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Exchange student performs at MES Fine Arts Day

By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

Students at Marion Elementary School were exposed Friday to a variety of activities related to fine arts.

Included were demonstrations of art and forensics by Marion High School students. Student art was on display throughout the school building.

Joel Zeiner on the drums and instructor Mike Connell and Logan Fowler on their electric guitars performed the blues in the gym in the afternoon.

Ella Medikhanova, a foreign exchange student at Centre High School, presented an excellent piano concert.

The 16-year-old student speaks Russian but also is fluent in English. She also knows Kazakh, her native language, and some French. She studied piano under the same teacher through eight grades.

Ella comes from Kazakhstan, a former Soviet country located south of Russia and west of China. It is relatively large, covering a land mass equal to four times the size of Texas.

Ella lives in Aktau, a city on the Caspian Sea with a population of 400,000. She was one of six students chosen from among 5,000 applicants from her city to come to the United States. There are 103 Kazakhstan students on exchange in the United States.

Ella gave a PowerPoint presentation about her country to groups of students throughout the day.

Wheat is Kazakhstan's main export. Fast-food restaurants don't exist but Pepsi and Coca Cola as well as high-tech companies are located there. The people mostly eat fruits and vegetables. For girls, learning to cook well is important to a good marriage. Boxing and wrestling are popular sports.

Many nationalities reside in Kazakhstan but Russian is the main language.

Marcus and Peggy Carlson and daughter Brooke of Lincolnville are Ella's host family.

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