It’s not every day that the Morgridge Family Foundation (MFF) participates in a meeting with representatives of the Ukrainian government, but that’s exactly what happened recently at the invitation of Dr. Anatoliy Glushchenko. Glushchenko emigrated from Ukraine in 2000 with a PhD in Physics from the Institute of Physics of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine to continue his research and teaching. He currently serves as chair of the Physics Department at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.

In 2010, after noticing a gap in the physics curriculum at his daughter’s middle school, Glushchenko was inspired to create Physcira, a company that aims to develop a world-class K-12 math and science teaching force in the US. Their first tool is Physics in a Box, a self-contained system that introduces hundreds of physics experiments to kids long before they would be exposed in the typical, required school curriculum in Colorado and across America.

MFF funded a pilot program that brought Physics in a Box to the Denver Schools for Science and Technology (DSST). Since the war in Ukraine began, Dr. Gruschenko has been directing most of the profits from the program to his country.

With just a day’s notice, Carrie Morgridge and her son John C. Morgridge jumped on a Zoom call where they learned about the impact in Ukraine of MFF’s support for Physics in a Box.

Representing the Ukrainian government were Pavlo Kuts, Deputy Director of Economic Development, from the Office of the Governor (Zhytomyr Region); and Nataliia Osipovich, Secretary of Education, also working in the Zhytomyr Region. Also on the call was Andriy (Andrew) Cheburovskiy, who directs the factory where the Physics in a Box kits are produced.

Carrie Morgridge said, “The quality of these boxes and the compounding effect that they will have for generations to come is going to be remarkable. I feel so blessed to call Dr. Anatoliy a thought partner. Our foundation is 100 percent behind Physics in a Box.”

Over the past 20 years, MFF has invested $178 million dollars in hundreds of projects designed to disrupt and improve systems. With a primary focus on education, the foundation’s overall goal is to improve outcomes for students and teachers and build resilience in communities.

Cheburovskiy expressed gratitude for the impact his work could have on American students. “I’m really glad to know we are helping your education system develop in the right direction,” he said. “But this isn’t only about boxes and physics and education. Behind these boxes, I have more than 100 people [working] in my factory…Families have jobs and have salaries, and…this money helps us very much to live. It’s very important to us, so thank you, thank you!”

Gluschenko too is extremely grateful. He says his aim with the program is to “implement physics the way it’s taught in Europe and Asia—in all middle and high schools of the United States—by providing the tools, materials, curriculum, and year-round teacher preparation. “Thanks to the generosity of Carrie and her family, MFF now has a legacy in Ukraine.”

Since 2017, Physics in a Box has been delivered to students in United States school districts in Florida, New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado.