Two Gulf teachers and a former Gulf teacher will be traveling to China this summer, participating in different programs.
Anne Currelly will travel with Lizzette Nazario, a former Gulf teacher now teaching Spanish at Fivay High School, and Jennifer Dixon will go to China for the second year in a row. Ms. Dixon will also visit several other countries.
Mme. Currelly and Sra. Nazario will spend three weeks in Beijing teaching conversational English to newly graduated engineering students from the University of Science and Technology of Beijing. They will also help the students understand cultural differences and prepare them for a global economy.
Mme. Currelly wrote, “This opportunity was sent to me through an e-mail. I jokingly forwarded it to my traveling buddy Lizzette Nazario (former Gulf High Spanish teacher and Media Specialist), saying, ” I’ll apply if you do!” A week letter I received confirmation that we were both going. We will be traveling with 38 other teachers from Indiana, with a program called The Chinese Education Connection (CEC), which is co-sponsoring the National Outstanding Engineer for the Twenty-First Century program in Beijing, China. We will be leaving June 27 and returning July 20. I am so excited about this opportunity. I have heard that China is a beautiful country, with a rich history, and a bright present and future. I can’t wait to meet its people and to share all my experiences with my students when I return.”
Ms. Dixon will return to the Fujian Institute of Education and Research in Fuzhou, China, in July. Last year Ms. Dixon and 12 American teachers with SABEH, the Sino-American Bridge for Education and Health, conducted professional development courses for Chinese teachers of English. This year’s program will focus on ESL teaching and professional development, and will have an increased emphasis on American Literature. Prior to the teaching project that commences in July, Ms. Dixon will independently visit South Korea and Hong Kong. At the conclusion of the program, Ms. Dixon and the SABEH teachers will spend a week in Tibet and then depart China from Beijing. Ms. Dixon then will travel independently to Australia then Hawaii before returning to Florida in August.
