This is a story of a man Petro Kuzmyak, of Rusyn people and their culture. It is a true heritage story of people who do not have their own country but still manage to preserve their language, culture and their national identity for centuries, thanks to Petro Kuzmyak, the man who reformed their school, which now represent a centre of Rusyn cultural events in Vojvodina escpecially a cultural event "Red Rose".

Rusyns are East Slavic people who originated from the Carpathian Ruthenia: a historical region that was once located between modern Ukraine, Slovakia and Poland. In 1751 two hundred Rusyn families emigrated to Vojvodina and settled to a village called Ruski Krstur. They managed to restore derelict houses and found their new home in Pannonian plate, the most diverse ethnic territory in Europe. This is where our story takes place. At that time Ruski Krstur was an abandoned and ruined place and people were dedicated to restoration and establishing a normal life. As time passed and a normal routine started to take place, people realized that they needed an institution apart from church that would serve as a conservator of their culture and language. In 1753 they founded a school. Children were taught how to read, write and count as well as catechism. Their teachers were ordinary people who knew how to read and write. Although very simple in its existence this school is going to become one of the most significant institution for preservation of their national identity. In 1816 in Carpathian Ruthenia Petro Kuzmyak was born. As a son of a deacon he finished elementary and secondary school, but was not granted to go to university, so he entered a monastery which gave him the opportunity to attend courses in pedagogy. After leaving the monastery in 1838 he decided to dedicate his life to teaching so he worked as a teacher in several towns in Ukraine and Slovakia. In 1855 he came to Ruski Krstur and became the first educated teacher in Ruski Krstur. At that point the revival of education in Ruski Krstur began. He worked on uniting Rusyns from other villages in Vojvodina. It was his work and advocacy for creating the Capital school that had led to modernizing the education and pedagogy as well as conservation of Rusyn nationality. Today, the school still exists. It is a modern educational center that consists of elementary and secondary school. Elementary school has its curriculum in Rusyn language, and secondary school which has a vocational school and a high school both in Rusyn and Serbian language. The uniqueness of this school lies in the fact that it is the only high school in Europe and in the world that has a curriculum in Rusyn language. It is a center of all cultural events in this region, and it brings together Rusyns from all over Europe. The most important example is manifestation "Red Rose". Today the school carries the name of Petro Kuzmyak.

This story's intention is to promote different nationalities in Europe and how they can co-exist and value each other. This is just one of the story from the multicultural region such as Vojvodina, that best represents that the future of Europe is not in declining the right for language, culture, education, but promoting and granting those rights for people of all nationalities.