New Prairie High School will be taking part in an exchange program different than it has ever done before. Two teachers from Rio Grande del Sol, Brazil will be joining Mrs. Spevak and Mrs. Holifield on Jan. 29 to Fed. 13 as a part of the Bilateral Educator Exchange program.
The Bilateral Education Exchange was established in 2018 by Jill Worner. How the Bilateral Educator Exchange Program came to be was Jill Worner and Roberta Pegoraro were exchanging ideas about education, traveling, Sister Cities and much more.
New Prairie was able to take part in this exchange all thanks to Mrs. Spevak’s connections and efforts.
Spevak said, “When Jill shared this program on social media, [Mrs. Holifield and I]chose to apply for the program.”
We were the only two teachers in northern Indiana who applied for the program.
There are 13 teachers total in the state who will be hosting teachers and 12 Hoosier teachers who will be traveling to Brazil in late June of this year.
The whole purpose of this program is, “To see how different cultures look at education and see if there are any pieces from the other cultures that we may want to incorporate into our own classrooms,” said Spevak.
The program allows both teachers to exchange ideas about instructions, students, school policies, and more. To expose their administrators and their students to a way of life potentially similar and different from their own.
Spevak and Holifield will be leaving with the same agenda and goal that the Brazilian teachers will follow at NP.
They will visit various classes, and even some elementary classes.
Not only are the Brazilian teachers here to teach and learn about different education cultures, but they are here to enjoy their time in the USA.
“We will also take them to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a Pacers game, a weekend in Chicago, shopping, and find as many experiences as possible,” Spevak continued.
Our NP staff traveling to Brazil this summer will be able to enjoy and learn from popular destinations and teaching techniques in a whole new way.
As both parties travel miles across the globe, during their stay the teachers will go to school with one another everyday, and live in each other’s homes. This type of opportunity provides a much more enriching cultural experience than staying in a hotel.
Priority will be given to guests who will both host and travel as that is the best experience since they know that they will have the same partner for both halves of the experience.
The hosting teacher will cover meals, housing, transportation and entertainment for their partner teacher.
Spevak will host a teacher named Amanda Santos from Rua Brigadeiro Albino, Taquari. Santos teaches English to 1st and 2nd graders at Will Idiomas.
Holifield will host a teacher named Vera Maria Bissani from Rua Machado de Assis, Caxias do Sul. Bissani teaches English also but to 5th and 6th graders at English Now.
Santos and Bissani are very excited about arriving in our country, Spevak said, “Amanda is very excited to come and hopefully see snow because she’s never seen it before.”
