An enterprising young Ukrainian woman living in San Jose decided to establish a Ukrainian kindergarten. And she succeeded. Our correspondent Myroslav Hrekh tried to interview Alona Tsymbaliuk and find out how she did it.

 

Miroslav (M.): Alona, as far as I know, this is the first Ukrainian kindergarten in California. Please tell me, when did you come up with the idea to create it?

Alona (A.): It was my dream. Four years ago, I came to America from Kyiv. I worked in a Russian-language kindergarten for two years. My mother has been working in a kindergarten in Ukraine for 25 years. So you could say that this is a continuation of a family tradition.

 

M.: Tell us more about how you created it.

A.: I thought about it for a long time. My husband Serhiy and I discussed it and rented a two-story house. We live on the second floor, and we set up the kindergarten on the first floor. We have rooms for learning, playing, music, gymnastics, drawing, and sculpting, as well as a dining room and a bedroom.

 

M.: To run such an institution, you need to have the appropriate education and experience.

A.: My first degree is in public catering, and here in America, I took basic courses in working with children. As I already mentioned, I have experience. On January 7, 2021, I received a license to open a kindergarten. It was a nice Christmas present for us. We opened on February 1 this year. We have only been operating for two months. Currently, five children attend the kindergarten, but we have plans to expand to 12–13 children, so that we have a medium-sized Ukrainian family kindergarten.

 

M.: Why Ukrainian?

A.: Because communication and learning in the kindergarten is in Ukrainian. The children really like this, and especially their parents. If the children don't understand something, we explain it to them in English. There is one Russian-speaking family who wanted their child to speak Ukrainian. We conduct classes in logical thinking, mathematics, music, modeling, drawing, and gymnastics in Ukrainian. The main emphasis is on learning the Ukrainian language and literature, as well as the key dates in Ukrainian history.

 

M.: What is the name of your kindergarten?

A.: The kindergarten is called Happy Explorers Preschool. We haven't thought about a Ukrainian name yet, it's just a plan. We've only been operating for a short time, but when the kindergarten grows, a Ukrainian name will definitely appear on its facade.

 

M.: How did you manage to attract children to the preschool?

A.: Friends and acquaintances had been asking me for a long time to look after their children, and not only to look after them, but also to teach and educate them. So I decided to start a preschool. The families of my pupils live in San Jose and the surrounding area. Now one family has signed up, who came from Israel and wants their child to learn Ukrainian.

 

M.: What teaching materials do you use?

A.: I have many textbooks from Ukraine. My mother works in Ukraine on the program “Children and Us in the World,” and I have all the materials developed for this program and try to implement them. My family attends the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in San Francisco, the children go to Sunday Ukrainian school at the church, and we are allowed to use materials from this school. So we have enough teaching materials.

 

M.: That's good! Tell me, how much does it cost to attend your kindergarten?

A.: We charge $85 per child per day, or approximately $1,700–1,800 per month, depending on the number of visits. The funds go toward paying rent and maintaining the building, purchasing equipment and supplies, and buying food for the children. We provide four meals a day: breakfast, snack, lunch, and dinner. The food is homemade, delicious, and includes traditional Ukrainian dishes.

 

M.: Are you the only one working in the kindergarten?

A.: Basically, I perform all the duties of a teacher myself. But I have one assistant, whose services I pay for, and several volunteers from the diaspora. My children help me. I have two sons: Bohdan, who is 8, and Dmytro, who is 13. After school, they come and help me: Bohdan plays with the children and dresses up as various fairy-tale characters (such as Batman, Spider-Man, and others). Dmytro attends karate classes and shows the older children some techniques. The children love it. We spend a lot of time outdoors and organize various walks. We comply with all sanitary standards: wet cleaning during the day and disinfection of premises and toys in the evening. We adhere to all anti-epidemic regulations.

 

M.: I have one indiscreet question. May I ask it?

A.: Yes.

M.: Why Alona? Why not Olena? You are a native Ukrainian, after all.

A.: (laughs). Well, if you want, you can call me Olena. But I prefer the name my parents gave me. You don't choose your name. The story is this: there used to be a chocolate bar called “Alonka” in the Soviet Union. When I was born, my father said, “May my daughter's life be as sweet as this chocolate bar,” and named me Alonka. That's how it happened. My parents are also native Ukrainians from the Zhytomyr region.

 

M.: Well, okay, that's a lyrical digression, unrelated to the matter at hand. Now tell me, what's bothering you, what problems do you have, how can I help?

A.: So far, we have one problem — we need to increase the enrollment in the kindergarten, expand the business, and we need good advertising. We advertise in Russian kindergartens: anyone who wants to learn Ukrainian is welcome to join us. Please understand one thing: for me, this is not just a business, it is my calling, my passion. I live for this, and I want to continue and develop this business.

M.: So you are a happy person.
A.: Yes, with the opening of the Ukrainian kindergarten, I feel happy. And I want to make all my preschoolers and their parents happy.

M.: Well, that's just great, I'm happy for you. I wish you success, may everything work out for you! And we, in turn, will support and help you in any way we can, because you are doing a great thing — promoting the Ukrainian language, national traditions, and not letting people forget their roots. Thank you for the interview!
A.: Thank you for your support!