5:30 PM EESTThe Recruitment Center of the Ukrainian Army was opened in Kostopil This is the pioneering center in the Rivne region and the 44th one throughout Ukraine For more details on joining the Defence Forces and to apply for a unit and position of choice please visit the Center at the following address: 7 Nezalezhnosti St. Specially educated non-military recruiters are also on hand for advice by the following phone numbers: +38 (098) 934 1899 Over 10,000 vacancies are currently available at the Ukrainian Army's Recruitment Centers Opportunities exist in the Armed Forces of Ukraine “Together with the Ministry of Defence and regional governments we have initiated a collaborative effort aimed at encouraging enthusiastic individuals to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine as we have already carried out recruitment for the National Guard and the Border Guard Service through the Rivne Administrative Services Center in the past We are expanding our efforts by actively seeking potential military candidates for various units,” stated Serhii Podolin the First Deputy Dead of the Rivne Regional Military Administration The Recruitment Center does not distribute call-up papers joining the preferred unit is still an option even if an official request for data clarification has been issued “Local self-governments should take an active stance in supporting the state’s efforts to combat russian aggression We are therefore keen to support this initiative led by the Ministry of Defence and calmly consider their choices,” emphasized Davyd Didukh Secretary of the City Council and Acting Mayor of Kostopil 21 000 individuals have reached out to the network of Recruitment Centers of the Ukrainian Army Recruiters manage the process of enlisting volunteers for the Defense Forces the support service steps in to resolve them offers individuals the choice of where to serve and contact a unit of their choice at recruiting centers,” emphasized Oleksii Bezhevets recruitment officer for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence He further mentioned that the recruitment primarily entails signing a contract it is possible to choose a specific military unit Individuals can contact their chosen military unit directly For contact information on the recruitment center network of the Ukrainian Army, please visit: https://recruiting.mod.gov.ua/ BETAThe functionality works in the mode of experimental operation Home page » Topics » Education » Kostopil Oleksandr Kozak founded a chess club which grew to become a center of intellectual development Oleksandr turned an empty abandoned building inhabited by rats into a place where local people regularly go to play chess and discuss interesting topics with the teacher and with each other Oleksandr says that the secret to success is to love – love children as personalities and love what you do We often look for a place where we could feel comfortable and develop Oleksandr Kozak did not just find such a place Ukraine has a long history of chess culture and Chorna Mohyla near Chernihiv found chess figures created at the time of Kievan Rus The first chess club in the Ukrainian history was created in 1882 in Kharkiv and was followed by similar clubs in Kyiv The chess center in Kostopil already has a 30-year history The center and its founder constantly develop and inspire other people to improve themselves Oleksandr Kozak fell for chess back when he had been a school student then started playing with engineers from the local factories Before he realized that he wanted to dedicate himself to this game the boy had been spending hours watching others playing chess Oleksandr’s father encouraged him to read Oleksandr’s first books on chess and this is how he describes his first achievements: Imagine this: we had a map and drew Ancient Rome or Greece and ancient polis Everyone had their own colour of the state you paint your opponent’s state with your colour it feels like you have conquered the whole world Oleksandr finally understood that he wanted to play chess and figured it was the time to look for opponents — I would take a chessboard and walk around Kostopil Just like Diogenes who was using a lantern during daylight to find an honest man I wandered around looking for a game partner Oleksandr Kozak did not realize that chess would become his lifetime adventure: — I did not know that I would set up a chess club which would lay the ground for the intellectual development center Suzirja (Сonstellation) I think I subconsciously knew that this idea needs to be implemented and everything happened exactly this way so he grew up in an atmosphere which he would later replicate and which he still maintains: a director of the education department in the local government My mother was a headmaster for a long time as well I don’t need to read all kinds of manuals to understand something You can see it from the way I interact with the kids After Oleksandr had graduated a teacher-training college and started working in a school in Kostopil he immediately founded a chess club for children in his school: which allows to communicate with a child easily and directly you introduce the child to the world of dialectics Oleksandr received a building for his center Oleksandr managed not only to preserve the existing physical infrastructure but also to expand it In addition to sixteen new chess tables manufactured by the local furniture factory the chess club got twelve chess sets produced by the English company Staunton which were purchased during the European chess championship in Warsaw These chess sets are used by professional players at the international level due to the support of the local education department the club obtained comfortable high back chairs: I am very glad because the kids feel comfortable As Oleksandr was developing