Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School (HIES) junior Peter Turriff Myer has been awarded a full scholarship for a language immersion program in Mandarin this summer. He leaves June 29 and will study for six weeks at the Xiuzhou Modern Experimental School in Jiaxing, China.
The prestigious scholarship was awarded after a yearlong national competition conducted by the U.S. Department of State for The National Security Language Initiatives for Youth program (NSLI-Y). Candidates must have a GPA of 2.5 or higher, among other criteria. Only 625 NSLI-Y scholarships were awarded for 2013-2014.
Myer, the 17-year-old son of Deborah McCarty and John Myer of Atlanta, is an AP scholar, a member of numerous honor societies, and a participant in Holy Innocents’ Program for Global Citizenship. Out of some 600 students, Myer was also named Best Negotiator at the Emory University Model UN last November (as part of the HIES Model UN Team).
He is also an Eagle Scout from BSA Troop 467, the force behind a drive last winter that yielded some 80 coats and 30 blankets for Atlanta’s homeless, and a volunteer in the Peachtree Presbyterian Church Mission trip to Costa Rica last summer as well as the HIES mission trip to New Orleans this spring.
“Peter works hard, loves travel and adventure, and is good at languages, so this opportunity is very exciting!” said his mother, HIES teacher Deborah McCarty.
NSLI-Y, founded in 2006, provides merit-based scholarships to eligible high school students to learn less commonly taught languages in overseas immersion programs, according to the group’s website. One goal is to prepare American citizens to be leaders in a global world.
“Myer will serve as a citizen diplomat while developing the skills necessary to be a leader in the global community,” said Bart Pogue of the American Councils for International Education, which administers the merit-based, study-abroad program.
For more information, visit: http://www.nsliforyouth.org/
Contact:
Peggy Shaw
(404)303-2150
peggy.shaw@hies.org
