our High School Russian program is in danger of being cut - need suggestions and ideas

[Joseph Schlegel]

Feel free to use my experience if you think it will help:

I am probably one of several on this list who was fortunate enough to attend a high school with a Russian program. It obviously led to my decision to enroll in a graduate program in Slavic Languages and Literatures, but the fundamentals of Russian I learned in high school opened up several other opportunities for me as well. I was able to travel to Ukraine in my early college years. I was soon after able to get an internship with a trade association in Washington DC looking for someone in my field (Food Science, at the time) who had Russian language skills to assist with a training program in Kiev. Had I not had the fundamentals of Russian from high school that allowed me to travel to Ukraine I would not have been able to land that internship. I had many career paths to choose from apart from graduate school thanks to having formal instruction in Russian early on. I would urge every high school to provide less-commonly-taught languages such as Russian,
 as they open a great variety of opportunities for students. Russian class ranks among the highlights of my high school experience.

Joseph Schlegel
PhD Candidate
Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
University of Toronto




On Tuesday, January 14, 2014 2:17 PM, "Roby, Lee" <eroby at FRIENDSBALT.ORG> wrote:
 
Hi Yuliya,

I can't read your description of what you already have so this suggestion might be repetitive, but when I had to do this, I emphasized the "critical need" status of Russian (thus useful language), and the fact that there are few highschool programs out there (thus each one is more important).  I outlined opportunities for students in connection with this (NSLI-Y scholarships) and continuing opportunities into college.  I wrote up a document that I passed on.  Much of it is specific to my school and program, but I will be happy to pass it along if you send your personal email.

Lee

________________________________

From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list on behalf of Yuliya I. Ballou
Sent: Tue 1/14/2014 1:28 PM
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: [SEELANGS] our High School Russian program is in danger of being cut - need suggestions and ideas


Dear all, 

I have to defend my small but productive Russian program (see below) to the school board this Thursday. I have a list of reasons as to why learning Russian is a great thing to do (not sure if this is the place to post it for those who'd willing to help to review), but am looking for more ideas...
Thank you!

Yuliya Ballou

Russian and German Teacher
Springfield High School
Springfield, Vermont
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