Vernon junior accepted into summer language program

VERNON — Vasilisa Pallis, a junior at Vernon Township High School, has been accepted to the prestigious Middlebury Summer Language Intensive program at Middlebury College in Vermont.
Middlebury Language Schools have ​offered intensive language programs for college students from beginner to advanced levels for more than 100 years. At the onset of the eight week program, students pledge to communicate only in their language of study for the entire length of the program, resulting in the rapid acquisition of fluency and cultural understanding. This “24/7” approach ensures that students will speak, live and even dream in their chosen language from morning through night, constantly reinforcing their language skills.
Vasilisa will enter the eight-week Immersion program in June 2019 as an Intermediate Level-Mid student of the Russian language, considered a critical language by the United States Government. Upon completion of the course she will receive 12 college credits, the equivalent of a typical semester-long language course. While this may seem daunting, Vasilisa has completed Russian language courses prior to this. During the summer of 2018 she participated in the U.S. State Department’s National Security Language Initiative for Youth’s summer immersion program in Narva, Estonia where she earned college credits and an Intermediate level of proficiency.
Vasilisa recently earned the New Jersey State Seal of Biliteracy at Vernon High School by proving proficiency in English Language Arts and the proficiency level of Intermediate Mid in Russian according to the American Teaching of Foreign Language guidelines. Vernon is one of only three high schools to offer the Biliteracy Test in Sussex County. Vasilisa is a member of the National Honor Society, the National Association for Music Education’s Tri-M Music Honor Society, and is a Varsity swimmer for Vernon as well as a member of the Swordfish Swim Team at the Sussex County YMCA. She also studies French and German at Vernon Township High School and hopes in college to pursue a dual degree in Russian Studies and International Relations.