his club year by year he could see a tradition develop around it as well Oleksandr believes it is the result of a gradual but continuous self-development I think that the world is created by marathon runners They often don’t have enough time to check how big their weight has got Sprinters just shine for some time and then burn out is produced by those who are capable of executing their mission over a long period of time It’s because a tradition takes a while to form and the tradition can be a foundation for everything else Oleksandr Kozak himself teaches more than 30 students while the youngest ones are just around 5 years old chess taught at this club is meant to help students’ general development there are also professional chess players who started off at Suzirja one of Oleksandr’s students currently plays for the Israeli National Chess Team Former students of Oleksandr Kozak live all around the world Not only do they not forget about their teacher — I have a lot of students all over the world You can find everything here: from Irish chess sets to a piece of Mount Kilimanjaro Those are gifts from former students and colleagues The Suzirja Center is not limited only to teaching chess: — I hold nights of classical music here in December there has existed a band Trio of contrasts: two violin players and one pianist There are meetings with my former students among them Yurii Polikovych and Viktor Yudin there already are several people who would like to succeed in leading the center The most important task for Oleksandr is to preserve the center’s atmosphere The center is full of different symbols and it is important that the kids are introduced to those symbols and understand them since that will help them to have a more comprehensive understanding of the world I tried to fill it with symbols which would be easily understood by the children there is this traditional path from a sign to an image When children find themselves in such an atmosphere when they grow up and are able to realize what is around them they become free from all external distractions and dissolve in the process of the game Oleksandr Kozak’s first students became his favorites the ones that each educator is usually looking for throughout his/her whole life These children gave Oleksandr a true inspiration to move forward: — I was 21 when I graduated the teacher-training college and started working in a school It was in that school where I found a brilliant galaxy of children who were genetically inclined to understand me This first group of children gave me an impulse I realized that I needed to switch to this job which gives both me and a child the best opportunity for self-fulfillment Oleksandr does not impose his ideas on his students he just helps them truly find themselves and choose their own path: God granted me such a galaxy of children one can only wish for It was a great responsibility but also a great happiness Here’s how young students of the center describe their interest in chess: I would like to become a champion in this game Chess helps me develop my thinking and logic so I won’t do the same mistake the next time with the knowledge I have Chess gave me the skill to plan all my actions ahead Oleksandr’s establishment faced new difficulties but also saw new opportunities I slightly changed the vector of development I concentrated on making sure that a child feels comfortable here that a child feels an atmosphere of coziness and freedom Oleksandr shares a unique approach to children which he had developed as an educator: Erase the memory about yourself and don’t brag about yourself don’t constantly think about how awesome you are you must love the child more than you love the accompanying papers Oleksandr believes that the love of children should go hand in hand with the love of a good book: and he says that children are the source of this optimism: — Sometimes optimism fails you when you face a theatre of the absurd I have faced a lot of difficulties throughout my life and the sphere of childhood has always been interesting for me Wise men say that “a child is a true human being” They are like a clay you can use to create something and creating something is always inspiring further future and career are not so obvious for young Ukrainians: We’ve lost a lot of young and talented people They should have been creating their own Ukraine The state spends so much funds to educate the child Someone starts selling goods on the local market someone radically changes their field of education Oleksandr believes that the role of a modern teacher and educator in children’s education is especially important today: Raise a personality and become a personality The very system of relationships had always been the way when teachers were not free in a lot of aspects we need to start from changing the rules in education When discussing the role of education and the role of the word in the contemporary world — Soviet repressions destroyed our intelligentsia but a nation is not complete without an intelligentsia Some say that intelligentsia pays too much attention to words The word is the aura which fills the spirit of the nation It influences you from various perspectives and creates the tradition which is later replicated by the child who grows up with this tradition Oleksandr sees some very positive changes in the minds of parents and I don’t face a problem of an empty class It’s because young parents bring their children They start understanding that they should develop their child because it is the childhood which forms a foundation for our success in life Involved in the preparation of the material 11 volunteers Project support: Fundacja Euromaidan-Warszawa Use of materials is only permitted upon providing the source: Ukrainer.net Дизайн — Артем Зубкевич Розробка — Deluxcode