A total of 34 students have finished the Gaŗezers high school program this year and were honored in a commencement ceremony at the Latvian camp near Three Rivers, Mich.

Students in the six-week summer program study Latvian language, literature, history and geography, as well as participate in such activities as folk singing, folk dancing, theatre, sports and art. In addition, the entire school this summer also participated in the 11th Latvian Song Festival in Chicago.

Most of the students hail from the eastern United States and Canada.

The graduates this year are Gints Aldiņš, Arianna Apelgren, Maruta Auģe, Artūrs Bērziņš, Linda Bilsēna, Dāvis Bolšteins, Maxwell Burkett, Nikolajs Burvikovs, Karīna Čunčule, Māra Dajevska, Maris Gudrā, Egija Irbe, Tamāra Kalniņa, Andrejs Kances, Māris Kancs, Marlīna Kauliņa, Miķelis Kramēns, Andra Krautmane, Krista Kubuliņa, Jānis Ķīsis, Māra Lazdiņa, Āris Lazdiņš, Ērika Lebedeva, Jūlijs Liepiņš, Larisa Līzenberga, Aina Lorberga, Anna Lucāne, Sandra Memene, Ēriks Miklašēvica, Aldis Raisters, Lāra Šķiliņa, Laura Šteinmane, Katrīna Veidiņa and Melita Zušēvica.

A new scholarship for students from communities without Latvian schools has been established at the Gaŗezers summer high school near Three Rivers, Mich.

The USD 500 scholarship, financed by a USD 10,000 endowment, was established by Kārlis and Anda Šteinmanis of Cincinnati, Ohio. Laura Šteinmane, their daughter, is among this year’s graduates of the summer high school.

The annual scholarship, announced by Kārlis Šteinmanis during the post-commencement concert at the high school, will go to a studious, continuing student who comes from a community—such as Cincinnati—where no Latvian school is present.

Stephen Flanagan, a foreign policy expert with the National Defense University, answered listener questions about NATO enlargement and other security issues during a live Webcast from Washington, D.C., hosted by the Joint Baltic American National Committee.

Flanagan is director of the university’s Institute for National Strategic Studies.

The Webcast was the sixth such event organized by JBANC, a Washington-based lobby for Baltic interests. The organization has been hosting the Webcasts as part of its campaign to raise awareness of the Baltic states’ desire to join the NATO defense alliance.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, most observers agree, are sure to be invited to join the alliance during NATO’s Prague Summit in November. However, whether NATO members will ratify Baltic membership remains to be seen.