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our village is located in such a way that the village council and the community center are at a crossroads, which is very close to the road. Our school is located in a cozy place,

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, in the center, and it was decided that it would be the safest place. We would start early. The girls would come at seven or at half past six in the morning to heat up the stoves and preheat our ovens.

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We would bake. We mostly baked. While other communities (and I know this for sure) were baking for the community, we did not bake bread; we decided to bake buns. It’s convenient;

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yes, it’s convenient. The guys could take two, four, or even six buns. They didn’t dry out, as we packed them in individual bags: buns and pies with  cheese filling.

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Girls from the village who did not work at the school had cows, so they gave us milk and made cottage cheese for us. We made pies with different berry fillings. We also made pies with porridge filling,

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but mostly it was cabbage. We used everything we had in the school cellar. When the guys came to man the checkpoint, we cooked a little for them too. We made salads and boiled potatoes,

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and they asked us for some porridge, but it was on request. When we delivered food to the guys at the checkpoints, they also made orders, for example, we stewed cabbage,

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made beetroot salad, and did whatever they asked us to do. When the situation calmed down a bit and the liberation of our Baryshivska community began, it was Easter, and we received an order.

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They tasted our Easter cakes and ordered some more, so we baked Easter cakes for them. We had to bake a thousand Easter cakes for those who needed help and were under occupation,

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so it was really a quest. Although we had all the ingredients, we still had to find molds, and it was the real quest. Entrepreneurs helped us, provided us with flour, provided us with yeast,

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in general, and people helped a lot. Once we started working, we had three crews working every other day or two, but basically, they came every day.

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Why? I know it’s wrong, but our school is built in such a way that there is a gym on the second floor, and we used to weave nets in the gym, so those who didn’t work in the kitchen,

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who were not involved, came to weave nets. Later, humanitarian aid arrived, and the girls worked there, sorting and distributing it, so, basically,

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everyone who wanted to could find something to do. Only two or three of my colleagues left for a short time and then returned. Almost everyone was there,

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and almost everyone was involved in the work. I felt this support. And when we made calls in the morning on February 24 to warn parents that their children should not go to school,

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there was not a single question: What, why, how? What should we do next? No one asked. We hope that all this will end quickly. You know, we are very worried about the children.

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We have children coming from seven villages, and our village is the eighth, and while they are being transported to the school and then back home, an air raid could start, so we have to go to a bomb shelter.

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It is difficult; it is mentally difficult. The day begins with... Yesterday, there were three air raid alarms, and we’ll see how today goes. I’m worried about my first grade lesson today.

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The lesson ends, the bell rings, and the air raid alarm goes off. This aggression that the children are displaying is very disturbing,

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they are talking very negatively about the leader of the neighboring state. I try to distract them,

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but they are already standing their ground. If a child in kindergarten says, “How could he not understand that he is taking away our childhood?”