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U.S. wants teen studying Russian
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · April 20, 2017
At the combined senior night April 13 for West Branch track and golf teams, John Muckler stepped onto the field first.
But he’s not a senior.
And he’s not even graduating early.
Yet the school wanted to recognize the junior before he leaves Iowa for Moldova — a small, boot-shaped country squeezed in between Romania and Ukraine — to take part in a 10-month U.S. State Department language immersion program.
“I’m really excited to participate,” he said. “It’s a pretty selective program.”
The son of Matt and Debbie Muckler only still needs to complete his English requirements to graduate, which he may do online.
His mother said only about 15 percent of applicants are accepted by the merit scholarship program, National Security Language Initiative for Youth, and John was given his first choice of the language he wished to learn: Russian.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity,” Debbie said. “He loves languages and gets to see more of the world.”
The State Department funds the program, so the family does not have to even cover the cost of travel, his mother said.
John will spend August 2017 through June 2018 in the capitol, Chișinău, spending four hours a day learning the language. He will stay with a host family, who does not speak English, and participate in cultural activities, some of which he gets to choose.
To apply, John had to provide school grades, teacher recommendations and write essays on why he wanted to go and telling about himself.
Moldova’s official language is Romanian, but about 15 percent speak Russian. The country broke away from the USSR in 1990 and schools teach Russian as a first foreign language, similar to how American schools teach Spanish.
Muckler, who runs cross country and track and field and performs in Show Choir, said he will not attend a school that offers sports, and he will miss West Branch.
“It will be tough,” he said. “I’ll definitely miss my friends and all the senior-year things.”
He said his friends have been encouraging.
“Everyone is happy for me,” he said.
His parents will “miss him like crazy,” his mother said.
“It’s bittersweet,” she said. “He loves West Branch — the school, his class, and the community.”
NSLI-Y offers programs for learning Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Persian, Russian and Turkish. The State Department wants to promote learning “lesser-known but critical languages,” Debbie said.
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