GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – St. Mark Lutheran School in Green Bay is using what’s happening in Ukraine as a teaching lesson for its students.

“We thought what would be an awesome thing to connect our students to the real world,” said Principal Zachary Biebert.

The school has adopted the country as part of one of its mission projects for the year.

“We are doing an offering for those people in Ukraine who are really suffering from what’s going on over there,” added Biebert.

It’s also being used to start a conversation between kids at school and their families at home.

“If we talk to the students, we want it to be real for them,” said Biebert. “We want them to know if they are donating money what it is going toward.”

The school is joining others across the state to raise money. It will be used for humanitarian help, including anything and everything refugees might need, and also help those who stay back behind to help fight.

“We have a sister church body in the Ukraine,” said pastor Ben Workentine of St. Mark Ministries in De Pere. “They work with Ukrainian pastors, and really the whole system. We’ve been getting updates with what’s happening over from our churches to the people.”

That relationship has allowed the church to get an inside look at the war-torn country.

“The frantic, the fear of walking away from everything you’ve ever known, every place you’ve ever been, and you just leave it. You’re running for your life,” said Workentine.

Making what’s happening there an eye-opener to us thousands of miles away.

“This is just an overwhelming feeling knowing that we have families, we have kids, who care just not about themselves, but they care about fellow human beings. They care about people they don’t know,” added Biebert.

All while teaching kids a valuable lesson in the process.

St. Mark says monetary donations are best because there is no easy way to transport supplies or physical donations easily right now. You can read more about donating online here.