Education in the Face of Barbarity and How You Can Help [Podcast]

This episode of the SparkCast is not about school marketing. It’s not about obtaining and retaining students. It’s not about social media.

It’s about the Pechersk School International in Kyiv, Ukraine.

It’s about the story of the attack on the school by the Russians in February 2022… the story of the school’s leaders’ perseverance and resilience…the story of how the international private school community has come to PSI’s aid in remarkable and creative ways…and it’s the story of the story.

In this episode, we talk with Dr. David Willows about how he received a call from Rachel Caldwell, PSI’s director, asking for his help and how David, in turn, asked Miles Latham to join him in telling PSI’s story to the world.

“We were motivated to say yes, even though we didn’t know what we were saying yes to at that point.”

— David Willows, [YELLOW CAR]

Dr. David Willows is co-founder and strategic director at [YELLOW CAR]. Between 2005 and 2022, David was the Director of Advancement at the International School of Brussels, Belgium. During this time, he grew to be regarded as one of the most innovative practitioners in the field, helping to shape and define the future of Advancement in schools. He was recently listed as one of the world’s Top 10 International Education Influencers. An author and regular keynote speaker and trainer at international events around the world, David is passionate about helping schools advance in ways that are relevant for today’s educational landscape. His blog, Fragments II, is widely read around the world. 

Miles Latham is an internationally renowned entrepreneur, creative mind, and filmmaker whose work has spanned everything from high-brand TV advertising to the global world of education marketing. A love of filmmaking and storytelling was awoken in Miles in his early teens, and an entrepreneurial spirit soon followed. At the age of 16, alongside his now Business Partner, he founded Affixxius Films — quite literally in the spare bedroom of a council house — and began working for paying clients in the commercial world. Miles’ work has been particularly extensive in the independent education sector, having worked with or alongside over 600 schools across the world since 2007. His incredibly deep understanding of British and global educational systems is matched with a constant desire for distinctiveness in his creative output. Today Affixxius Films is a commercially strong and creatively thriving video content agency.

David willows

Miles Latham

Watch The Video

David Quoted

“This is a story that needs to be told. Miles was the first person who came to mind.”

“The school in Kyiv has to close its doors. Remarkably, it opens them again in an online space four days later.… Then the school community worldwide begins to lend support… A global brainstorm.”

“What can we do to make this work… How do you open a satellite campus within the campus of another school in another country?”

 “We were motivated to say yes, even though we didn’t know what we were saying yes to at that point.”

Miles Quoted

“The story in and of itself is so arresting…we didn’t bat an eye…Gripping, and tragic, and infuriating, and inspiring all at the same time. When you have a story like that, one of the keys as a communicator, as a filmmaker, is to not get in the way of it. Don’t let the story be covered up by any gimmickry or attempts to be any more clever than it is.”

“What we’re talking about here is a flourishing international school trying to do its best both educationally and pastorally for its children in the face of a hostile invasion.”

“This is a group of people who will allow literally nothing to get in the way of them caring for first and educating second the children in their charge. nothing Russia invaded. Russia fired missiles. Russia destroyed infrastructure etc. etc. etc. but there's one thing they didn't and couldn't take which was education… There is a capacity within human beings to protect the things that matter the most. What we’ve seen through this story of PSI is quite how important education is.”

“It would be more sad now if this school wasn’t able to fully re-establish itself because of shortfalls of funding, which the international schools community, let’s face it, has. That would be more sad than the school having been made not to exist anymore and that was it.”

“This isn't about PSI in and of itself. It's about the very concept of education in the face of barbarity.”

 “We had to piece that was very solid and very clear and that somebody could watch from the beginning to the middle to the end and properly understand it but at the same time and be very faithful to this story because it is truly incredible you did it is the ultimate story of hope snatched away at the worst possible time and yet somehow this organization in PSI I've had the resilience and strength to claw their way back to a position of hope.”

Action Items

• Watch the video

• Watch it again and again

• Share it on social media

• Share it with your friends and colleagues

• Get your school’s leadership involved and ask if your school can support this school

• Lend your experience

• Make a donation

• Reach out to David for more information

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