The network is a youth-driven initiative designed to channel Ukrainian high school students’ wartime experience into positive action for themselves and their country. Together, students learn about personal agency and leadership and jointly develop and practice leadership skills by designing and implementing concrete plans of action to benefit Ukraine.
Activities
Over the course of a semester, American and Ukrainian high school students, working together in online private groups, learn about the “heroic imagination,” exploring what makes a hero, why there aren’t more heroes, and what skills and habits make heroic action more likely. As part of their exploration of heroism, the students undertake one to two activities each week, such as imagining a “hero roundtable” (a la King Arthur) and naming up to six heroes whom they would assemble as their personal advisors (a family member, a fictional hero or superhero, a historical figure, and so forth.) They also meet periodically for live discussions via Zoom. To begin developing such skills and habits in themselves, binational teams plan and implement projects to benefit Ukraine.
Program Details
- Number of Participants: 150
- Participant Age Group: High school/Grades 9-12
Mapworks Learning’s Ukraine Youth Action Network is funded by the Stevens Initiative, which is housed at the Aspen Institute and supported by the Bezos Family Foundation.
