Lauren Bach, a senior at McLean High School, was awarded a National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) Virtual Summer Intensive scholarship to study Russian for six weeks. Bach was competitively selected from approximately 2,500 applicants from across the country, and is one of over 500 students who will study Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Korean, Persian, Russian, or Turkish this summer as part of the virtual exchange.

NSLI-Y is a program within the U.S. Department of State that promotes critical language learning among American youth. The program provides language and cultural learning opportunities by virtually connecting the participants with overseas teachers, international peers, cultural organizations and communities where the target language is spoken. The 2021 Virtual Summer Intensive program is an online alternative for the NSLI-Y immersion programs that could not take place overseas due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.