No, not going to Sochi, or to cultural events and tourism ( maybe a little) but to learn and study with Russian educators and groups. Most of us in the US who have worked with NASA have studied and worked with Astronauts and Cosmonauts .They have been partners for a very long time.
Theater ” Peace Child ‘ Play
A class that I taught and parents helped me to do the play, ” Peace Child”. A little girl from Maine prompted exchanges with Russia.
We did the play just as the politics changed for the better. We had Russian scientists from the NSF who came to our classroom to help us with the Russian words. Parents invited them to dinner. They came to our play.
I first became fascinated with Russia, through the world of the ballet, but then I grew up and realized that I would not be a “typical ” Russian Ballerina. But I enjoyed learning ballet, and the music, though I just learned about Glinka. I studied the Five.. The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful (Russian: Могучая кучка, Moguchaya kuchka), The Balakirev Circle, and The New Russian School, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev (the leader), César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Borodin. The group had the aim of producing a specifically Russian kind of art music, rather than one that imitated older European music or relied on European-style conservatory training. In a sense, they were a branch of the Romantic Nationalist movement in Russia, sharing similar artistic goals with the Abramtsevo Colony and Russian Revival.
Next as children we visited Russia in classical music. I learned that music by metronome and practiced in the red John Willams music books. Sometimes the children’s names given to classical music bounce back into my head. If you took those piano lessons you will remember lots of beautiful Russian music.
But in 1988 when I was starting my geography study with the National Geographic, we had a treat. We were allowed to visit a chancery, I think. We had a little lecture on Russia and its geography. My professor then, Kit Salter liked to say, there is no bad landscape , and he is right. Climate is not everything .Do you know “The Venice of the North? Have you read Puskin?
Do you know the geography of Russia? How big is Russia? Do you know ” The Venice of the North?”
I have a new honor. I am going to Russia as a part of a team of US Russian Educators. We are SEE.
I am working with a remarkable educator, who in fact welcomed me to the world of technology back in the days when I was getting started. She was an advanced practitioner then in her skills. She is Dr. Yvonne Andres.
Russia Social Expertise Exchange (formerly known as US-Russia Civil Society Partnership Program) brings together Russian and American experts in twelve different focus areas to design innovative recommendations for problems faced by both countries. Our groups is the Education and Youth Working Group.
Priority areas for the Education and Youth Working Group are defined as:
• Encouraging cross-cultural understanding among US and Russian youth; preparing young people of both countries to work collaboratively to solve or prevent global problems via student-centered methods such as education exchanges, seminars, and conferences;
• Fostering a collaborative process among youth and education practitioners and sharing best practices among Russian/US education and youth-focused organizations by creating new partnerships and identifying innovative technology tools,
• Creating opportunities and incentives for youth to be invested in the economic future of their local communities.
About
Developing collaborative relationships between Youth and Education NGOs in the United States and Russia.
The goal is to create a replicable model for collaborative partner-making between Russian and American youth and educational NGOs to implement common activities and develop policy recommendations. Global SchoolNet (USA) and Youth Union Doroga (Russia) will facilitate the “CyberFair for youth NGOs” project.
