Courtney Everett of Lehighton just left her home in Lehighton to begin a year of service in eastern Europe. She will be teaching English to Slovakian teens at a Lutheran High School in Tisovec, Slovakia. The position is sponsored by the Global Mission Division of the Evangelical Lutheran in America (ELCA). Courtney is a member of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mahoning.

Courtney, 21, is one of only eight American teachers nationwide who were chosen for this prestigious program. She and her colleagues will be teaching in schools throughout Poland and Slovakia - two former communist countries that became democratic republics after the breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.Slovakia is still catching up with the rest of Western Europe, but has a fast-growing economy and many youth seeking to better themselves, especially by learning English.Courtney looks forward to making a difference in her student's lives, as well as learning about a new culture and getting to live in such a beautiful area. She writes in her blog: "Life in Tisovec is pretty great. The town is quaint and surrounded by mountains. It sometimes makes me forget that I'm nowhere near home. It's crazy that despite the [different] language, life in a completely foreign land can resemble our lives so closely."Courtney invites everyone to follow her work and adventures in Slovakia by reading her weblog at

http://courtneymeverett.tumblr.com.