1 April 2019
On March 26th MGIMO’s Gorchakov Lyceum warmly welcomed guests — American high school students and teachers from Lake Forest Academy, which is a prestigious private boarding school not far from Chicago.
The series of joint events for students from LFA and the Lyceum was opened by Roman Kotov, Director of the Lyceum, who warmly welcomed the guests. LFA students prepared a presentation on their school, telling about the long traditions (it was founded in 1857), comprehensive educational programme, wide variety of creative workshops and sports clubs.
In their turn, the Lyceum students told their peers from Chicago about their studying at the Lyceum, trips abroad and meetings with diplomats, active participation in the academic competitions and the IBLS education platform. The American guests noted that our students were quite fluent in English.
The Lyceum students gave a tour around the MGIMO Odintsovo campus: they showed classrooms, the library, the event hall, and the gym. They even made them acquainted with Russian poetry: Bogdan Pakhomov read a poem by Vladimir Mayakovsky entitled «Listen!. The LFA and Lyceum students continued to socialise during the lunch in the Lyceum canteen.
The time after lunch was devoted to discussing the future of education in the digital era, which is a burning issue. The students worked in mixed groups, creating presentations on their vision of schools, teachers and students of the future.
After the discussion it was time to change the activity: the School Olympics began. Mixed groups of LFA and Lyceum students took part in the relay race, hurdled, and then all the participants were awarded medals.
The meeting was an interesting experience for both parties. The Lyceum students had an excellent opportunity to practice their English and to get more information about studying in the USA. The Americans learnt a lot about the traditions, points of interest and peculiarities of the Russian system of education. The participants shared their impressions.
Emily Wagner, vice chair of the LFA Admission Commission: » I was impressed by the Lyceum students who behaved very confidently, seriously and professionally. Their bearing, official style of clothes make them different from the American students, who look and behave in more relaxed manner. I was also impressed by their fluency in English, many Lyceum students sound like native speakers. As for the general impression about the trip to Russia, I liked everything very much and I was pleasantly surprised by the hospitality and kindness of the Russian people«.
Hadley Fagan, Lake Forest Academy student: «I liked the MGIMO Lyceum very much. The students welcomed us very warmly, we had good conversations and we found that we have a lot in common: we study the same subjects, do a lot of sports. I also appreciated beautiful interior of the Lyceum. It’s cool that the furniture here is in bright colors, which is unusual and puts you in a good mood».
Kristina Prilepina, Lyceum student (10 B): " On March 26th I had a chance to meet new people from another country. We were visited by the American students from a prestigious school from Chicago who, from my point of view, were very friendly, amiable, fun and open-minded. Now we are becoming adults and personalities, that’s why it was not difficult for us to find common language with our peers, who have similar interests and preferences. We also had an excellent opportunity to practice our English, and fluency in this international language is an important skill for future diplomats. I took part in organising such a responsible and important event for the first time, and it was extremely successful. The participants experienced a lot of emotions and will remember for a long time such a pleasant visit of the guests from the USA. Such events help youngsters to develop creativity, broaden horizons and make new friends".
MGIMO’s Gorchakov Lyceum
