NC POA president Janis Holden-Toruno receiving certificate for her Learning Disabilities and Second Language acquisition presentation.
More teachers in residence were sent to Bolivia this summer than any other time in recent history. Alison Stalberg gave writing workshops in La Paz in Cochabamba, Virginia Freed-man gave literacy workshops to children and ESL workshops for teachers. There were two month-long teachers in residence: Lisa Uribe Ceciliano from Wake Tech who gave teacher workshops in Cochabamba. Wake Tech ESL teacher Angus Bowers gave teacher training workshops in La Paz and Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Later, in September, NC POA president, Janis Holden-Toruno, went to many points in Bolivia to evaluate current and future programs there. She was the final plenary speaker for Centro Boliviano Americano’s conference, “Learning Disabilities and Second Language Acquisition.” Janis also visited Oruro for teacher training workshops.
Thanks to Partners of the Americas travel grants, teachers in residence were able to travel together and train teachers in most large cities of Bolivia. Bolivian ESL teachers in the Cochabamba and La Paz CBA have received online training through a partnership between Bolivian and North Carolinian chapters. Ms. Holden-Toruno was able to give certificates to the ESL teachers for completion of the training program that originated in the NC community college program. and was created by ESL teachers from NC Partners. There were also many gastronomical excursions, beautiful vistas, and best practices shared.