TCNJ

32 The College of New Jersey Magazine C arroll has an inkling of what it means to live through uncertain times. He taught ESL in Israel during the first Gulf War and vividly remem- bers Scud missiles flying overhead. "We thought that Saddam Hussein was going to send chemical weapons," he says. "I think that helped me under- stand how life goes on even in those kinds of terrible circumstances." Many of his students in Israel at the time were immigrants who had left collapsing Soviet Union countries, including Ukraine. Their eagerness to learn a new language as they reimag- ined their lives inspired him. "The whole field of ESL is sort of right in that place of hopes and fears and wants and needs," he says. Carroll eventually joined TCNJ after earning a PhD in curriculum and instruction with a focus on elementary teacher preparation. But his experience teaching ESL stuck with him; when he learned about the State Department's new program, he decided to apply. Last summer, Carroll was chosen to be one of 13 teachers working with Ukrainian students. He was thrilled — and resolved that the class would not only be academically helpful, but also a break from the wider world. "I'm a big believer that when people are in stressful situations, one of the best things is distraction," he says. "And I can be very distracting." Carroll fills his classes not with rote recitation, but lively conversations about television, hobbies, and careers. To practice questions, he has them imagine landing on a new planet. ("An alien comes up to you and says, 'You may ask me any 12 questions about this planet.' What do you ask?") Iuliia Pachos To help them hear different verb forms, he plays music, including American favorites such as the '50s doo-wop hit "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," and "Time Warp" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Students rarely talk directly about the war in class, but Carroll glimpses its effect on their lives, from the absences caused by power outages to the questions asked in the alien hypothetical, including: Do you have regular electricity on this planet? "It is such a labor of love," he says. "You feel like you're a part of some- thing, like you're taking their minds off a pretty rotten situation." For Kristina Karnaushenko, a first-year international law student, Carroll's class is a respite. "That hour and 20 minutes goes by like 'poof,'" she says. "It's a really great way to interrupt ourselves from something like this, but also really helpful for my future and the future of other students." When the Russian invasion began, Karnaushenko and her classmates were shocked. "At the start of February, we were talking about it like, 'No, they would not do that — why would they do that?'" she says. "When it happened, it was awful." But students like her quickly "understood their duty," she says. "Our defenders were fighting for us. We, as students, understand it is our duty to study because we are the future of our country." A similar sense of purpose spread among Ukrainian citizens as their neighborhoods were bombed. Ballet dancers and boxers alike joined the military. Students raised money for emergency medical supplies. And the teachers leading Burroughs' class were, if anything, even more deter- mined to continue their work. I uliia Pachos, a former political science professor who now over- sees teacher training and support for Burroughs' course throughout Ukraine, says the commitment — including from some teachers who'd been displaced from their homes or were living in occupied territories — didn't surprise her. "For myself and my colleagues, to continue to teach students is a contribution to the future of our country," Pachos says. "We feel that we are making a contribution to a new kind of citizen. Active citizens. Responsible citizens. Citizens who understand their role in the rebuilding of Ukraine." That sense of civic participation is at the center of Burroughs' work.

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