September 1st is a significant and emotional occasion both for children starting school for the first time and for their parents. Since 2012, Metinvest Group has been helping its employees prepare for Knowledge Day through the corporate programme “First Time – First Grade”.
Veronika KARELTSEVA
This year, nearly 400 children of Metinvest Iron Ore employees will begin the school year with joyful emotions: the company ensured they had the essential school supplies needed for learning – diaries, notebooks and folders for them, pens, pencils, brushes, paints, and more. Each family of an employee with a first-grade child received one of these stationery kits.
Among the first-graders’ fathers is Oleksii Kareltsev from Northern Iron Ore Mining and Transport Shop-2 This year, his daughter Veronika is starting school for the first time, becoming the third schoolchild in the family of this Northern Iron Ore employee. Veronika’s older sisters are already attending school.
“I liked everything very much,” says Veronika KARELTSEVA. "I love drawing, and these paints and pencils are really nice. The diary, the pens as well... I looked through everything – it’s all very beautiful and delicate. I divided the notebooks: kept some for myself and gave the rest to my sisters so they, too, would have a gift. I already want to go to school to learn like my sisters."
The daughter of Northern Iron Ore employee Ihor Matsyhura came to her father’s workplace to receive the company’s gift. Six-year-old Vladyslava is looking forward to new experiences, new friends, and new challenges that will fill her school days. But first comes the enchanting world of colourful stationery, promising countless new discoveries and impressions.
FIGURE
Nearly 400 children of Metinvest Iron Ore employees will begin their first school year with school supply kits provided by the company
Ihor MATSYHURA
"Our daughter is starting first grade, and now we’ll have two schoolchildren in the family. Five years ago, when our eldest son started school, he also received a supply kit and a backpack from Metinvest. Now it’s a celebration for our daughter too," says Ihor MATSYHURA, chief electronics engineer at Northern Iron Ore. "Vladyslava loves to draw, so she immediately focused on the paints and pencils. Overall, the quality of the supplies, as always, is excellent. This support is essential, as the cost of preparing for school rises every year—so many things are needed, and our family truly appreciates the company’s help.”
Among the first-grade parents at Central Iron Ore is Ihor Smirnov, an electrical fitter at the concentrate production site of the beneficiation plant. This year, his daughter Kateryna also felt the support of the company where her father works.
"This is an important, joyful, and emotional event for our family," Ihor SMIRNOV notes. "Kateryna is an emotional and energetic girl, and she was thrilled with the gift – she jumped with joy and kept looking through everything in the kit. We have yet to use the certificate at Kanz-City; we shall go shopping a little later. The pencils, however, are already in active use by our daughter. She also took a liking to the folder with notebooks. The child is pleased and eagerly awaits the First of September celebration. It is gratifying that, year after year, the company remains faithful to this fine tradition – offering children both pleasant memories and practical items for school. We are grateful for this."
This year, the Ustymenko family will be celebrating Knowledge Day. Yurii USTYMENKO, a station duty officer at the Railway Workshop at Ingulets Iron Ore, is witnessing his son Nazar embark on a significant new chapter in life.
"It is heartening to see that the plant continues to remember the children of its employees," says Yurii. "My six-year-old son is starting school, and today he received a gift for the First of September. In such difficult times, with the war still ongoing, this gesture offers meaningful support – both to families and to children who, despite everything, eagerly await the Day of Knowledge. May this academic year be a peaceful one for the children."
