In a brightly colored room, filled with the buzz of multilingual chatter, Hemanju Rai Thapa Magar is calm. She gently pastes a painting of traditional Nepalese women, which has traveled 7,000 miles from Nepal to Washington D.C. “These items are made by students,” Magar says, as she gently touches the colored paper “I am very excited to share with them everything I learn here.”
Magar, a tenth grade science teacher from Nepal, is participating in the Teaching Excellence and Achievement [12] (TEA) program. TEA brings exemplary secondary school teachers from around the world to the United States to introduce teachers to new methodologies, develop expertise in the subjects they teach, and learn more about the United States.
Magar is a part of the first group from Nepal, which along with Costa Rica, are the two newest countries to participate in the program.
The TEA Fellows presented posters of their culture, school projects, and local achievements. The room is aflutter as Fellows from 28 different countries explain their local customs and traditions. The Fellows begin their journey in Washington D.C., where they spend one week learning about cross-cultural communication and new teaching techniques. Then they travel to universities throughout the US to receive an intensive six-week training in areas such as student centered teaching methods and technology for education. TEA Fellows also observe and co-teach in US secondary school classrooms.
For many TEA Fellows this is the first time they have left their communities, yet they are full of hope for what is to come. Francisco Saborio, TEA Fellow, Costa Rica, “I strongly believe that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I want to tell every single teacher in Costa Rica to do this program.”
After completing the intensive US training, alumni return home to strengthen entire schools and districts in their communities, like Guillermo Lopez Ossa’s successful initiative to reduce school violence [13] in Colombia. Check back to learn about the accomplishments of the 2012 cohort of TEA Fellows.
The Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program [12] is a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs [14] of the U.S. Department of State and is implemented by IREX.