Photos available: http://www.k-state.edu/media/images/sept12/certificate.jpg
and http://www.k-state.edu/media/images/sept12/music.jpg
Photo cutlines: No. 1 --Socorro Herrera, director of the Center for Intercultural and Multilingual Advocacy, presents a certificate of completion to an Ecuadorean student in the inaugural session of the Go Teacher program. Photo No. 2 -- Patricio Urdanigo Carranza, left, a student in the Go Teacher program, and a friend perform a song they wrote for the closing of the summer cycle of the Go Teacher program.
News release prepared by: Rosanna Vail, 785-532-2720, rvail@k-state.edu
Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012
University, Ecuador continue go teacher program
MANHATTAN -- A Kansas State University delegation traveled to Quito, Ecuador, on Sept. 10 to meet with the Ministry of Education and SENESCYT, Ecuador's governing body of higher education, to continue building a long-term relationship between the university and Ecuador.
Sue Maes, dean of the Division of Continuing Education, and Sharon Brookshire, director of conferences and noncredit programs for the division, along with Socorro Herrera, professor of elementary education and director of the College of Education's Center for Intercultural and Multilingual Advocacy, and Mona Menking, associate director of international outreach for the center, will work with education officials in Ecuador over the next few days.
The university developed a partnership with Ecuador earlier this year to develop the Go Teacher program, which completed its inaugural session in August. Through this program, nearly 90 Ecuadorean teachers learned how to teach English as a second language to students in their own country, while also becoming more proficient in English in the process. Sixty new Ecuadorean students began classes at Kansas State University this fall for a nine-month session of Go Teacher, with additional students to begin in January 2013.
At the end of the program's first session in August, Ecuadorean students, university instructors and invited guests met in the Leadership Studies Building to review summer highlights, celebrate achievements and award certificates of completion for studies in English language and teaching English language. Featured presenters included Maes; Herrera; Debbie Mercer, dean of the College of Education; Marcelo Sabates, interim associate provost for international programs; and Mary Wood, director of the university's English language program. A prerecorded congratulatory message from Jean Michel Mosquera, manager of the English language program, Ministry of Education, Ecuador, addressed students at this closing reception.
Ecuadorean students shared messages, songs and mementos to thank program instructors and staff at the closing ceremony. Student representative Boris Cadena passed the symbolic Go Teacher program torch to Angelica Velez, the first arrival and student representative of the second cohort of the program.
Go Teacher recently earned the 2012 Innovative Noncredit Program Award from the University Professional and Continuing Education Association. The award is given to a newly launched noncredit program that demonstrates program success and deals with social, diversity or educational issues.
To learn more about the Go Teacher program or the Division of Continuing Education's collaboration with Ecuador, contact Brookshire at 785-532-2566 or sharonb@k-state.edu.
