Date:17/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/17/stories/2008081757920300.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

US children to study in city school

Staff Reporter

Part of America’s School Year Abroad project

VISAKHAPATNAM: A batch of 24 students from the USA will be arriving in the city as part of a pioneering American project called School Year Abroad (SYA), which provides high school students from the USA an opportunity to study an extended curriculum overseas and learn the culture and traditions of the host country.

The students will stay with host families and the project SYA India will start off at Visakha Valley School on September 5. While the students will take classes taught by SYA instructors from the US, they will also join the students of the school for activities and service learning projects. Along with their regular US curriculum, SYA students will study Hindi and Indian history. “This new programme will introduce the students to a part of the world most have-not explored and to human challenges they have never encountered,” said Phil Billing, Resident Director of SYA India. The concept of SYA started in France and spread out to countries like Spain, Italy and China. This is the first year of the project in India.

The two key elements in the learning experience will be living with local host families and working in various development projects, experiences designed to give the students a deeper understanding of concepts and public policies examined in the classroom.