ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This multi-media project was initiated by English Language Officer David Fay at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. In June and July, 2008, Myrtis Mixon held writing workshops at English Access Microscholarship summer schools in five different cities in Russia: Kazan, Novocherkassk, Elista, Samara and Ufa. The Access students began writing their stories at camp and finished them in the fall. Dr. Mixon edited the stories with the help of David Fay and Natalia Fomenko in the English Language Office. Also in the fall, the Access students prepared, acted out and filmed sketches that were based on their stories. An accompanying DVD contains a selection of these filmed sketches.

Teachers in the Access schools worked with the students, encouraging them to remember events, write their stories, and also to illustrate them. Credit is especially due to Bakul Budanova, Tatiana Momoldaeva, Bosya Kornusova and Elena Dordzhieva of Elista; Yuliana Amanova, Rushaniya Takhtamysheva and Liliya Iskhakova of Kazan; Mikhail Nokhov of Khasavyurt; Larisa Filimonenko and Inna Tereshchenko of Novocherkassk; Gulnara Stover, Elena Yakovleva, and Elmira Kushekova of Ufa; and Svetlana Makarova, Yevgeniya Kudryavtseva, and Yulia Markushina of Samara. Without their help, the students would not have completed their stories. Special thanks to Access Program Coordinators: Vasiliy Kolodko (Elista), Yulia Markushina (Samara), Gouzel Nezhmetdinova (Kazan), Mikhail Nokhov (Khasavyurt), Vyacheslav Shvayko (Ufa), Ludmila Yermakova (Novocherkassk).