It’s not often that American high school students speak to each other in Russian, but in Nina Vaykhanskaya’s 11th grade Russian class, that’s exactly what the girls had to do. In order to succeed in the Olympiada competition, a three-part competition which evaluates students’ speaking abilities and knowledge of Russian culture, participating Bruriah juniors had to become familiar with a set of questions and answers. Each girl had to devise and write her own answers, as the questions cover an array of topics specific to each individual. In addition to practicing for the oral part of Olympiada, the students had to prepare two videos—one exhibiting their knowledge of famous Moscow locations, Russian composers or Russian souvenirs, and the other portraying their Russian reading and memorization skills. Months of hard work paid off and most of Bruriah’s 11th graders left the competition with gold medals and a broad understanding of a formerly unfamiliar lexicon.

Rebecca Guzman is a junior at Bruriah.