Access News and Picture Gallery, group 1:

Graduation ceremony (January 2014)

Final test (14 December 2013)

Meeting with the ESL fellow from Luhansk (9 December 2013).

Meeting with the volunteer from New Zealand (7 December 2013). The volunteer Caleb Lee from the organization called AIESEC visited the Access group to share his culture and learn about the Access program. He showed the presentation about his country and compared his culture to Ukraine and the USA.

Trip to Lviv (November 2013). Three winners of the video contest on tolerance were invited to Lviv to perform in front of the pupils at the school with inclusive education. Access student Pyotr Gunko says: So, it was incredible!!!) We had a lot of fun). Especially with peers on the stage). Moreover, we had an opportunity to see famous and wonderful places in Lviv). I got much more experience thet I had before!!!!! I'm so grateful to every person who helped me with this possibility to take part in this trip". Video: http://youtu.be/32hjMfBusjA

American Culture Project (18 November 2013). Access students summarized their knowledge on the culture of the USA, created posters and condected the discussion on this topic.

Halloween (October 2013). Access students were shown the presentation on the topic of Halloween, did several quizzes in pairs and learned new expressions related to the topic.

24 October 2013. Eve Smith, Senior EL Fellow (US Department of State) visited Access students and played a game called “Jeopardy” with them. The English specialist Mike Martucci who is based in Donetsk helped Eve and observed the lesson.

Columbus Day (October 2013). Ten Access students were selected to share their knowledge about this American holiday with the new Access group (2nd cohort), did a number of quizzes with them and performed a play on this topic. Video: http://youtu.be/M2SuyAYqBzo (Linguist Prime channel)

Access Summit (2-4 October 2013). Through a series of workshops and activities, participants were able to understand how to create changes in their local and global communities through community service projects. The summit provided opportunities for Access students to network with their regional peers and to develop confidence and leadership skills. With the help of facilitators, students and teachers explored global issues and ways to apply what they learn locally. Students built action plans to be implemented with their fellow students in their home countries to be shared with other Access students via social media in the RELO Kyiv region.

The Earth Day (20 April 2013). Students of the Access program took part in the volunteering project devoted to the Earth Day. Students collected rubbish in the nearby forest, did several activities to learn relevant vocabulary.

Access Microscholarship Program concert at Veteran's House in Donetsk (05 April 2013). The U.S. Embassy representatives visited the Veteran's House in Donetsk. Access students sang traditional American songs with the English language specialist David Masterson who also played the trumpet.

FLEX presentation by the U.S. embassy (03 April 2013). Students attended the presentation and met FLEX alumni who shared their experience and impressions of spending a year in the USA. The Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) Program provides scholarships for high school students (ages 15-17) from Eurasia to spend an academic year in the United States, living with a family and attending an American high school.

Illstyle & Peace Productions hip-hop show (04 April 2013). Access students participated in hip-hop show which was held in Donetsk during the American Days of Culture. lllstyle & Peace Productions is a multicultural Philadelphia-based dance company founded in 2002 by Brandon “Peace” Albright. The company creates work rooted in contemporary, West African, and old-school hip-hop styles.

Meeting students at Orphan School in Donetsk within the American Days of Culture (04 April 2013). Access students visited orphan school in Donetsk with the concert "Access Students Music Outreach Concert". The English language specialist David Masterson played the trumpet and the student sang traditional American songs to entertain the audience.

Visit to Horlivka Istitute for foreign languages (12 March 2013). Access students visited Horlivka Institute for foreign Languages (http://www.forlan.org.ua) in order to learn about possibilities in higher education. The 5-th year students of the institute conducted a tour in English which included visits to the libraries, resource centers, the gym and part of the the actual lesson. Students were shown rarity books, dictionaries, did several activities to get acquainted with the institute and further study there.

Visit of Eve Smith, Senior English Fellow, US Department of State (26 February 2013) . Eve gave the presentation to Access teachers on the importance of vocabulary and grammar games, she also talked to the students and did several activities.

