In 1992, the Freedom Support Act established a program known as Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX). Its goal is to provide an opportunity for high school students from the countries of the former Soviet Union to experience life in a democratic society in order to promote democratic values and institutions in Eurasia. Countries participating in the FLEX program include: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.
FLEX Program Goals:
Since the FLEX program’s inception, approximately 11,000 students from the former Soviet Union have spent one academic year attending American high schools and living with host families throughout the United States. Participants are chosen through a highly competitive, multi-layered, open recruitment and selection process totally unprecedented in Eurasia. The selection is based upon English ability, personality factors, social skills, academic achievement, and leadership potential.
Shortly after the inception of the FLEX program, it was recognized that students from the more remote regions of Eurasia might be underrepresented in the program due to a lack of access to sufficient English instruction. As a result, a 4-week Language and Cultural Enhancement (LCE) program was designed with the goal of enabling fully qualified students from remote regions in Eurasia to participate in the FLEX program by giving them four weeks of extra English Language instruction. In 1996, the FLEX program was expanded to incorporate students with disabilities. These students also participate in the 4-week LCE program.
The LCE program has four primary goals. The first is to enhance the language facility of the participants. Classes and language lab sessions focus strongly on conversation, communication, and interaction, not textbook grammar. The LCE curriculum is unique in that only about half of instruction time will be spent in the classroom, the rest at various field activities. The second program goal is to enable the disabled students to acquire independent living skills. To this end, GES is partnering with local disability organizations and hiring a Disability Coordinator to work directly with the students and staff. Third, the LCE program will help students with their cultural adjustment process by introducing them to American institutions, cultural practices, and basic resources. Finally, the LCE program aims to help students through the transition from Seattle to their academic-year host families, which will be spread out throughout the U.S. Throughout their time in Seattle, the students will be encouraged to communicate with their future host families and research the communities in which they will live.