ATHENS, Ga. (Sept 21, 2005) – Two Barrow County high school teachers started back to school this year better prepared to address the unique educational needs of Latino students, thanks to a teacher exchange partnership with the University of Georgia. The program, which is coordinated by the Mexican government, aims to improve educational services for Latinos in the United States and to encourage long-lasting linkages between teachers in both countries.

“One of the goals of public service and outreach programs at UGA is to work towards creating a continuous educational pipeline for Latino children to help ensure the long-term economic future of the state of Georgia,” said Art Dunning, UGA’s vice president for public service and outreach. “There is a clear link between education and the economic prosperity of both individuals and the entire state.”

Based on a joint proposal submitted by UGA’s Office of International Public Service and Outreach and the Teacher Recruitment Center in Winder, Ga., the Mexican Consulate in Atlanta selected the Barrow County school district for the 2005 exchange program.

“We consider it critically important that teachers are exposed to these culturally enriching activities and gain a more comprehensive perspective of the challenges we face in the United States and Mexico in the area of education,” said Remedios Gomez Arnau, Mexican consul general in Atlanta.

This past year, one Mexican and two American teachers participated in the exchange program.

Last April, Diana Perez, a teacher from Monterrey, Mexico, spent two weeks at Winder-Barrow High School, where she taught Spanish language and Mexican culture. She also participated in a UGA student service-learning program that provided health care information to the local Latino community and attended a class on multicultural instruction in UGA’s College of Education.

Lori Barron and Lucinda York-Rickards, Spanish teachers at Winder-Barrow High School, traveled to Cuernavaca, Mexico, for two weeks in June. They worked with Mexican teachers and students in grades kindergarten through high school.

Since the school year began, Barron and York-Rickards have been sharing what they learned and experienced in Mexico with fellow Barrow County teachers and local civic groups. For example, they have given presentations on the cultural issues that affect Latino students in the classroom. Also, Barron was interviewed by a Winder radio station and spoke at this month’s Barrow County Rotary Club meeting.

“Because Barrow County is seeing an increase in the number of Hispanics, knowing first-hand where some of these children are coming from will give us a greater understanding of their needs and how we as teachers can better serve them,” said Barron. “We now know a little more about what [the students] know and do not know when they enter our schools.”

The Latino student population in the Barrow County school system has increased from 3 to 7 percent since 2001.

“Though Barrow County’s Latino population is relatively small, it is growing rapidly,” said Lynn Hammond, a recruitment/retention specialist at the Teacher Recruitment Center. “We want to be ahead of the curve in programming to meet the needs of Latino school children. Our goal is to create a learning environment in which all students value, seek, and achieve academic success.”

Both teachers plan to initiate an e-mail exchange program this fall between Winder-Barrow High students and a school in Morelos, Mexico. They hope the e-mail exchange will lead to a student exchange program.

“The opportunity to have total immersion with native speakers was a highlight,” said Yorks-Rickards, chair of Winder-Barrow High School foreign language department. “Both of us experienced a growth in our vocabulary and now have more confidence in our Spanish abilities. As language teachers, we can share a part of the world with our students that they may never see.”

This article was posted on Wednesday, September 21st, 2005 at 5:52 pm and is filed under News.