Holodomor Awareness Tour Stops in Sudbury

A mobile classroom teaching students about the Holodomor, a historic Ukrainian genocide, is visiting Sudbury high schools. Lyndsay Aelick reports.

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board is currently hosting the Holodomor National Awareness Tour, a national educational program, at its secondary schools.

A state-of-the-art mobile classroom was stationed at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School on Tuesday, offering students an immersive historical experience.

Immersive, captivating educational tool

Educators praised the tour’s unique approach to teaching this difficult chapter of history. History teacher James MacNeil highlighted the program’s dynamic nature and its impact on students.

“It’s a mix of dramatic portrayals of some key individuals who were heroic in the face of oppression 90 years ago, and then allows students to offer their opinion, both on those issues as well as what’s taking place in our world today,” MacNeil said.

“It really is captivating for them on a couple of different levels, ways that we can’t achieve in the classroom.”

Student reaction to a once-censored history

Approximately 100 students participated in an interactive session focused on the Holodomor, the genocide that occurred in Ukraine between 1932 and 1933. For many, like grade 10 student Felix Quinn, the presentation was their first exposure to the event.

“I’ve never heard about the Holodomor until now,” he said.

“I think it’s something that needs to be talked about more, because it definitely was censored a lot more than it should have been. But I think it really opened my eyes and I think I am going to try to learn more about what is happening in this world.”

“I really enjoyed it and I think my classmates did as well,” added Quinn.

Empowering future leaders through historical lessons

Developed by the Canada-Ukraine Foundation in 2014, the national tour has educated over 70,000 students across the country.

The project’s manager, Roma Dzerowicz, told CTV News that the program’s core mission is to empower youth with knowledge and a sense of civic responsibility.

“Students who are the seeds of future leaders and the ones who can make a difference moving forward, can understand what happened, why it happened, but also understand the importance of civility, tolerance, equity, how propaganda fits into the equation today,” said Dzerowicz.

The mobile classroom continues its tour at St. Charles College and Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School later this week.

The general public is also invited to experience the exhibit at the Ukrainian Senior Centre on Notre Dame Avenue on Wednesday evening, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.