August 21, 2006                                     Volume 1           Issue 12                 .50/Copy

BY STEVE POWERS
   Roman Sokirko, a sixteen year old Junior from St. Petersburg, Russia will be attending Westby School. Roman is staying with Steve, Lynnette and Zoey Powers. He will be heading back to Russia in June, 2007.
   Roman comes here by participating in the FLEX (Future Leaders Exchange) Exchange Program on a US Department of State Scholarship. The not for profit placement organization, Aspect Foundation, based in San Francisco, CA, coordinates bringing international students like Roman to the United States.
   Comparing his home town to Westby, St. Petersburg has over five million people and his school has 1000 students. St. Petersburg is the second capital of Russia with many fine museums. His home town
is rich in culture, history and beauty. Night life is abundant with a multitude of activities.
   Roman enjoys relaxing, finding new friends and interests, and visiting with new people. He likes to go to concerts and movies. He also enjoys computers, video games and TV. His favorite subjects are geography, literature and computers.

   Family members are Father, Yuri and Mother, Elena. One big fat cat named Shwarz and a parrot named Kesha are the family pets. Mom is a homemaker and dad is a buyer of European materials to be assembled and resold in Russia. They entertain guests frequently in their home.
   Roman plans to go to a financial economics university in St. Petersburg after graduation studying economics. He plans to become a broker in banking.

Roman Sokirko, 16, will be a foreign exchange student attending Westby High School for the 2006-2007 school year.

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