Chester third graders meet Ukrainian third graders
Chester. The students shared experiences via a Zoom connection.
Chester /
| 22 Feb 2025 | 08:10
Chester Elementary School teacher Lori Bonito’s third graders talk with students over in Ukraine. (
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Chester Elementary School teacher Lori Bonito shows her class the distance between New York and Ukraine on a globe. (
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The Chester Union Free School District recently shared a unique opportunity experienced by students in Lori Bonito’s third grade class: a Zoom meetup with fellow third graders in Ukraine held on February 19.
As reported by the school district, the Zoom call was designed to introduce students here to their peers from across the world and learn more about their culture.
Prior to meeting with Ukrainian students, Bonito’s class worked on a project to learn more about their own cultures. Students researched information about their background and ethnicity to understand their different cultures.
“For the project we researched about our culture and then wrote it on the computer,” said student Audrey Morse. “Then, Ms. Bonito printed it and made it into a book. I learned where Ireland is, what they eat, what they wear, and traditions.”
This initiative came to be with the help of a program called Class2Class, which helps classrooms across the globe connect with one another.
“I wanted to share with the students how even though there are other third graders around the world, that there are a lot of similarities between them,” said Bonito. “I reached out to Class2Class.org and we connected with this Ukrainian teacher. We were able to start communicating; she was eager and had the same goals.”
The video call started off with warm welcomes, as Bonito’s third grade students smiled and waved to the Ukrainian students before introducing themselves. Students went up to the camera one by one to share their name and nationality with the group. Students from Ukraine then had the opportunity to introduce themselves to Bonito’s students.
After meeting one another, Chester students learned fun facts about Ukraine and asked questions about their school day. Students were also able to practice their Ukrainian during the call before hearing more from the Ukrainian students.
“It was fun and a little crazy,” said student Michael Carpanini about meeting the Ukrainian students. “My favorite part was... all of it!”
Bonito’s class hopes to meet with the Ukrainian students next month to teach them about American culture.