March 28, 2007 Gold medal for ORT Ukraine World ORTs innovative contribution to the teaching of technology has been recognised by the Ukrainian authorities at a prestigious national exhibition in Odessa on high technology in education. Judges from the countrys Ministry of Education and Science, the National Academy of Science, the State Committee of Communication and Information, and the National Council of Television and Broadcasting awarded the gold medal to the ORT Ukraine team for its presentation. Vasyl Kondrashov and Anna Pakhamova, of the ORT Odessa Technology Centre, Dmitriy Ivanov, of the ORT Dnepropetrovsk Technology Centre, and Slava Leshchiner, Director of the World ORT Representative Office in Ukraine and Moldova, were joined by Odessa ORT School 94 in demonstrating ORT techniques. This is the first time that ORT Ukraine has been presented with such a high level of recognition, Mr Leshchiner said. We were the only organisation at the exhibition that could provide a new approach to technology teaching in secondary schools. The ORT teams exhibition consisted of three main sections, one of which described the main ideas of ORTs approach to technology education that were developed in World ORTs Technology for All project. Technology for All was an international initiative to create a multi-dimensional course in technology suitable for different systems but with a common core, Mr Leshchiner said. The resulting textbooks are still used in ORT schools in Argentina and the Former Soviet Union. This was the first time that we presented this project on a national level, so winning the gold medal is very high recognition of World ORTs input into the education system in Ukraine. The ORT Ukraine team (from left): Slava Leshchiner, Vasyl Kondrashov, Dmitry Ivanov and Anna Pakhomova. On display were textbooks describing the ORT technology curriculum, examples of worksheets for students (including introductions to technology, technology modelling and robotic systems) and methodological materials for teachers. Another aspect of the ORT display included textbooks and methodological materials developed at the ORT Samara Technology Centre in Russia, which focused on the teaching of CAD and CAM programmes that allow users to create three-dimensional designs and models. ORT Odessa School student Alisa Basakovskaia demonstrates methods of programming and controlling a robot. The third part of the display demonstrated the approach, programmes and courses provided by the ORT Distance Learning Centre (ORT-DLC) in Moscow. The ORT-DLC is a very useful resource for people who would otherwise be unable to pursue their education because they are working, or because of domestic obligations or because of ill health or disability, said Mr Kondrashov. In addition to the gold medal given to the ORT display, a 9th grade student at ORT Odessa School 94, Kirill Kreicer, was awarded the exhibitions honorary diploma for the website he constructed depicting the history of his school. ORT resumed operations in the former Soviet Union in 1991. It now coordinates operations in Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania and Kyrgyzstan 53 projects in 32 locations serving more than 27,000 people. World ORT is the worlds largest Jewish education and vocational training non-government organisation and has benefited more than 3 million people Jewish and non-Jewish in 100 countries since its foundation in 1880.