On the eve of the Day of the Ukrainian Language and Literature, the opening ceremony of the Petro Jacyk Fourth International Ukrainian Language Contest was held in the philanthropist’s native village of Verkhnie Synyovydne, Lviv oblast. The contest is sponsored by the League of Ukrainian Philanthropists, Petro Jacyk Educational Foundation, and Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science. Virtually all schools across Ukraine have held the first stage of the language marathon that will last till May 22, 2004. It will be recalled that last year’s contest drew over five million school and university students, with over ten million students participating in the three previous contests.
This year the organizers expect an even more active participation, since the educational institutions of the Ministry of Education have been joined by those of other ministries: Defense, Internal Affairs, Health, Transport, Fuel and Energy, Economy, Communications and Light Industry Ministries along with the Security Service of Ukraine.
Traditionally, each new language contest is inaugurated in a different location in Ukraine, the only condition being that this place should be linked to a famous Ukrainian personality. Accordingly, the second contest was inaugurated in Shevchenko’s Moryntsi, the third in Kolodiazhne, the home village of Lesia Ukrayinka in Volyn. Meanwhile, the fourth contest has been launched in its founder’s native village. A memorial sign by sculptor Ivan Ordey commemorating Petro Jacyk has been unveiled near the school where the noted philanthropist studied.
On the eve of the opening ceremony, schoolchildren of Skole district, to which Verkhnie Synyovydne also belongs, held the first and second rounds of the contest, with winners receiving their diplomas from Mykhailo Slaboshpytsky, executive director of the League of Ukrainian Philanthropists and a celebrated writer.
It was planned that Petro Jacyk Educational Foundation President Nadia Jacyk, the late philanthropist’s daughter, would deliver the opening speech, but, unfortunately, she was unable to attend. Mr. Slaboshpytsky read out her greetings to the participants: “I hope, and not without reason, that this contest will become even more popular, and more and more new people will be joining it. It has been made possible owing to the joint effort of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, League of Ukrainian Philanthropists, and Petro Jacyk Educational Foundation along with a host of pedagogues, and is evidence of your love for the Ukrainian language.”
The following day the celebrations continued in Ivan Franko’s native village of Nahuyevychi. It was attended by many guests from Kharkiv, Zakarpattia, Lviv, and Kyiv along with the fellow villagers of the great Kameniar [Stonecutter, a reference to Franko’s poem that earned him this sobriquet — Ed.].
Later the Kyiv delegation left for Novovolynsk, where the results of the contest’s second round results will be summed up. Here preparations for the Day of the Ukrainian Language and Literature started a month before the celebrations, including a round table, Language is the People’s Heart, the first and second stages of the contest, Ukrainian language radio classes, a correspondence town contest dedicated to Day of the Ukrainian Language and Literature, and a radio dictation, For Everybody.
Aside from prizes and presents from the League of Ukrainian Philanthropists, the winners received prizes from local philanthropists, which is evidence that Petro Jacyk’s philanthropic initiative has found support in Ukraine. Thus, an outing to Verkhnie Synyovydne for the students and teachers was sponsored by philanthropists Vitaly Badziun, Andriy Samkov, Nina Tykha, and Volodymyr Hrytsak. Meanwhile, valuable presents for the winners have been bought with the money of Valery Drobinov, Lidiya Kozhushko, Dariya Shostak, Halyna Karnaukhova, St. Michael’s Church priest Pavlo Melnyk, and senior priest of the St. Rukhiv Cathedral Stefan Fulmes.
