VERMONT PAX FUTURE LEADERS EXCHANGE STUDENTS CREATE ONLINE WEBLOG

Five Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) students from the Former Soviet Union are spending one academic year in the state of Vermont. These students are documenting 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 opportunity 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

VERMONT PAX FUTURE LEADERS EXCHANGE STUDENTS CREATE ONLINE WEBLOG

BURLINGTON, VT (PRWEB) October 14 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 documenting 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 opportunity 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 Support Act funding from the State Department. Its goal is to provide an opportunity 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 scholarship, 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 Essex Junction, VT and attending Essex 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 PAXs FLEX representative for Vermont, Cluster Director, Katy Pearce, "The FLEX students are exceptional individuals who have been given a unique opportunity 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 support international peace, friendship and cross-cultural understanding.

To learn more about the FLEX Program, please visit the State Departments 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@katypearce.org to learn more.
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