FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, February 22, 1999

Thousands Celebrate Peace Corps Day '99; Students from Russia Connect Live with Maryland Students

Washington, D.C., March 1, 1999—On Tuesday, March 2, eighth grade students from Southern Middle School in Lusby, Md. will meet for the first time face-to-face with students from Russia via a live video conference as part of Peace Corps Day \'99. Their teacher, Crystal Gibson, signed up for Peace Corps\' global education program, World Wise Schools, in August 1998, and was paired with Peace Corps volunteer Mary Francis Muzzi of Wilmington, Del., who teaches English in Moscow. Over the past six months, the students in Maryland and Russia have written to each other and learned about each others\' lives, countries and cultures. Ms. Gibson\'s recent month-long unit on Russia has come to life for her students as the Peace Corps volunteer and her students in Moscow have helped to "put a face on a place."
WHAT:Peace Corps Day Video Conference
WHO:Peace Corps Director Mark Gearan Secretary of Education Richard Riley (Chairman of PC Day) Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala Maryland Lt. Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend Eighth grade students from Southern Middle School in Lusby, MD Peace Corps Volunteer Mary Muzzi and her students in Russia
WHEN:Tuesday, March 2 10 am EST
WHERE:The Peace Corps Building, 1111 20th Street, NW, Washington, DC
Background: On Tuesday, March 2, to commemorate the Peace Corps\' 38th anniversary, an estimated 10,000 returned Peace Corps volunteers will go into classrooms to talk with students in all 50 states about their overseas experiences. Returned Peace Corps volunteers will visit classrooms in person and currently serving volunteers will talk with students via satellite and phone. More than 400,000 students will be reached on this day.

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