Educational Opportunities. On the 20th of February Access students participated in the international fair devoted to educational opportinities in the U.S. and UK.

Write On! Competition. (February 2013) 9 Access students took part in an international competition coordinated by United States Peace Corps Volunteers between students from 6 th form to 4 th year University students. This competition is designed to encourage students to develop their critical thinking, free expression, and writing skills, especially in the area of creative writing, and to allow them to have some fun! As a result, Nonna Beglarian has received the 1st place for the 11th form and Shevchenko Tatiana has received the 2nd place for the 9th form. Moreover, Nonna came in the 3rd place at national level. Congratulations!

Valentine's Day (February 2013). The students celebrated the Valentine's Day, they had a number of activities which included learning new vocabulary, discussions, group work and gap-filling a song.

Visit of Becky Bonner and Tamika Raymond, professional NBA players (1 February 2013). Access students had a chance to be taught by two NBA stars who ran a workshop in Donetsk secondary school 112 as a part of supporting women in sport. Link to Donbass TV news (14.51 minute).

Teacher Development Course (Lviv, January 2013). The Access teachers took part in ELT Professional Development Event: Empowering and inspiring EFL teachers which was organized by the Regional English Language Office (RELO) of the US Embassy in Ukraine. Teachers were given practical advice for the classroom.

New Year Party (December 2012). The students participated in Christmas and New Year celebration which was held on the 29th of December. Five volunteers from Latin America were invited to take part in the event. The idea of the event was quite original: there were four teams, each represented one particular holiday and tried to prove that their holiday is the most important by means of debates. But eventually Christmas holidays proved to be of more importance.

Wildlife Concervation Day (4 December 2012). Arthur Evans, a Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Kiev gave a presentation and a lesson on the importance of preserving the environment and endangered species. The students were divided into groups and learnt useful vocabulary on this topic.

World AIDS Day (1 December 2012). Access students participated in various activities in the context of World AIDS Day. An English language specialist Mike Martucci was invited to help students design the posters for the competition held by the U.S. Embassy and share his views and knowledge regarding this pressing problem. The survey in the street was conducted on the 1st of December where Access students rose awareness of this problem among people. More pictures can be found on vkontakte Donetsk Access group. Follow the link to see the video on our Youtube channel. Students' posters here.

Thanksgiving Day (November 2012). The students were explained the tradition to celebrate this holiday and created a poster with their palm prints where they wrote thanks to relatives, friends, teachers etc.

Columbus Day (October 2012). Access students acted in a drama in which they told the audience how Columbus discovered America. Then the students had an informal meeting and had a chance to communicate with the Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer Arthur Evans and Cultural Affairs Assistant Lilia Shylo. Link to the youtube video and video in vkontakte.

Mike Martucci's visits.The English language specialist Mike Martucci visits Access students on regular basis, he observes the lessons and provides the teachers with useful advice. Students have a unique opportunity to practise their English with the native speaker.

Visiting the orphanage within the intensive session (June 2012). Access students spent the day with orphans playing diferent games in English and encouraging them to speak English.
Official Access Programme Launch in Donetsk (June 2012). Arrival of Regional English Language Officer (RELO) of the US Embassy in Ukraine Frances Westbrook and Cultural Affairs Assistant Lilia Shylo. Link to the video on Donbass.tv (12th minute)

Memory Day (May 2012). The Memory day was marked on 26 May 2012 by the students of Access program. They were presented with useful vocabulary on the topic, did some quizzes and pair work activities. After indoor discussions everyone went to the monument to Victims of Repressions where they laid flowers on the grave and paid tribute by a silence minute.

The Earth Day (April 2012). The activity was held on 21 April. Access students plus three teachers took part in the activity. The activity began with some discussion in the class-room where the learners were explained the origins of the holiday, shown a video on environmental protection. Then the group went outside and participated in scavenger hunt and finally planted a row of plants next to the school building.