COVINGTON, Ga. — Wednesday morning, Suehana Gazhenko, affectionately known as “Mrs. Lana” walked into Oak Hill Elementary at approximately 5 a.m. for what she thought would be a normal workday as the head custodian. 

Little did Mrs. Lana know the surprise that awaited her as she entered the school building. 

Mrs. Lana, a native of Ukraine, was greeted by assistant principal Tara Lynn. Upon entering the school, Mrs. Lana saw a wall completely covered by pictures of sunflowers drawn by multiple students that encircled, “Growing Hope for Ukraine.” 

Another wall had a blue and yellow poster, which symbolized Ukraine’s flag, that had “We Love You Mrs. Lana” written on it. 

Then, as she walked to the front lobby of the school, Mrs. Lana saw a poster with a rainbow drawn on it that encircled “Oak Hill ❤️ Mrs. Lana” along with “Hope for Ukraine” written at the top. 

Her office door frame was also surrounded by sunflowers — the national flower of Ukraine which also symbolizes hope. Fifth grade teachers, specifically, covered their walls with sunflowers, too, along with “We love Mrs. Lana” on display.

All of this was done by the staff and students of Oak Hill Elementary to show their support of Mrs. Lana and her extended family that is currently in Ukraine. 

At the moment, Mrs. Lana was overcome with emotion. But, for her, it was representative of what Oak Hill Elementary School has always meant to her.

“It was really touching,” Mrs. Lana said of the surprise. “Oak Hill is like my family. They support me for everything. I love my school and my people. Oak Hill is the best school. They don’t care if you’re a custodian, a teacher or that you work in the lunchroom, we’re like a family.” 

Third grade teacher Jesse Daniel first had the idea after watching a video from Channel 2 Action News of a school in Missouri that did something similar for a member of their school staff. 

After that, Daniel got together with fellow third grade teacher, Jennifer McDonald, to help orchestrate a plan to surprise Mrs. Lana. 

McDonald said it was easy getting people to help. 

“We just sent an email and people wanted to help,” McDonald said. “It’s for a worthy cause.” 

Multiple teachers stayed late on Tuesday night to hang all the drawings and to get everything just right for Mrs. Lana on Wednesday morning. 

Oak Hill’s teachers’ support goes way beyond just Wednesday, though, according to Mrs. Lana. Each teacher shows their support each and every day. 

“A lot of teachers stop and ask how I’m doing,” Mrs. Lana said. “Some kids come and hug me and say, ‘Mrs. Lana, we’re praying for you and for your family.’” 

Right after she was surprised, Mrs. Lana texted her daughter Anastasiay in Cuba and Facetimed a few relatives in Ukraine. Mrs. Lana currently has close to 30 family members in Ukraine.

Mrs. Lana admitted it has been hard having so many people close to her in Ukraine with the recent events that have transpired since Russia’s invasion of the country on Feb. 24. 

With that, though, Mrs. Lana stressed how she couldn’t go through something like this without the support of her coworkers and students behind her. 

“We have so many people here who support and are praying,” Mrs. Lana said. “It’s my second family here. When something happens, we try to help each other. And they mean a lot to me.”