"It is the absolute best way to learn about another country. As a future educator, my students will benefit profoundly from my hands-on experience with another culture." Matthew Ross, undergraduate student of education at NC State

In the eleven years since the break-up of the Soviet Union, it has become more and more difficult to provide US school children with up-to-date information about the geography, culture and people of the twelve countries that emerged from the Soviet Bloc. It was this fact that inspired Dr. Jim Clark and Dr. Candy Beal of North Carolina State University to design an international travel program that would provide middle school teachers and students in North Carolina with first-hand knowledge of the culture and history of Russia, a focus area of the North Carolina State 6th grade social studies curriculum. With the support of Dr. Clark and Dr. Beal, Project Harmony facilitated the Educator Travel Program to Pskov, Russia, in conjunction with North Carolina State University and long-time partners in Pskov from February 21 - March 5, 2002.

The 16-member delegation that traveled to Pskov and St. Petersburg was made up of professors and graduate and undergraduate students from NC State, middle school teachers from the Raleigh area, and a 6th grade student. In the months prior to travel, several of the participants worked closely with Dr. Beal to design and produce a web site that would connect their trip with 6th grade social studies classes across North Carolina.

Every week, from September through February, a postcard containing photos, and cultural and historical information about Russia was posted on the site. Teachers were encouraged to register their classes on the site and to have their students post questions about Russia that would be answered by the delegation while they were in Pskov. Hundreds of questions were posted.

"It was my homestay experience that created my lasting impression of Russian life. The genuine love and kindness of the Russian people could not have been experienced without a homestay." Mary Davis, middle school teacher

During the two-week travel program, the participants observed and taught classes at School #15, the Humanities lyceum, visited a Montessori kindergarten, watched student performers at an after-school Arts Center, talked with students at the linguistics gymnasium and pedagogical institute and met with the Regional Board of Education Director. At the end of each program day, several participants would head to the Volni Institute's computer center, a site managed by Project Harmony's Internet Access and Training Program, to post journal entries and photos on the web site and to answer the questions posted by North Carolina students. It was rewarding for the participating classes to be able to follow the program day by day via the internet.

The group also visited many cultural sites in and around Pskov, including the statue of Alexander Nevsky, the City Russian Museum, and the Pechorsky Monastery. Many participants felt their greatest cultural experience came from staying with local host families. The program concluded with a two-day cultural program in St. Petersburg, where the group toured the Hermitage, the Peter and Paul fortress, the Catherine Palace and the Church on the Spilled Blood and, of course, did some souvenir shopping.

The year-long project to bring Russia to life for 6^th grade students in North Carolina will conclude this May with a Global Connections Conference in Raleigh, which will bring together participants of the travel program and some of the students and teachers that followed their trip online.

Project Harmony is grateful to Dr. Jim Clark for his support of this worthwhile initiative, and hopes to continue working with NC State to educate students and teachers about Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union.

To view the journals and photos posted during the Educator Travel Program to Pskov, please visit this website:
http://www.ncsu.edu/chass/extension/russia-nc6/