Youth explores Cherokee life (fwd link)

[Phillip E Cash Cash]

*Youth explores Cherokee life
*
 By JESSI SMITH
Correspondent
Published: Tuesday, September 11, 2012 at 10:17 a.m.

Equipped with little more than a passion for languages and an interest in
American Indian culture, 16-year-old John David "J.D." Kurman embarked on
an educational adventure over the summer.

Kurman spent nearly four weeks living on the Eastern Band of Cherokee
Indians' reservation in the Smoky Mountains in Cherokee, N.C. He
volunteered at the Kituwah Immersion Academy in exchange for the
opportunity to learn the language of the Cherokee people.

"It was definitely a big trip for a 16-year-old to embark on alone, but
I've always had a lot of interest in language and Native American culture,
so I was pretty driven to do it," J.D. said.

An 11th-grade student in the International Baccalaureate program at
Riverview High School, he has studied Spanish since elementary school and
recently entered his second year of Chinese at Riverview. He also pursues
Arabic language studies in his free time.

"Language is kind of my passion," J.D. said as he explained his decision to
study Cherokee as well. "I spent most of my summers as a kid with my uncle
in North Carolina and felt a kind of connection with that area. I thought
it would be interesting to learn the language of the people native to that
area and learn more about the culture."

Access full article below:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20120911/ARTICLE/120919945/-1/sports?Title=Youth-explores-Cherokee-life
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