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Salado High goes international
with foreign exchange students
Org The Village of Salado and Salado High School will be home to four international students for the 2010-11 school year.
Three students are here on highly competitive scholarships from the US State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. During their time here, these scholarship recipients will complete 30 hours of community service, participate in youth leadership programs, become involved in projects to learn about leadership, democracy and governance, free market economy and diversity, and give two presentations to fellow students and a community service club or public venue about their home country.
Ola Bedir (Hawally, Kuwait) considers Cairo, Egypt her home, but attends school in Kuwait, as her father is a High School Arabic teacher. The positive experience her sister had as a foreign exchange student in Lawton, OK inspired Ola to compete for an assignment under the Youth Exchange and Study program established in 2003 to stimulate understanding and develop positive relationships with students from countries with significant Muslim populations. After her time in the US, Ola will attend college in Cairo.
A classically-trained pianist whose original compositions have won national awards in Russia, Anastasiya Borisyuk (Nizhny Tagil, Russia) will play keyboards in the SHS Band and will participate in drama and the new Teen Leadership program. She is an avid blogger capturing her daily experiences. Unfortunately, she is writing it in Russian for her friends back home. Ola and Anasty are living with host family Taylor Willingham and Terry Crain. Ilona Avanesova (Turkmenabat, Turkmenistan) plans to be a children’s doctor and work for the Red Cross to help children all over the world. She is a talented artist who works in watercolors.
She said that she is looking forward to teaching her classmates about Turkmenistan, a lesson that many agree should begin by locating it on a map.
Ilona is living with host family Jane and Michael Apodaca.
Both Ilona and Anastasiya are part of the State Departments’ Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program, often referred to affectionately as “The Bradley Program” for Senator Bill Bradley who established it in 1993 to increase relations with former Soviet Union countries.
A fourth exchange student, Haruyasu Obushi (Japan) a runner who “wants to train his body” while here in the U.S. is here as part of AFS Intercultural Programs, an international, non-governmental organization that provides intercultural learning opportunities to help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding to create a just and peaceful world. Haru’s twin brother is a foreign exchange student in Los Angeles so Salado has a chance to outdo California with a healthy dose of our Texas Hospitality. Haru is with his welcoming family, the Beverly Fisher family until a permanent host family can be found, hopefully in Salado.
All four students will return to their home countries next June and will join a network of Foreign Exchange Alumni where they will apply the service-oriented skills and mindset they develop here in Salado to problems in their home country. Our community’s support of these students and the positive experience they have here will have an impact that will be felt halfway around the world. For information about hosting an international student in the future, contact Taylor Willingham at: 947.3793.
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