Kosciuszko Foundation Summer Camps

Report for AFT Teachers Attending Summer Camp in Poland

This report focuses on a joint Educational Issues/International Affairs project that had eight AFT volunteer teachers spending two weeks in the small town of Basznia, Poland, located about thirty miles from the Ukraine border, in a summer camp for Polish and Ukrainian students, late July 2023.

This project was a repeat of a similar project from 2022 that grew out of President Weingarten’s conversations with the Kosciuszko Foundation (the largest Polish-American foundation) and other Polish and U.S. civil society organizations.  

The project rests inside the AFT’s overall efforts to support educational and humanitarian recovery for Ukraine/Poland.  The eight AFT volunteer teachers (listed below*), were joined by a small group of non-AFT American teachers, as well as a small group of Polish and Ukrainian teachers.  There were 95 campers, 14-16 years old, of which 30 were from Ukraine.

Camp activities were based around both educational and recreational activities designed to offer a safe, social, and an emotional-centered experience, despite the war’s nearby presence.  

International Affairs staffer Dave Kammerer was on-hand for the two-week camp to assist or handle any emergencies. The project was a valuable example of AFT-member engagement, as well as inter-departmental project work.

Overall, based on our post-camp conversations with AFT participants, the camp was a great success.  Some group dynamics issues had arisen among the teachers in last year’s camp, but this year’s group meshed very well, with great cohesion and teamwork – presumably because they were veterans from last year’s camp, so they were much more familiar with the camp system -- and each other.

Daily camp schedule:  There were five classes each morning from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.  The classes were in learning basic English skills, science, computer/tech, physical education, and arts/music.  Afternoons consisted of team-based project activities, sports, and arts & crafts.  The AFT team dined each evening with the Ukrainian students and teachers.

Project Notes:

•     Upon arrival, AFT teachers were assigned to sleep in the program’s high school -- one room for all of the men -- one for the women -- on cots, with bathroom facilities on the ground floor.  The teachers reported that they made the best of the tight accommodations, and morale during the first week was high.  Nevertheless, for week two, we managed to find off-campus accommodations, with Dave Kammerer successfully securing single-rooms for the teachers in a nearby pensione.

•     The AFT teachers were absolutely leaders, and throughout they were influential, high-spirited, friendly, and professional.  They reported working well with each other, the students, and the other teachers from Poland and Ukraine.

•     Classroom instruction was a highlight, partly based on the group’s experience from what worked best from last year; observance of the Fourth of July – complete with American flags and a hamburger cook-out! – was a hit as a cross-cultural event for teachers and students.

•     Marek Skulimowski, President of the Kosciuszko Foundation, visited the camp to directly thank the AFT team directly and to meet with other teachers and staff.  A Polish colleague organization of Marek’s – the Folkowitz Foundation -- handled camp activities based around trauma-informed learning, with the team AFT contributing daily with its expertise in socio-emotional learning.

•     The teachers from Poland and Ukraine commented that observing the AFT’s planning and teaching style was a useful professional development experience for them.  

•     Upon their return to the U.S., several AFT teachers ran a well-attended TEACH workshop, largely based on their experience at the summer camp in trauma-informed teaching.

•     Like last year, the reports from the teachers have been very positive, even “life-changing,” affecting the way they teach and the way they look at students.  At the end of the camp, when one AFT teacher was at the airport waiting for her departure flight, her students called her and sang her one of the songs she had taught them.  Everyone was in tears of joy….  

•     Others commented:  “I think I gained a lot of empathy for the Ukrainian teachers. Those poor kids lost two years of education during the pandemic and now a year during the war. I think it’s hard for them now. From what they said, their schools are bombed out, their churches are bombed out. They have nothing.”

•     And, “I really wanted to do more to help than just talk about it with the students and show them what was happening.  I think I made a difference in at least some students’ lives… I think the teachers too. I’m sure that it went all-around, I think we all had a good impact on each other.”

•     And, “The Ukrainians are afraid of being forgotten and they just want to get that single message out – that the world doesn’t forget what they’re going through.”

Recommendations:

•     AFT’s continued presence and work with the Kosciuszko Foundation is fundamentally important to them. Our professionalism and ability to teach is something that the Foundation has struggled to consistently maintain for years. By cooperating with the AFT, the Kosciuszko Foundation has leveraged our involvement to expand their original mission of teaching English in Poland to working across the border with their Ukrainian neighbors. AFT’s involvement is NOT the only reason this evolution has occurred, but it is a significant factor.

•     Moving ahead, the International Affairs Department believes we should continue our cooperative understanding with the Kosciuszko Foundation within some additional parameters. These need to include a longer timeline for the AFT to identify willing teachers to commit to a 2-week immersive experience.  Working with the Educational Issues Department, we need to identify our members willing to volunteer by mid-spring so we can arrange travel and brief them on their responsibilities moving forward.  

•     There was value to having this year’s group of volunteers having been chosen from the names of last year’s roster; it helped the teachers be more familiar and comfortable with the routine.  And moving forward, it might be also valuable to open the offer to a new, wider list of AFT volunteers, while keeping the participant diversity goals of geography, gender, specialty, and age.  One has already been asked to return as a team captain for next year…. We would recommend that 1 or 2 veteran AFT teachers from the year/s before who stood out as instructional leaders be allowed to serve again to lend continuity and cohesiveness to the instructional program.

•     We also need to agree on the dates and number of educators that the Kosciuszko Foundation is asking for well in advance of the actual dates of the summer camp.  

•     AFT should ensure that our members are housed in adequate, preferably single-bed, air-conditioned facilities which reflect the professional nature of our volunteer educators.  The camp administrators should hopefully be able to provide photos of camp provisions in advance.

•     And, the AFT needs to commit to having a staff member onsite to help guide our members and provide cooperative leadership at the actual camp site. The position this year allowed us to make quick logistical decisions, made advocating for our members commitments easier, and allowed both our members and the Foundation volunteers to stay focused on providing an exciting and educational experience for over 90 Polish and Ukrainian students.

•     A last note:  the project rotated around five different contact points – the AFT Educational Issues Department, International Affairs Department, the Kosciuszko Foundation, the Folkowitz Foundation, and the local camp administration team.  It will be important for next year’s planning teams to continue tight coordination among us to ensure that the teachers will be well-prepped and ready to hit the ground running.