WKU News

Ten Gatton Academy students taking Russian courses at WKU will represent the university and the Potter College of Arts & Letters (PCAL) at the American Council of Teachers of Russian’s Olympiada of Spoken Russian at Ohio State University on Saturday, March 7.

Launched in the late 1960s, the ACTR Olympiada of Spoken Russian is the oldest of ACTR’s secondary school activities. Middle school and high school students taking Russian are eligible to participate. During the event, students are given the opportunity to showcase their language aptitude in competitions of Russian language study, while also engaging with other Russian-speaking students from different states and regions across the United States.

The ten Gatton Academy students attending the event are Rowan Bailey, Kambree Bunch, Flynn Cook, Divine Ezinma, Rhyton Krug, Prthu Naik, Sofia Orlova, Helen Rose, Luke Willis, and Amber Wu.

For the competitions, students prepare different scenarios in three categories: Oral Communication, Area Studies, and Reading: Poems and Stories. Students are divided into these three categories based on their knowledge level.

Russian courses have been offered at WKU as far back as 1951. Considered a critical language by the United States government, all Gatton Academy and WKU students can enroll in these courses.

Gatton Academy students must complete modern language courses prior to graduating the program. Many students satisfy this requirement through completing classes at WKU. This is the first time Gatton Academy students have participated in the Olympiada.

“The Olympiada of Spoken Russian is important because it connects students, teachers, and schools across regions,” says Ekaterina Myakshina, WKU Instructor of Russian. “It motivates learners to move beyond memorization and grammar drills. Participants must think in Russian, express nuanced ideas, and respond spontaneously, which are essential steps toward true fluency.”

For more information about The Gatton Academy, please visit https://www.wku.edu/academy/. To learn more about the Russian courses offered at WKU, please reach out to the Department of Modern Languages at modern.languages@wku.edu.