North Idaho Christian School: Kirkhart learns to turn the other cheek to fit in at American schools

Being a person who likes to help and take care of people can mean different things in different cultures and situations.

For Christina “Chris” Kirkhart, early on it meant intervening physically and being ever on the alert at her orphanage in what she described as a rough area in Ukraine. She was the oldest of the 12 children in her group, where, she said, she felt the responsibility to protect the younger ones. “We dealt with a lot of not nice stuff.”

She was adopted by Larry and Marcy Kirkhart, of Hayden, when she was 9. The Kirkharts previously had a Ukrainian exchange student in their home and decided they wanted to adopt a girl from there.

“My brother (Cayman, now 25) picked my picture from a book,” said Kirkhart, 18, who is graduating this month from North Idaho Christian School. “My parents had the chance to meet me first, and we did have an orientation, but they said it wasn’t necessary. I was the one. God led them to me.”

Interestingly, all the other girls in her group at the orphanage were adopted that same month, as well, by families in Canada, France and America.

Kirkhart’s first impression of Idaho was seeing so many lights and American flags. She was taken to a fast food restaurant, which was a revelation, and spent the first six months learning the basics of English from a tutor, with whom she is still friends today. And then she entered third grade.

She said she really didn’t know how to be an American child. “If I thought somebody insulted me or was picking on a friend of mine, all I knew how to do was fight and beat them up,” she said. With her parents’ guidance, as well as that of her teachers, she learned how to handle conflicts without fists.

“I learned that what a person did in the past does not need to be what happens in the future,” she said.

In her early school years, PE was her favorite subject, and physical things were her favorite activities – soccer, softball and running (“good for the mind, soul and body”). She discovered books and now considers herself a bookworm. Her favorite subject these days is history, learning about countries around the world. And she is close with her brother (“we like doing the same stuff”).

She attends the Candlelight Christian Fellowship, where she helps with Sunday School and has been a youth leader.

Kirkhart has been able to remain in contact with the girls from her orphanage group. In a few years, when they are all graduated from high school, they hope to go on a reunion cruise together. Her parents have also helped her locate some of her aunts in Ukraine and, prior to Russia’s invasion, she had been able to establish contact.

She still remains protective of children younger than herself. “I like helping the younger kids in school, to be that person they can trust,” she said. And, as a self-confessed “very talkative person,” she is constantly passing notes with friends by putting them in each other’s lockers during the day.

As for her future, she finds she’s interested in almost everything, but especially likes planning big events, which she’s already had experience doing. “I really do like to help people have a good day.”

Plus, she has a guiding philosophy. Don’t be grab-and-go in life. “Life is never too short to match your socks.”