This browser does not support the Video element.
Mansfield ISD welcomes Ukrainian family on first day
The Mansfield Independent School District is welcoming several students from the Zhakun family following their escape from the war in Ukraine.
MANSFIELD, Texas - It was a special first day of school for a Ukrainian family now living in North Texas.
The Mansfield Independent School District welcomed back three students from the Zhakun family following their escape from the war in Ukraine.
MORE: Russia-Ukraine News
Vitalik and Lyuba Zhakun, along with their six children, fled from the war-torn country last fall. They settled in Mansfield because of connections through a local Ukrainian church.
Since then, the community has pulled together to support them.
Their family’s unique story involves the war between Russia and their home country of Ukraine.
The children accompanied their parents Wednesday morning to share publicly, through an interpreter, how they fled Ukraine to escape the Russian invasion.
"When they made the decision to change the country and bring the whole family here, he was so worried as a father, as the head of the family, how it was going to be. What am I going to do? Will I be able to provide? And if he knew ahead of time how wonderful these people would be, the community and how they would extend their arms and have all of them, he would not worry as much as he was at the beginning," Vitalik Zhakun's translator said.
"He is relieved now because they can sleep quietly, and they can get an education. And so he is so appreciative. The whole family is so appreciative to the principal and librarian and teachers and every single person who supported them, and he feels so much relief now because his kids are in a safe situation. And they can raise them and think about their future," the translator added.
The school district’s bond with the Zhakun family began when they first arrived in late 2022.
"The little village they lived in with his children that go to school here had just become so war-torn and violent, he just decided if my lineage, my life, is going to go on, I have to get out of here," Tarver Rendon Agricultural Leadership Academy principal Jamie Norwood said.
The elementary school’s principal and librarian have been key connectors, spearheading community efforts to help with everything from clothing to furniture and groceries.
"People from all over the district just, we have bunk beds, we have a refrigerator, because they literally came with the clothes on their back and their documentation," Norwood said.
This browser does not support the Video element.
Mansfield ISD welcomes Ukrainian students on first day
It's a special first day of school for one family in North Texas. Mansfield ISD is welcoming the students whose family escaped the war in Ukraine.
"I went over and sat in their living room at their computer and we went through all of the forms together, and we made sure all of their meal information was updated and their bus services were registered," librarian Chelsea Bledsoe said.
At Tarver Rendon, two of the sisters, who are in 4th and 2nd grades, guided their brother, who is in kindergarten. All have found new friends who are helping them.
"They would help them get their lunch, show them where the pencils are. The student would sit next to them and they’d kind of mimic what they’re doing," Norwood said. "It just kind of naturally occurred. They weren’t assigned to them, it just happened."
Mansfield ISD said the outpouring of support and coordination of resources reflects the theme for this school year – Stronger Together.
Families are encouraged to have conversations with their children about welcoming others.