Cultural Exchange Network Awards Foreign Language Scholarships to Local Students

Cultural Exchange Network (CENET), a nonprofit based in Cape Girardeau, has awarded four scholarships to local students for summer language study, the organization announced today.

CENET awarded the scholarships in cooperation with Concordia Language Villages (CLV) in Bemidji, Minnesota. CLV is one of the world’s premier immersion language learning programs.

Students receiving awards include:

•Maggie Shelton, 17, of Jackson, MO, who will study Arabic for four weeks.

•Jake Shelton, 12, of Jackson, MO, who will study Portuguese for two weeks.

•Chance Earles, 11, of Carbondale, IL, who will study Portuguese for two weeks.

•Mariena Collins, 11, of Jackson, MO, who will study Chinese for one week.

All the students will study at CLV’s camps in Minnesota, where students live in a single foreign language village, and attend classes and engage in traditional camp activities such as sports and crafts, all in the target language. The food in each village is geared to the culinary traditions of each country.

Robyn Walker, Executive Director of CENET, said, “We are thrilled for the first time to be able to offer these scholarships to students from our area. One of our goals is to equip students in our region with the skills and knowledge to succeed in a world that is rapidly globalizing. Developing knowledge and enthusiasm about foreign languages is a critical part of that effort. We are grateful to Concordia Language Villages for their support of this initiative, and are confident that our four students will have a great educational experience, and a lot of fun.”