Russian students compete in Academic Olympiad
Nine Russian students from Lyceum 1511, a school much like a private high school, participated in the 18th annual Academic Olympiad held at Utah State University, Wednesday.
Competing against 22 high schools from Northern Utah and Southern Idaho, the team from Moscow had a strong showing. Though they did not win any of the top honors, the scores posted by the Lyceum 1511 team were highly competitive.
The top point-scoring Russian student was 15-year-old Andrei Styskine, the youngest member of the team. Styskine’s efforts earned him a summer tuition scholarship.
“I look forward to my return to the United States,” Styskine said Sunday morning before departing for San Francisco on his way back to Moscow. He said he was also very nervous about making sure the necessary paperwork was completed prior to the return visit.
The head coach of the team, Galina Eltseva, said she was very proud of her students, all of whom will be attending major universities in Russia next year.
Steve Zsiray curriculum director for academic relations, said Lyceum 1511 has a very good relationship with the Mathematics, Engineering and Physics Institute (MEPhI) in Moscow, and several students will attend this school. The others will attend the prestigious Moscow State University he said.
Eltseva said, while in Cache Valley, the teachers and students lived with host families and spent time visiting Bear River, Logan, Mountain Crest and Sky View High Schools. In addition, the teachers and students visited several Olympic venues in Park City. They also visited Temple Square and the State Capitol building in Salt Lake and the Space Dynamics Lab on the USU campus.
Holly Peterson, who works for the Cache Valley School District said the Academic Olympiad has helped establish many international connections to Utah State University. In the past, a combined team from Troitsk and Kirch, Soviet Union (1991), a team from the Netherlands (1992) and one from Germany (1993), have participated.
This year marked the fourth visit by a team from Lyceum 1511. Several of the students from past teams, most notably Anton Maximov (1996 team), have graduated from Utah State University. Maximov is now employed as a computer software designer in Ohio, Peterson said.
Eltseva said she looks forward to the future when she can bring another group of students to Utah State University and Cache Valley for an academic challenge and a rich cultural experience.
The members of this year’s team are: Teachers – Galina Eltseva (head coach), Irina Gourova, Marina Zaitseva and Vitaly Grushin.
Students – Svetlana Arefinkina, Evgeniya Akhundshanova, Ekaterina Blednykh, Olga Boublitchenko, Kirill Kniazev, Polina Kouznetsova, Nikolay Parshukov, Kirill Popov and Andrei Styskine.