Жизнь на Факультете Русского Языка

I. Селест Эдвардс <<Community, Language, and Culture at the Russian School of Hampton Roads>>

II. Оливия Мерино <<The Global Village Soccer Tournament>>

Community, Language, and Culture at the Russian School of Hampton Roads

Селест Эдварвс

In the fall 2025 semester, I volunteered at the Russian School of Hampton Roads (RSHR) twice a month in September, November, and December, for a total of 12 hours. My volunteering took place during this school’s in-person hours — Saturdays from 9 to 11 am, which occur in the Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Newport News. RSHR’s alternative name is “От А до Я” comparable in English to “From A to Z.” Their website states that the school is constituted of a group of parents striving to have their children speak Russian “not only at home, but also to communicate with other kids and Russian speaking community members” (Peretyatko, “Home”). “We are trying to reach this goal during our weekly meetings, where children learn Russian through academic lessons, games, arts and crafts,” the website states.

By the time that RSHR’s director advertised for student volunteers in August 2025, I had completed fourteen credits of Russian language classes, was working on four more, and was very interested in this amazing opportunity to continue my language learning. I was able to easily connect with the RSHR, as its director is also a William and Mary professor — Dr. Natalya Peretyatko. After meeting briefly with Dr. Peretyatko, myself and fellow language learner Alina Cook were accepted as volunteers. Our first day at the school was September 20th, 2025.

Alina and I spent four hours in September volunteering with the head of the RSHR’s Art School Elena Petrova. She patiently accommodated us within this all-Russian environment as we learned new words concerning the arts and helped the young children to create their crafts. On our first day at the Art School, we helped the half-dozen or so children create Misha bears out of paper plates! We also got to know the students and enjoyed speaking to them in Russian, developing both our own and their language skills.

The two-hour immersion sessions I found to be very beneficial, having just finished a roughly 6-week study abroad program in summer 2025, during which I attended three-hour immersive classes five days a week. After returning to Williamsburg in the fall, I found that as challenging as they were, I missed the long immersion sessions during which my mind could settle into the language in a way that unfortunately cannot be achieved to the same level in a fifty-minute class, which is the format of the Russian language classes offered at the College. The RSHR’s two-hour classes fulfilled this desire of mine to return to a longer, more immersive language setting. I recommend contacting Dr. Peretyatko about volunteer opportunities at the RSHR to anyone interested in improving their Russian language skills and working with children, but especially to those looking to continue or begin multiple-hour long sessions of language immersion. The RSHR is a convenient option for William and Mary students, located as it is about 30 minutes from campus and directed by the very flexible Dr. Peretyatko, who, as the reader may have noted, graciously gave myself and Alina the busy midterm month of October off. Not only is volunteering at the RSHR low-cost, but it is high reward — its effects on language and cultural learning are enormously beneficial to the volunteer. Volunteering helped perform better in my regularly-scheduled language classes at the College. The welcoming and tight-knit community made myself and Alina feel almost instantly welcomed and accepted - an enormous boon to nervous language-learners.

I ended my fall 2025 semester at the RSHR with a celebration. I participated in a play titled “Новогоднее путешествие по сказкам” or “A New Year’s Journey through Stories.” The script included various characters from Russian culture, including Ded Moroz, Snegurochka, Kolobok, comparable to the Western ‘Gingerbread Man’, Masha and her bear-friend, characters from a Russian folk tale, and Little Red Riding Hood (Красная Шапочка) and her antagonist, the wolf. Due to snow that winter, one of Alina’s final exams was moved to performance day on December 13th, 2025, so I played both her part of Little Red Riding Hood and my own of Masha. (The mostly child-aged audience was gracious and did not mention that Little Red Riding Hood and Masha looked strikingly similar.) Memorizing my parts in this play was an extraordinarily fun way to become more familiar with Russian language and culture, and the performance was deeply enjoyable!

From left to right: Ded Moroz, Snegurochka, Kolobok, Masha’s bear, and Little Red Riding Hood. Masha’s headscarf, not pictured here, was graciously sewn by the venerable tailor and fellow Russian language-learner Dunn Johnson.

RSHR attendees dancing with the performers.

After our performances, a snowball fight, some dancing, and overall good behavior, Ded Moroz and Snegurochka gave out to the children mandarins (мандарины) and gifts prepared by their parents, much to their delight. To my surprise, Ded Moroz (or, perhaps more accurately, Dr. Peretyatko) had also prepared a gift for me - a book of Russian fairy tales at a child’s language level which I have enjoyed reading thoroughly.

Dr. Peretyatko gave me much more than just this gift, though - she also welcomed me and Alina whole-heartedly into her fine institution, where we thoroughly enjoyed learning great amounts about Russian language and culture. The time we spent volunteering at От А до Я was more than returned to us, and I hope to return to volunteering at this fine school very soon.

The reader is welcome to contact Celeste Edwards with any questions about her volunteer experience at the email address listed above.

Works Cited

Peretyatko, Natalya. “Home.” Russian School of Hampton Roads,

https://www.russianschoolofhamptonroads.com/Home. Accessed 25 March 2026.

The Global Village Soccer Tournament

Оливия Мерино

The Russian House competed in the annual Global Village “World Cup” this spring, wowing spectators and opponents alike with their unexpected athletic prowess. The “Russian Bears”-- composed of first, second, and third year Russian students– started off against Hispanic House. Though Hispanic House was the predicted winner, the Bears managed to end the game with a tie, thanks to the shrewd defensive work of Larissa Lo, Dylan Burkhardt, and the goalkeeping of Olivia Merino.

Up next came the Japanese House, who began to make the Russian House sweat, until Dunn Johnson, who was merely passing through the Sunken Gardens on his way back to his dormitory, was aggressively conscripted into joining the fight. Leaving his satchel on the sidelines and running onto the field in jeans, Dunn's commitment to the glory of Russian House was something we can all aspire to have. The Japanese House put up a valiant effort, but ultimately, their defense was no match for the offensive skill of Abigail Ferguson and Zach Collins. Though there were some accidental casualties among the Japanese, Russian House cinched the victory by scoring the only point in the entire game.

Progressing to the semifinals, the Bears competed against the German House. Frankly, confidence was not high for a victory against the Germans. We were shocked that we had even made it this far, and we hardly dared to hope for another win. Thanks to the help of our cheer team, by far the largest from all the houses, we were filled with the motivation needed to take them on. Padraic Wasinger and Benedict Soller performed spectacularly, dazzling the German House with their speed and footwork. However, the game was still tied, bringing the fate of the team onto the shoulders of Kelson Lowrie, who was nominated to represent the Bears in the penalty shootout. The crowd watched with bated breath as Kelson defended the goal shot after shot, no one daring to break his concentration. Then came Kelson's turn to score. With only one shot left, he expertly maneuvered the ball, launching it clear past the goalie’s head, square into the goal. Before the ball could hit the net, the Russian House took to the field with hollers of jubilation to celebrate their beloved champion. The Bears made it to the finals.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and the Italian House proved to be a formidable final boss. Despite the encouragement of the growing crowd of spectators, and the athleticism of Alex (the completely legitimate amateur Russian student who just so happened to play for the William and Mary Men’s Soccer team), the Italian House overpowered even our best players, and served us an unfortunate loss in the finals.

Still, the Russian Bears left the field not with defeat, but with glory. While we may not have brought home the gold, we certainly brought home the spirit of the game– and, perhaps more importantly, black and blue shins.

Special thanks to Olga Sokolova, Bella Feliksovna, and Sasha Prokhorov for their support.