Collaborating with University Partners for Global Opportunities

Global and cultural connections for students have been a theme in North Carolina elementary schools for nearly a decade. Organizations throughout North Carolina have emerged to provide professional development and curricular support through lesson plan databases and access to supplemental materials such as Cultural Kits and opportunities to web-conference with students who are studying abroad.  Study abroad programs have emerged as a cornerstone of undergraduate preparation programs and more and more teacher candidates understand the marketability of such experiences as they look for employment upon graduation.

Elementary educators in Onslow County Schools took advantage of existing university study abroad programs to provide opportunities for existing teachers to have similar experiences.  In 2011, Carolina Forest and Jacksonville Commons Elementary Schools along with Jacksonville Commons Middle and Northside High School partnered with the University of North Carolina Wilmington Watson School of Education to send a group of educators to work alongside partner teachers in San Pedro, Belize for a week as part of their undergraduate/graduate exchange to San Pedro, Belize. The local school district took advantage of this existing program structure and has worked in collaboration with the university to send groups of teachers along each year.  The spring of 2016 will mark 5 years of this partnership which has been expanded to include yearly service learning projects for the local elementary schools and scholarships for Belize teachers to visit schools in Onslow County.  During 2015, the schools conducted a book drive and shipped hundreds of books to help create classroom libraries.    

As schools across North Carolina cope with budget and personnel cuts, looking at existing programs with our university partners are efficient and practical approaches to providing global learning experiences for teachers.  The average expense for each participant is $1500 yearly which is a bargain for a life-changing experience that will impact teachers and students for years to come.

Just a few of the schools in North Carolina with current study abroad programs worth investigating:

University of North Carolina Wilmington:     http://uncw.edu/ed/international/

University of North Carolina Chapel Hill: http://soe.unc.edu/outreach/global/study_abroad.php

Appalachian State University: http://international.appstate.edu/

Dr. Helen Gross has served as the principal of Carolina Forest International Elementary for the past six years.  Carolina Forest International Elementary was recognized as a Partnership for 21st Century Learning Exemplar Model School because of their globalization efforts.  She can be reached at Helen.Gross@onslow.k12.nc.us.