They are being "hunted" by the best Western universities: how a capital city school manages to nurture geniuses

Students of this school regularly become winners of national and international Olympiads in mathematics, computer science, physics, robotics, and astronomy. Graduates are eagerly accepted for study by the best universities not only in Ukraine but also in other countries. UNN visited the educational institution and found out what the secret is. 

Inquisitive, open, and purposeful, these young intellectuals dream of exploring the mysteries of the world, conquering space, building complex systems, or contributing to the development of medicine – this is how we saw the students. In the meantime, under the mentorship of experienced teachers, including PhDs, they solve complex mathematical problems, build robots, create their first scientific developments, study the impact of complex chemical compounds on humans and the environment, seek ways to improve the use of renewable energy sources, and win the most prestigious scientific competitions. 

For us, participating in Olympiads, including international ones, is already a common occurrence. Just the other day, our team returned from Bucharest – international robotics competitions were held in Romania. 11 of our students presented our developments, and all of them returned with prizes. And robotics has only been developing here for two years,

Currently, the institution's team is preparing to participate in the GENIUS Olympiad – the largest international environmental project competition for schoolchildren, which takes place annually in the USA and focuses on solving environmental problems. An 11th-grade student will present her work at this Olympiad; she developed a T-shirt capable of accumulating energy produced by the human body. This energy can be used, for example, to recharge a continuous glucose monitoring sensor. 

All these achievements would not be possible without good teachers and a modern material and technical base, which the institution constantly tries to update and replenish. And now, a real optics laboratory has opened at the school. Now students will be able to study this important branch of modern physics not only from textbooks but also in practice using modern equipment. 

This is a completely new laboratory. Everything here was built from scratch. Most of the equipment was imported from abroad. There are full sets for work related to geometric optics, wave optics, and atomic optics. There are many demonstration materials that show the connection of optical phenomena not only with physics but also with biology, chemistry, and many other natural sciences,

Of course, creating such a laboratory would have been impossible without help – the Ukrainian technology company Fire Point eagerly provided its support, clearly understanding that an investment in the development of education is an investment in our future. 

With the assistance of Fire Point, the astronomy classroom at the school was also completely re-equipped, and it now features a model of the starry sky, a tellurion, a robotic telescope, models of the Earth and the Sun, and much more. 

We are very grateful to the patrons who understand the necessity and importance of preparing children for such vital sectors of the economy and social development as mathematics, optics, physics, astronomy, and other natural sciences. We thank the concerned benefactors for understanding the importance of training pupils and students in precisely these strategic areas. We would very much like the state to join such support through specialized programs, through specialized scientific topics for young researchers, in particular, through the system of the Junior Academy of Sciences, the system of Olympiads, and various competitions, not only national but also international. This is very important for achieving victories and for increasing the competitiveness of our children,

The Open Day continued with a celebration where the best students who proved themselves in national and international competitions throughout the year were awarded. These are dozens of boys and girls who will obviously contribute to the development of science and technology in the future. But there is also a flip side – high-class specialists are needed not only in Ukraine. 

When students win victories at foreign Olympiads, we would like them to return to their homeland, but we understand that there is a hunt for such brains abroad as well. Ukraine must do everything to ensure that such talented children work for the development of the Motherland,

Ukrainian business is beginning to invest more actively in the development of Ukrainian education and science despite the war. Companies like Fire Point understand that this is a "Win-Win": pupils and students gain access to better equipment, technology, and knowledge, and companies eventually get high-class specialists with unique skills. This is exactly how progress is built. Ukraine, in turn, gets a chance to become a country of advanced technologies.