It?s not the most popular language of choice among high school students, but a group of Anne Arundel students really know their Russian.
Fivestudents from Broadneck High School and Severn River Middle School won medals at the annual Olympiada of Spoken Russian, held this month at Goucher College by the American Council of Teachers of Russian, said school system spokesman Bob Mosier.
“It?s hard to speak in any language, and they?re not only speaking but doing it in front of judges,” said Julie Steimel, Broadneck High School?s Russian teacher. “It?s not an easy competition for the kids.”
In order to win, the students had to memorize a poem, talk about themselves, talk about a cultural/historical topic and read a story in Russian, Steimel said.
Besides the medals and certificates for winning, students also benefited from getting recognition in a national contest, she said.
The competition featured 176 participants from eight different Maryland schools. Anne Arundel was represented by 24 participants.
Winners included Broadneck High School students Calisa Hymas, gold medal, level 2; Sarah Travers, bronze medal, level 2; and Inna Tsys, bronze medal, heritage level. Severn River Middle School student winners were Joseph Groboni, silver, level 1; Elora Guise, bronze, level 1; and Lora Risaino, bronze, level 1.
The students all had very different reasons for learning the language.
Joseph previously had taken Spanish but didn?t like it, so he took Russian. Lora said her sister took it and liked it, so she decided to give it a try.
Elora said the school simply called her house and asked her to consider it. Now, she?s planning to use the language when she graduates high school in a few years.
“I?m thinking of maybe working for the government and being a translator,” she said.
