Koast Tsymbal, an international high school student from Ukraine, has not only inspired us at Joppa — but he’s also caught the eye of WHO 13 News. Koast was awarded an international student exchange scholarship and flew to Iowa in 2021 for his junior year at Johnston High School. His host mom invited him to join her volunteer efforts at Joppa, and the work inspired him.
Koast only needed 30 hours of volunteer work to meet his scholarship requirements at Johnston High School but has invested nearly 200 hours serving food and supplies to people without homes.
Read WHO 13’s coverage on Koast HERE.
”I feel great that I can help somehow and be a friend for them,” Koast said.
He only planned to stay for his junior year, but his plans changed when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. His family is safe in Poland now, but anxiety plagued him until he knew his family was out of danger.
“The whole Joppa community just rallied around me and supported me,” said Koast.
Don’t miss reading Koast’s full story HERE.
In the meantime, you can click the link in our bio and read Channel 13’s coverage on Koast!