embassy events 2008 

Ambassador Congratulates "Know America" Winners

28 March 2008

Ambassador Ashe with Justyna Duriasz-Bułhak and Piotr Szczepański (more photos)

U.S. Ambassador to Poland Victor Ashe hosted 30 high-school student winners of this year’s Know America Contest at a reception at his residence on March 26, 2008.  The Ambassador presented certificates to each of the 30 winners and awarded “Cultural Links” diplomas to contest coordinators Piotr Szczepański, President of the Rural Development Foundation, and Justyna Duriasz-Bułhak, also of the Foundation. The reception was attended by competition winners, their parents and principals, American studies experts, Mr. Eugeniusz Grzeszczak, PSL Sejm Deputy, and Mr. Zbigniew Konwiński, PO Sejm Deputy from Słupsk.

The top two student winners this year will participate in the Benjamin Franklin Fellows Initiative, an international summer camp for youth.  The jury which selected the winners, and included the Embassy's Cultural Affairs Officer Jim Wolfe, interviewed fifteen students about the U.S. political system, foreign policy, cultural and historical icons and elections in the United States.  Their answers gave an insight into how high-school students perceive America.  For example, the students revealed that they believe the United States wants democracy to be everywhere, that the American dream pertains mainly to immigrants and symbolizes democracy, and that in the United States all people are equal and can pursue a career that takes them from rags to riches. The students' favorite historical figure is Martin Luther King and favorite writer Ernest Hemingway.  They also expressed the thought that there is no such thing as "American cuisine" and that fast food is related to the rapid pace of life of American people.

The Know America contest is a nationwide competition for high school students from all over Poland that tests knowledge about the United States. The purpose of the competition is to motivate youth to use the Internet to communicate and search for information and to expand their knowledge about the world. The competition is for high-school students throughout Poland and consists of 80 multiple choice questions on the United States. The top 60 competitors write an essay on one topic and 30 students are selected as finalists.  The organization which runs the competition, the Rural Development Foundation, was first funded with a $10 million grant from the United States Congress.