Christopher Damerau is one of five high school students in the nation selected to represent the United States in Moscow in December.
Christopher Damerau, a junior at Cherokee High School, is one of five national high school students selected to represent the United States at the 15th International Olympiada of Spoken Russian in Moscow in December.
Damerau currently is enrolled in Russian 3 at Cherokee High School under the supervision of Russian teacher Marian Barnum.
According to Cherokee officials, this is the second consecutive year a Cherokee student has been selected to participate in this International Olympiada.
The Olympiada is a competition for more than 200 high-school aged, non-native Russian language learners from 30 countries around the world.
The U.S. delegates, including Damerau, will compete in various competitions throughout the Olympiada, including the reciting of a Russian poem, a Russian country and history examination and oral language tests.
They will also represent the U.S. in a country presentation where they will share information about the U.S. and American culture with other Olympiada delegations.
Officials say the students will also engage in a program of cultural activities, performances and sightseeing in Moscow.
According to Cherokee officials, the winner(s) of the competition will be invited to receive a full scholarship of their choice at a Russian University, with the goal of the event to promote Russian language learning around the world.
Officials say 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.
