Good things are happening at St. Mary’s in Yorkton

Submitted by Fr. Methodius Kushko, CSsR

St. Mary's Ukrainian class participants with their teachers Fr. M. Kushko (middle row, seated in the middle), O. Zanevitch (middle row, seated third from left), and H. Kardynal (back row, far right).

During the past year, St. Mary’s Parish in Yorkton has made tremendous strides in assisting parish members to renew a lifelong skill – the skill of communicating in Ukrainian. Our Ukrainian language classes have been enjoyed by all, in part due to the opportunity to share personal reminiscences, humorous events, family stories, and information about Ukrainian culture and traditions. I am very excited to report on the great progress which we have made at St. Mary’s this year.

In 2003, a committee within our parish council requested that we create a program for adults interested in improving their Ukrainian language skills for liturgical singing, carolling and epistle readings. There was such a display of enthusiasm and interest that we decided to forge ahead with classes for adults. In the fall of 2003 we began our program with three teachers and 30 language learners of various ages (as compared with 15 students in the previous year). After a meeting with the Ukrainian Education Consultant about the availability of Ukrainian language materials, some new resources were ordered for our evening classes.

Our parish participants have shown a high degree of motivation throughout the year. They organized a carolling program to private residences and homes for the elderly. They also held a traditional Christmas supper according to the Julian calendar, which was attended by everyone. On March 14th, 2004, six of our language students volunteered to read verses at the Taras Shevchenko Concert in Yorkton. It was amazing to see that so much confidence in oral and written Ukrainian had been gained by our students!

Enrolments look very promising for next year. We hope that three levels will once again be taught by our teachers Mr. Harry Kardynal, Miss Oksana Zanevitch and Fr. Methodius Kushko.

"У нас є великий успіх тому що наші студенти хочуть учитися. Ми мусимо дати їм цю нагоду."

Photos (top to bottom):

• Fr. M. Kushko's Beginner Ukrainian class
• Fr. M. Kushko's Beginner Ukrainian class (part 2)
• H. Kardynal's Beginner Ukrainian class
• O. Zanevitch's Second and third level Ukrainian class
• Fr. Kushko bl;esses the food prepared for the Christmas meal