Not your average summer vacation

BY RICK FOSTER 

SUN CHRONICLE STAFF 

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Attleboro High School guidance counselor Mike Janicki (left) and AHS sophomore Carlee Russell, 16, have been selected to take an education trip to Cambodia this Summer.

Attleboro student to visit Cambodia

ATTLEBORO - Attleboro High School sophomore Carlee Russell is fascinated by world cultures. But she never guessed she'd get a chance to spend part of the summer living with families in Cambodia, studying and visiting museums and archaeological sites.

The 16-year-old and guidance counselor Mike Janicki will spend a month studying Cambodian culture, along with about 30 other American students and teachers as part of a program sponsored by the Asia Pacific Educational Center.

The center is affiliated with the Hawaii-based East-West Center, a federally funded agency designed to promote understanding between the United States and Asian countries.

"It's pretty exciting," said Russell, the daughter of Gail Russell, who was chosen from among several applicants from her school to make the trip. "I've always been interested in other cultures and knowing how people live elsewhere in the world."

The fully expense-paid trip will afford students and teachers a chance to immerse themselves in Cambodian culture, including several days living with local families, visiting museums and historic sites like the AngkorWat Temple, Janicki said. Janicki and Russell will blog regularly about their experiences while in Cambodia so that other students and the public can follow along. Janicki's blog can be found at www.mikejanicki.blogspot.com

Russell, who has two older sisters, is a student in the high school's Advanced Placement World History class, the first advanced placement course approved for sophomores.

Russell said she wasn't certain at first she could handle the course's demanding work but said the experience has deepened her knowledge of other cultures and helped her develop time management and study skills.

"At first it was like a culture shock," she said. "There was so much to do. But I learned to manage my time and I found out I could do it. You learn to become a better student, take better notes and become a better writer."

Russell is president of her class council and is also active in the Leo Club and the Answer for Cancer club, and is also a member of the Attleboro Youth Commission.

The sophomore said the overseas trip will be her first venture out of the country. She will leave from Boston's Logan Airport after school ends in late June and arrive in Honolulu where she will take part in an orientation program before heading to Cambodia with her group. The Cambodia trip isn't the first time Attleboro High School has benefited from the East-West center, said social studies department head Tobey Reed. In the past, the center has funded trips by local teachers, as well as visits to Attleboro by foreign educators.

RICK FOSTER covers Attleboro's schools for The Sun Chronicle. He can be reached at 508-236-0360 or at rfoster@thesunchronicle.com.