VERMONT PAX FUTURE LEADERS EXCHANGE STUDENTS CREATE ONLINE WEBLOG
BURLINGTON, VT: October 10, 2003 — Five Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX)
students from the Former Soviet Union are spending one academic year
in the state of Vermont. These students are do***enting their
experiences in an online diary or "web-log," abbreviated as "blog." A
blog is a web page that serves as a publicly accessible personal
journal for an individual or group. A blog often has the quality of
being a kind of "log of our times" from a particular point-of-view. As
a format and content approach for a web page, the blog is popular
because the viewer knows that something changes every day, there is a
personal point-of-view, and an op****tunity to collaborate or respond
with the web page and its participants. The FLEX Vermont weblog is
located at http://www.katypearce.org/blog/blogger.html
The individuals involved in the blog are students from the Future
Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program. FLEX was established in 1992 as the
centerpiece of the NIS Secondary School Initiative with FREEDOM
Sup****t Act funding from the State Department. Its goal is to provide
an op****tunity for high school students from the countries of the
former Soviet Union to experience life in a democratic society in
order to promote democratic values and institutions in their home
countries. Approximately 11,000 students from the Former Soviet Union
have spent one academic year attending schools and living with host
families throughout the United States. During the 2003-04 school year,
the U.S. schools and families are hosting 1,265 participants. Students
are on full scholar****p, funded by the U.S. State Department. These
five students are placed in Vermont by PAX – Program of Academic
Exchange. PAX is one of thirteen organizations that place the FLEX
students in American communities. PAX places students in all 50
states.
The five students placed in Vermont are:
Jala Iskandarova, age 15 from Ganja, Azerbaijan; living in
Graniteville, VT and attending Spaulding High School.
Javid Mammadov, age 15 from Baku, Azerbaijan, living in Montgomery, VT
and attending Enosburg Falls High School.
Oguljahan "Jahan" Memmeyeva, age 16 from Mary, Turkmenistan, living in
Es*** Junction, VT and attending Es*** High School.
Liliya Shchepilova, age 16 from Luhansk, Ukraine, living in Proctor,
VT and attending Proctor High School.
Aliya Suranova, age 17 from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, living in East
Middlebury, VT and attending Middlebury Union High School.
According to PAX's FLEX representative for Vermont, Cluster Director,
Katy Pearce, "The FLEX students are exceptional individuals who have
been given a unique op****tunity to study in the U.S. The enrichment
activities provided to them, such as the blog, allow the students to
reflect on their experiences and share them with others. The insight
into what it is like to enter into an entirely different culture is
invaluable for us, the readers. Most exchange students keep journals.
This is the first time, to the best of our knowledge, that a
collaborative journal has been produced and published live online."
PAX - Program of Academic Exchange, www.pax.org, is a non-profit
educational organization that promotes and arranges international
student exchange to foster the positive development of the world's
young people and to sup****t international peace, friend****p and
cross-cultural understanding.
To learn more about the FLEX Program, please visit the State
Department's FLEX web page:
http://exchanges.state.gov/education/citizens/students/eurasia/flex.htm
Journalists and interested community members are welcome to observe
the online diary. Please contact Katy Pearce katy@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
to
learn more.
CONTACT:
Katy Pearce, PAX
katy@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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