Participant of the regional contest "Young Person of the Year – 2025" in the nomination "Heart Dedicated to the Donetsk Region" Daria Sbiezhnieva
Daria Sbiezhnieva was born in the city of Avdiivka. She spent her childhood and youth in her hometown, where she attended Avdiivka General Secondary School No. 2. She was passionate about history, especially Egyptology.
After graduating from the 11th grade in 2013, she entered Vasyl Stus Donetsk National University to study history. However, in 2014, like many other families, her family had to leave their home. Daria and her family moved to the Vinnytsia region, hoping to return home soon. But fate had other plans—Avdiivka was still unsafe. They later learned from the news that the university had been evacuated to Vinnytsia. The family even joked, "The university followed Dasha!" They decided to stay and continue their studies. Daria lived on the outskirts of Vinnytsia for five years while studying at the university. In late 2018, she defended her master's degree.
Planning to return home, Daria had a conversation with her academic advisor, Nadiia Romanivna Temirova, who asked about her future plans and suggested that she stay and work at the university. But Daria already saw her future in Avdiivka. As a farewell, Nadiia Romanivna wished her strength in the matter of restoring and developing education in her native city.
They celebrated the new year of 2019 not in their parents' apartment—which had been destroyed by an enemy bomb in 2017—but still in Avdiivka.
In September 2019, Daria began her professional career at Avdiivka General Secondary School No. 6 as a history teacher. The teaching staff greeted her warmly. Daria conducted interesting, non-traditional lessons and quickly won the affection of her students. Some of them frankly admitted that she inspired them and truly instilled a love for history. Every year, her students showed high results in city and regional olympiads. Daria herself actively participated in city events and conferences dedicated to important events in Ukrainian history.
In early 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, all educational institutions switched to new learning formats. Avdiivka schools were no exception. Together with other young teachers, Daria helped develop and improve remote education at Avdiivka Secondary School No. 6.
Together with an Avdiivka initiative group, Daria participated in the "Practices of Public History in Small Towns and Villages" project by the organization "Insha Osvita" (Other Education). The team received a grant to research the oral history of the Avdiivka community.
Due to the full-scale invasion, Daria had to leave the city for a second time and look for a new, conditionally safe place. She found herself in the Vinnytsia region again, where she continued to work remotely at the school, improving her professional skills.
The 2024–2025 school year was the most difficult. Before it began, there was a real threat of all remote schools in Avdiivka being closed. Teachers began to quit en masse. The community was left with only two history teachers for three schools. Daria worked in all the schools—with students from grades 5 to 8. In these difficult conditions, she decided to show that education in Avdiivka is alive, teachers are working, and children are studying and receiving quality knowledge.
The first step was her decision to participate in the "Teacher of the Year – 2025" contest, where she was among the ten best teachers in the Donetsk region. She also became a participant in the national "Rankovi Zori" (Morning Stars) award from the publishing house "Ranok." In addition, she organized student olympiads and participated in a regional competition where her students showed high results. Daria also won a second-degree diploma in the regional competition "Modern History and Law Class in the New Ukrainian School" in the nomination "Civic Education Lesson in the New Ukrainian School."
In all her endeavors, Daria was supported by her colleagues, for which she is sincerely grateful.
On March 4, 2025, Daria became a member of the newly created Avdiivka Youth Council, where she is learning to implement youth policy in the community and establish effective interaction between youth and local government bodies. She has big plans for the future.
Despite forced relocations, the loss of her home, the difficulties of war, and instability, Daria did not deviate from her path and remained committed to education and her native city. She became not just a teacher but a source of strength, hope, and faith in a better future—for students, colleagues, and the entire community.