15 Years of Cooperation and Friendship
Our school life is rich in different traditions and one of the most interesting and long-lasting is the Russian-American Cultural Exchange Program. This year we have celebrated its 15th anniversary! Our school is very proud of the fact that it’s one of the longest educational programs in Moscow which is still successfully continuing.
All these years we’ve been cooperating with Elkhorn American High School, in the state of Wisconsin. Elkhorn is a small rural community, surrounded by lakes and forests in the north of the USA. Though with a population of about 6000 people, the school (EAHS) is really superb. It has all the educational, musical and sport facilities one can ever imagine, e.g., chamber, jazz, wind and symphony bands, several choirs, 4 huge, excellently-equipped gyms and a big pool.
Our jubilee, the 15th visit to Elkhorn, took place in April 2007, and for the first time of the program’s existence we had a great chance to be at this wonderful school for 4 days – to attend classes, to get acquainted with American teachers and students and the peculiarities of their school life and system of education much closer.
Each of our students had his/her own educational schedule worked out beforehand by the leader of the American group, a teacher of English, Michael Byington, in relation to each of our students’ interests and wishes.
It was very interesting for Russian students and for us, teachers, to attend such classes as Human Physiology, Personal Finance, Auto and Home Maintenance, Health Occupations, Child Development, Parenting and, of course, English Speech, and English and American Literature. And, of course, it was great fun for all of us to take part in sport games and to swim in the pool during the classes of swimming. Our students were not only visitors to the classes – they took an active part in them. And we, teachers, gave several lessons and organized several conferences.
The American students were greatly interested in the realities of our rapidly changing social and school life and in the Russian language, which they, unfortunately, don’t study at this school.
Our successfully developing program of cultural and educational exchange gives our students not only a great chance to visit the USA and to master their English, but, first and foremost, it helps them understand that we can live happily in this tense world only through friendship, cooperation and mutual respect of our countries’ traditions.
By Nadezhda Lobotskaya
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