Springfield students seek cash for Russian trip

Hungry for the traditional Russian pancakes known as blini? Martha Stewart suggests you combine flour, milk, butter, sugar, eggs, salt and yeast and cook it all in a skillet.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20140331/NEWS02/703319977

Published March 31, 2014 in the Rutland Herald Springfield students seek cash for Russian trip By Kevin O’Connor Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — Hungry for the traditional Russian pancakes known as blini? Martha Stewart suggests you combine flour, milk, butter, sugar, eggs, salt and yeast and cook it all in a skillet. “Garnish with a dab of creme fraiche and a spoonful of caviar,” says the homemaking maven. Then again, the Springfield High School Russian Club is happy to serve up a stack as long as you top it with something else: A donation to its upcoming trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg. The club has spent a year planning a nine-day tour this April vacation. School leaders are concerned about possible repercussions of a current Russian-U.S. confrontation that’s the biggest East-West crisis since the Cold War. But teenagers are facing a more immediate challenge: A $5,000 fundraising gap. That’s why six students, supported by their teacher and four adult chaperones, served up a Blini Brunch over the weekend and plan to do it again next Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the local Elks Club. “No matter how much we do in class, nothing compares to being in the country,” teacher Yuliya Ballou said. “In this day and age, with all these problems, we need more people understanding a different language and culture.” Touring Russia’s political and cultural capitals, students will be hundreds of miles away from the headline-grabbing hotspots of the nearby country of Ukraine and its peninsula of Crimea. But the U.S. State Department is telling travelers to be cautious, which has local school leaders ready to reconsider the April 15-23 trip if the current alert is raised to a more serious, specific warning. Three past Springfield classes have traveled to Russia, in 2005, 2006 and 2008. This year may be the end of the tradition, as students will lose their class this coming academic year as part of an almost $1 million budget cut. But that hasn’t stopped the club from seeking trip donations from individuals and businesses. “We are very excited about this Russian tour and we view it as a great learning opportunity,” Ballou has written in an appeal to the community. “We will get a valuable language immersion experience along with the chance to explore Russia’s culture, traditions and history firsthand.” Specifically, students are set to tour such sights as Moscow’s St. Basil’s Cathedral, whose colorful Orthodox domes tower over Red Square, and St. Petersburg’s State Hermitage Museum, founded by Russian Empress Catherine the Great in 1764. Visiting stores and schools, they’ll also speak the language they’ve been studying. “This trip could help shape our futures and make them brighter!” student Lyndsie Cammarata writes on the club’s www.GoFundMe.com Web page. “We believe that best things in life are not things — best things in life are experiences.”