School Far in the Taiga

This story is about a school in a small village in the taiga of Yakutia, Russia. There is neither internet nor telephone or fax, and we connect to the school through Rosa Zelepukhina, a forester and shy old woman, who has worked hard all her life, and who comes to our Institute from time to time. She organizes Crane Celebrations in several schools in her region, Tomponski Ulus, in southeastern Yakutia. She encourages children to participate in environmental actions. Several local children were very late with their art preparation for the Republic Art Competition, “Siberian Crane - the Bird of Happiness.” At that time Rosa had just returned from our Institute with special prizes from the Organizing Committee for the Competition participants. She had no additional prizes for these students. She organized the local Exposition of these arts and still rewarded them with prizes she prepared herself. Introduction by Masha Vladimirtseva, Yakutsk, Russia

This is Rosa's story:

There is a small village, Okhotsky Perevoz (Hunter’s Transit) in southeastern Yakutia along the eastern Siberian Crane flyway. It was founded in 1936 as transit point on the Aldan River, a eastern tributary of the Lena River. In the past, shipments to the Okhotsky Sea were transported through this village by horses. Once it was a densely populated village, but then other roads were developed and the village lost its former status. At the present, 106 people live there, and only 19 students study in the school built for as many as 150 pupils. There are Yakutian, Russian, Belarus and Ukraine students.

In former times on the left bank of the Aldan River there was a Hydro-Meteorological Station, with 32 working staff, with a scientific research boat named Synoptic. And now there are just five staff. Many staff became teachers in Okhotsky Perevoz’s school. Director Elena Bashtovaya and the teachers do their best to make children feel close to the interior world in this remote land. Some topic parties are held every week here. We have a special summer camp. We have summer field trips, berry and mushroom gathering. Every spring and fall children ages six and older help adults count migrating Siberian Cranes and fill out the counting forms. Every year we celebrate Crane Day. Our students participated in the Republic Competition “Siberian Crane - the Bird of Happiness,” and two girls, Ira and Christina, won first prizes.

A very beautiful environment embraces this small village. But life here is not easy. And it is a great wonder that our people do not just survive in such hard conditions, but also develop the souls of our children.

Click here to read more stories about students in Yakutia, China and the United States participating in the Three White Cranes project.

Crane Art Six Meters Long...Brings Students Together

By Jim Harris, International Crane Foundation

In July, I felt excited to be returning to Xianghai Nature Reserve, home to Red-crowned Cranes and many other waterbirds. Thanks to the artwork of a fifth grade student, Farit, at Tower Rock Elementary School in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, I had the opportunity to work again with a student art club at Xianghai. Farit and his classmates had made notecards that they sold to raise money for conservation. I carried part of the money they raised to Xianghai and gave it to art teacher Ms. Shi Yanqiu to start a nature art club for students living near the reserve. With the money from the American students, she could pay for art supplies and field trips for the students to see wetlands and draw the cranes.

A year later, the club is still going strong. New York artist Val DuBasky -- founder of Art-in-a-Box, ICF’s partner for art education -- was returning with ICF to Xianghai and had suggested that the students develop an ambitious new project – a mural!

When I arrived, teacher and students were hard at work. They were excited, and a little nervous about art so huge. The nature reserve had already agreed to display the mural in the local museum.

The students paused to talk with us about their work and feelings. I had listened to them the same way in January. In winter, each student had talked about her own experience, each answer was different. This time, student after student talked about working together and how they could make something as a group that none of them could do alone.

That kind of thinking and confidence is how people solve problems in their community, or come together to protect their environment.

Val and teacher Shi Yanqiu helped the students through so many new experiences – scaling up from their original drawings to the full mural, including multiple perspectives yet still a main horizon line, and painting for an audience who will look from far away. The second to last morning found beautiful cranes and trees and the start of landscapes across the canvas. No one wanted to tackle the background, great expanses of sky, water too. For a year, these students had worked to make the cranes better and better, but doing a mural they could not overlook the empty spaces between the birds. Val gave them a special exercise that afternoon for skies.

By working late and getting up early the next day, to our delight and amazement, they finished before lunch and proudly marched the fully extended mural across town from the school to our summer camp hotel. A few townspeople came out to see, others ignored them. One student declared emphatically, “People don’t understand art!”

We had two celebrations. First, a surprise party after lunch, with cake that Val had ordered special just for the artists. Fourteen very decorous and honored students eventually found that frosting went well on faces, even Val’s face and Shi Yanqiu and old foreign men! What different personalities shown through student faces busy and intent with frosting us.

A couple hours later, faces all clean again, they were dignity once more and presented the mural to the nature reserve and the entire summer camp. They were eloquent talking about their art and what it means to love and protect nature.


Already, Val and Shi Yanqiu have another mural idea for autumn . . . and maybe a video . . . it is amazing what Farit and the students of Tower Rock School have started. How far will these students go?