Updated May 2: Yorktown High School sophomore Kelsey Kitzke and senior Phoebe Brueger and Wakefield High School junior Brigitta Naugle have been accepted to The National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program.

The program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, provides merit-based scholarships for eligible U.S. high school students to learn less commonly taught languages in summer and academic-year overseas immersion programs. Programs are available for Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Hindi, Korean, Persian (Tajiki), Russian and Turkish. Kitzke and Naugle students speak Chinese and Brueger speaks Arabic.

NSLI-Y was launched in 2006 to promote critical language learning among American youth. The State Department, in cooperation with American Councils for International Education, awards and administers merit-based scholarships to high school students for participation in immersion programs in locations where the seven NSLI-Y languages are spoken. NSLI-Y immerses participants in the cultural life of the host country, giving them invaluable formal and informal language practice and sparking a lifetime interest in foreign languages and cultures. Previous language study is not required, and language learners of all levels are encouraged to apply.

For more information, visit www.nsliforyouth.org.