Idaho Falls students make art for Ukraine child refugees

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - Idaho Falls School District 91 students got the opportunity to let child refugees fleeing Ukraine know they have a friend in Idaho.

District 91 board member Paul Haacke went to the Poland Ukraine border in March to help with the refugee crisis, when he saw a simple gesture that brought kids smiles.

"I met a man who was handing out artwork from his child's elementary school, to children who were standing in line to cross the border," Haacke said. "They were just standing in line with basically what they were wearing. And he would hand them a picture and tell them that it was from a student in the United States. And they would look at that picture and they would just start smiling and they would just stare at it. I just thought that is amazing how we can communicate in so many different ways. And one of them is through artwork."

Haacke went to District 91 Superintendent Jim Shank after his return, to see if any principals would be interested in making art that he could take back.

"And we received hundreds of pieces of artwork, and I'm very excited to take them all with me," Haacke said. "I'll hand them out at the border control line. I also plan on going to visit several elementary schools, I've been able to network with different people in Ukraine. Some of them are principals and teachers, so I want to visit them again. And visit their schools and give some of this artwork to the students there."

Among the students who created works of art were 6th graders at Theresa Bunker.

Crosby Christensen drew two hands shaking, colored with the American flag and the Ukrainian flag.

"When Russia invaded Ukraine, I thought it was just a joke, like 'they didn't really do that,'" Crosby said. "But we watched CNN Ten and I was like, 'this is actually happening.' So when we had the opportunity to do this, I was like 'I really want to do this.'"

Logan Jones drew the American and Ukrainian flags with the peace symbol and flower in the middle.

"It makes me feel like I'm helping people who are having troubles and making a difference. It may not be big, but I'm helping people. And that makes me happy," Logan said.

Ellie Cheney incorporated Ukrainian into her picture.

"I just did a sky in a few hill hills and then I did two flags, the Ukrainian and American and a few sunflowers along the bottom and in Ukrainian 'We stand with you'," Ellie said, also adding the artwork makes her happy.

"Just knowing that I can help someone in some way and make them happy, even for if it's just a small time, just makes me happy," Ellie said.