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Russian Studies Program to Host Olympiada
Friday April 4, 2008
By Anna Maurer and James Levine
The Virginia State Olympiada of Spoken Russian is an opportunity for us to connect more closely with Virginia’s secondary schools and teachers. This clearly has important benefits on both ends.
- James Levine
The Russian Studies program at George Mason hosted the Virginia State Olympiada of Spoken Russian on Friday April 4. This is the third year that Mason has been selected to host this regional Olympiada, a secondary school program sponsored by the American Councils for International Education. Students of Russian from several high schools in Northern Virginia participate in the Olympiada to demonstrate their proficiency in spoken Russian and compete for a chance to win a bronze, silver, or gold medal.
“The Russian Olympiada is tremendously exciting for the high school students, and it is really gratifying for me to see them so charged up,” said James Levine (Modern and Classical Languages), director of the Russian Studies program. “These are kids who have been studying Russian for one to four years, and the Olympiada is a unique opportunity for them to demonstrate their Russian speaking skills.”
Gold medalists from the Mason event and other regional competitions are eligible for inclusion on the United States National Team that will go to Moscow in summer 2008 to compete in an international Olympiada. American gold medalists who are not selected for the national team are eligible for participation in a four-week study program this summer in Vladimir, Russia, where students will study Russian language and culture while living with Russian families.
Each year faculty members in the Russian Studies program work together with teachers from the various high schools to plan and organize the regional event at Mason. The judges, Mason faculty members who teach Russian and advanced students in the program, receive training from Betsy Sandstrom from Thomas Jefferson High School and Valentin Cukerman from Langley High School, the State and Local Coordinators of the Olympiada, respectively. Students from the Russian Club are also actively involved, serving as judges, ushers, and campus guides, staffing the registration table, and filling other roles.
The effort that the department invests in the event pays off by creating an exciting and motivating experience for the participants and by providing benefits to the university and to the Russian Studies program.
“The Olympiada is an opportunity for us to connect more closely with Virginia’s secondary schools and teachers. This clearly has important benefits on both ends,” Levine said.
Many of the participants plan to continue their Russian studies in college, and Levine hopes that their experience at the Olympiada coupled with the exposure to Mason’s Russian Studies program during the event will encourage them to consider attending the university in the future. “It is a wonderful way for us to showcase the vitality of the Russian program at George Mason,” Levine said. He noted that many of the students each year are on a college campus for the first time, which adds to their excitement about the event. “They are in the Johnson Center, interacting with George Mason students and taking it all in. It’s just fun to watch.”
This news article first appeared on March 31, 2008.