The Olympiada is a competition for over 200 high school aged, non-native Russian language learners, including Marlton’s Michael McShane
Michael McShane, a senior at Cherokee High School, was one of five national high school students selected to represent the United States at the 14th International Olympiada of Spoken Russian in Moscow, Russia. McShane spent this past summer abroad in Chisinau, Moldova studying Russian through a scholarship he received with the US Department of State and the National Security Language Initiative for Youth.
The Olympiada is a competition for over 200 high school aged, non-native Russian language learners from 30 countries around the world. The event involves various competitions throughout the Olympiada, including the reciting of a Russian poem, a Russian country and history examination and oral language tests. Participants also share information about the U.S. and American culture with other Olympiada delegations. Additionally the students get to engage in a rich program of cultural activities, performances and sightseeing in Moscow.
The five delegates are from Maryland, Connecticut, New Jersey, Tennessee and Alabama and have studied the Russian language in their schools’ world language classes or through outside tutors. The U.S. delegation was chosen from among hundreds of high school Russian language students across the country. American Councils for International Education chose the U.S. delegation through an application and interview process from the top scorers of regional U.S. Olympiads and worked with the students to prepare them for their participation in the Olympiada competition.
In addition to studying Russian at Cherokee High School, McShane has also taken Spanish in high school and is currently enrolled in AP Russian and AP Spanish. He is the president of the Class of 2017, secretary of student council, president of the Russian Club, a member of the National Honor Society, the Slavic and Spanish Honor Societies, and a member of the boys track and field team. McShane hopes to pursue a double major in Russian and International Studies in college next year.
