New joint program aims to connect U.S. teens with peers in Balkans

Published: 2004-01-15

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Like many Americans, some students at St. Joseph High School in the Los Angeles Archdiocese were stumped when they were asked to name a country in Eastern Europe. It became even more vexing when they were asked to pinpoint the location of the Balkans on a blank map. That's where a new program sponsored by Catholic Relief Services and the U.S. State Department comes in: St. Joseph, in Lakewood, is one of 16 high schools in the United States participating in the School Connectivity Project that links U.S. and Balkan high school students through computer technology. By combining technology with global issues, the project teaches students about other cultures and international issues, builds intercultural communication skills, promotes problem-solving dialogues and aims to save this high school generation of Americans from a myopic worldview. "Almost immediately the students began finding things they all had in common," said project director Zoya Naskova, who was born in the Balkan country of Macedonia.

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