Teacher Spends Spring Break Aiding Refugees

As the world watches the atrocities unfolding in Ukraine, leaders in our midst are doing their part to meet the needs of refugees head-on.

George Yost, middle school foreign language teacher at Severn School, spent his spring break doing anything but relaxing. Instead, he traveled to Poland where he and other volunteers helped Ukrainian refugees.

“Everybody else goes to Florida; I go to Poland,” Yost joked.

His call to action was prompted by an already deep connection to the people of Ukraine. A lifelong history and foreign language buff, Yost perfected his Russian language skills with pen pals in the Soviet Union days. Eventually, he became involved with a group called Helping Orphans Worldwide (HOW). Through HOW, he used his summers to sponsor Ukrainian children who were either orphaned or otherwise in the government system.

Two of the young men Yost and his wife sponsored are currently left to wait out the war, as only women and children are allowed to evacuate. Their photos and names along with the title “my son” remain affixed to Yost’s dry erase board, a constant reminder of what’s at stake.

Yost and other HOW volunteers met in Poland, where they partnered with other charities on the ground to spread out and get help where it was needed. Some of their work went to serve basic physical needs –outfitting a kitchen at a summer resort with the proper equipment to host refugees for the long haul, and shopping for clothing and school supplies so that refugee children can return to their studies.

Yost fondly recalls the moments spent making connections with kids on a personal level.

“They don’t even realize you’re from a foreign place … it’s just like a classroom, everyone wants to be noticed,” Yost said. “There’s learning for a minute, there’s playing a game for a minute and it’s all so important.”

One such game was futbol, and this American soccer coach met his match.

“I got slide tackled, yes. It was a good play, and I blocked the shot … it was hysterically funny,” Yost said.

The fun and games were important for connecting with the displaced children, but those moments are only a fraction of the story.

“You’ve got people who are displaced and in shock,” Yost said. “It’s this surreal world that you make it across this border and someone helps you to a place, but you don’t have your mobility. The kids aren’t in school yet, you can’t cook like you normally would. It’s nice, they’re doing everything they can to help you, but again it’s not home.”

Yet during what will inevitably be seen as a dark chapter in world history, Yost saw light: the benevolence of the Poles, scrambling to help refugees and foreign volunteers alike and the resilience and determination of the Ukrainians.

“The Ukrainians are determined. They’re sad, but they’re not going to give up. They don’t want to give up,” Yost said.

Yost’s spring break in Poland served more than just the refugees. His students at Severn School have the benefit of experiencing this major world event through the firsthand account of their teacher.

“They were asking about people being safe, did they have enough, what were they doing,” Yost said of his students. “They’re already thinking forward, sort of understanding, ‘What could I have if I could only have packed a backpack and had to run?’”

Some students have become activists in their own right and are lobbying for a “dress down day” fundraiser in support of Ukraine – proof that their teacher’s influence is hitting home.