SCHOLAR AT WORK: Yana Kodua is a third grader at Littlebrook Elementary School after escaping from the war in Ukraine and arriving in Princeton with her parents. She’s learning English rapidly and “growing in so many ways,” according to her teacher Danielle Gargione. (Photo courtesy of Princeton Public Schools)

By Donald Gilpin

Third graders often have amazing stories to tell, but the story of Yana Kodua’s escape from war-torn Ukraine to come with her family to Princeton and enroll in the Littlebrook Elementary School was remarkable enough to become the subject of an NBC News feature last week.   

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, millions of people have become refugees, fleeing to Europe and beyond. More than 62,000 have come to the United States. Yana and her family escaped first to Moldova, then to Poland, “hiding in a bunker, sleeping in train stations,” according to NBC. Finally, during the summer, they came to Princeton, where they were sponsored by an aunt who works at Princeton University.

Yana’s father Albert described the situation they left behind. “You don’t know if you’ll wake up or not,” he told NBC News (in translation). “You want to eat, but you can’t. You run into the basement, because every minute or every five minutes you have a siren going off. This was not a desirable situation for us to stay in.”

Yana knew very little English, but she was ready to plunge into her new life at Littlebrook. “From the start Yana was able to connect with kids, even though she couldn’t really speak their language,” said Yana’s third-grade teacher Danielle Gargione. “She was able to connect with them and really reach out to them. It was heartwarming.”

Gargione told how on the very first day of school, as she met her students and walked with them down to their classroom, Yana reached out to take the hand of one of her classmates and they walked down the hallway hand-in-hand.

In just over a month at Littlebrook, Yana’s ability in English has improved dramatically. “She’s eager to learn, willing to learn,” said Gargione. “She wants to do her best, and it’s so fulfilling to see her progressing. Her English gets better and better every day.”

In interacting with the other third graders in her class, Yana has shared stories about her family and about her dog that had to be left behind in Poland, but, Gargione explained, she hasn’t talked much about life in Ukraine after the Russian invasion and their escape. “Not too much about her actual story of coming here, more happy memories,” said Gargione.

“The third graders are aware of what’s going on in Ukraine, and they are aware that Yana is from Ukraine, but I don’t go into deep discussions about it with the kids,” Gargione added. “Last school year when the war broke out, a lot of the grade levels did various fund raisers for Ukraine.”

She continued, “They are aware that Yana is from Ukraine. I think they know just enough. They know that she came here to find safe ground. They know that here she’s safe and she’s welcome.”

Gargione noted that a number of students at Littlebrook, children of parents who come to the Institute for Advanced Study or to Princeton University as visiting professors from other countries, know little or no English. “We currently have another student from Israel who does not speak English,” said Gargione. “When Yana and this student were introduced to the class, the class totally just accepted them.”

She continued, “The kids are helpful. Students asked me, ‘Can I walk Yana to her Mom at the end of the day?’ ‘Can I help and show her where the bathroom is?’ ‘Can I be her buddy out on the playground?’ They just want to help.”

The arrival of the NBC News crew on the sixth day of school last month caused a stir amongst Gargione’s third graders. “It sure was an event,” she said. “The kids were very excited, and excited for Yana. The news crew was in our classroom for most of the day and also out on the playground. The kids were so well behaved.”

Any difficulties involved in helping Yana to learn English and catch up on her language skills are far outweighed by the positive attributes that she brings to the class, Gargione says. “It has been 100 percent a teachable moment. As I said to the NBC crew, my goal was to make Yana feel a part of our classroom community, make her feel safe here, and I wanted to make her feel happy.”

She went on, “I think these three things are happening in the classroom. It’s great to see her growing in so many ways — socially and academically.” In math class Yana gets especially excited, Gargione said, “because math is a kind of universal language. She participates more than she does in language arts at the moment.”

Among the many friends Yana has made already, two of them speak Russian and sometimes help Yana translate in writing and speaking.

“The first time I met her was through Zoom when she was still trying to escape, and here she is starting school,” said NBC News Correspondent Julie Ainsley, “The school has done a lot to help her out.”