Three Friends students awarded seven-week State Department scholarships to study in Russia this summer

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 18, 2012

Baltimore, MD—Three Friends Upper School students—Claudia Deitch ’14, Ben Musachio ’13 and Annie George ’12—have been awarded full merit-based scholarships to study in Kazan, Russia. While Claudia and Ben will spend seven weeks abroad, Annie, who graduated from Friends on June 12, has been awarded a gap-year scholarship and will spend the 2012-13 academic year in Russia.

Sponsored by the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y), a U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs program, the scholarships are designed to dramatically increase the number of Americans learning one of seven critical-need foreign languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Persian, Turkish and Russian.

Both Ben and Annie participated in the NSLI-Y Russia program last summer. (He studied in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia’s fifth largest city; She went to Gatchina, located outside of St. Petersburg.) At the time, Annie had no prior Russian language experience—just a passion to learn foreign languages and to experience other cultures.

Noting that the NSLI-Y Russia program has become “extremely competitive,” Lee Roby, Upper School Russian teacher, said, “We sent eight applications out to them this year—all very strong students—but only three were accepted. For Claudia, Ben and Annie it will be an amazing experience.” For more information about the NSLI-Y scholarship program, contact Lee Roby at lroby@friendsbalt.org.

 

Now in its 227th year, Friends School of Baltimore is an independent, college preparatory school for boys and girls age 4 through grade 12. Rooted in the enduring values of the Quakers, the School is committed to providing a balanced education and developing in each student a vigorous intellect and the habits of a peaceful heart.