For 15 years in a row, Metinvest's enterprises have consistently implemented the corporate "First Time in First Grade" programme. This year, 452 children of employees of Metinvest Integrated Iron Ore, whose parents have chosen to continue living and working in the frontline region, will start primary school. To mark this important milestone in the life of every family, the company has prepared useful stationery kits for the first-graders.
Among our future first-graders are 214 girls and 238 boys. They were all just over a year old when the full-scale war began in Ukraine, and it continues to this day. At the time, their families decided to stand with the country and the enterprises where they work, raise their children in their hometown and do everything possible to protect their children's childhood.
Now the time has come for these preschoolers to become schoolchildren, immerse themselves in school life, meet their first teachers and make new friends. At this important and incredibly exciting stage of life, it is impossible to do without school supplies. Every parent knows that the list of essentials is quite long, and the cost of getting a first-grader ready for school accounts for a significant share of the family budget.
Even in these difficult times, Metinvest has found an opportunity to bring joy to its employees' children and help families get their first-graders ready for school. Gift sets have been prepared for every future first-grade pupil, containing notebooks for classwork and homework, diaries for recording achievements, a folder for notebooks, pens, a ruler, pencils, paints and brushes for creative activities.
This year, Andrii Artemovych, head of the Mining and Transport Shop-2 at Northern Iron Ore, will take his twins, Kira and Mark, to their first day of school. Their mother, Karina ARTEMOVYCH, says:
"My children will turn six only in two weeks, but they are already starting school. Kira is very creative. We are planning to enrol her in a dance club. Mark, on the other hand, is more interested in sport and mathematics. We were very pleased with the kits, as they contain most of the things on the school supplies list."
Khrystyna, the daughter of Viktor SHTEFAN, a chief mechanic at Mining and Transport Shop-1 at Northern Iron Ore, is also getting ready for her first school bell. Her father is, of course, a little worried about his delicate little girl:
"I wish her and all the other children a school year without air-raid alerts. I want them always to be safe and to be able to communicate with one another not online, but the way children should during their school years. I think my Khrystyna is more inclined towards the humanities and creative activities. She loves dancing and drawing."
Anton MILKEVYCH, deputy head of the crushing plant for engineering at Central Iron Ore, will also be attending his son's first-grade parents' meetings this year. His son, Sashko, is also six years old.
"I really want my son to enter this new stage of his life with curiosity rather than fear, as sometimes happens. I want the children to be able to stay in classrooms rather than shelters. Sashko is very interested in LEGO construction sets. He builds towers and designs mechanisms. Perhaps a future engineer is growing up. He also likes dinosaurs, as most boys do. And they are featured in the design of the kits, so my son is very happy."
Mariyka, daughter of Larisa PLUZHNYK, a leading engineer at the Quality Management Department of Inhulets Iron Ore, is also eagerly awaiting the start of the school year. After all, the girl has a beautiful new schoolbag that she cannot wait to show her classmates.
"Since my daughter has been preparing for school for quite a long time, she already knows what lessons are like. She does gymnastics, but we do not yet know which subject she will like best. We are trying a little bit of everything. We received the kit in the youth centre, and my daughter could barely wait until we got home before starting to unpack it. She loved everything. It is all so bright and interesting, just the way she likes it."
A youth organisation was involved in distributing the school kits to children at Inhulets Iron Ore. At Central Iron Ore and Northern Iron Ore, gifts were handed to parents at the shops where they work for security reasons.
"The first school bell is probably one of the most touching events for both children and their parents. We wanted to make sure that they would remember it as a special occasion, with gifts. We have great respect for our employees, who are going through these difficult times with dignity alongside the country and raising a new generation of the nation. I wish all our young and adult schoolchildren a bright and peaceful future, exciting new discoveries, a thirst for knowledge and true friends for life," said Andrii SHCHERBAK, HR and Social Affairs Director at Metinvest Integrated Iron Ore.
