Guatemala Immersion Program for Teachers and Other Professionals 2007"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness,
and many of |
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| When and where? | Summary:
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| What is the program like? | |
| Who may come? | |
| Deadlines? | |
| Credit? | |
| Cost? | |
| Reimbursement? | |
| Contact? | |
When and where?
We will leave Monday June 18 and return Monday July 9, 2007. Our
primary destination is Quetzaltenango, Guatemala where the Casa
Xelajú Spanish School is located. More information on Casa Xelajú
is available at: www.casaxelaju.com.
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What is the program like?
We will stay with Guatemalan families, generally with two or three students
to a household. The Guatemalan families will provide all weekday meals.
Monday through Friday, we will
have Spanish classes at the school for five hours
a day in a three-to-one small group setting. You will start at whatever level
you are
on now, combining conversation and grammar to improve your skills. You may also
request a focus area, if you let your teacher know what you want to study, you
can work on any specific subject.
There will be planned
activities everyday of the week, three being based on the
Guatemalan education system and remaining two being cultural activities. The
first
weekend we will travel to the
town of Panajachel on Lake Atitlán. While we are there
we will take a boat across the lake to Santiago Atitlán. Sunday we will
visit
Chichicastenango, a town with
one of the largest and oldest weekly markets in Central
America. The following weekend we will go to the IRTRA Water Park and the
Ruins of Takalik Abaj. The final weekend we will go to Antigua, the beautiful
old capital
of Guatemala.
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Who may come?
This trip is planned for teachers including pre-professionals, current and
retired teachers.
It is not, however, exclusive to that population. Other teachers, social workers,
administrators
and other interested adults are also welcome to join us.
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You will receive a certificate
from the school for 50 hours of class time at the conclusion of the
trip, which translates to 50 recertification points. If you record those cultural
activities that are
specifically educational, you may request additional recertification points
for these on a credit
per hour basis.
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The total cost is $1995.00.
This price is fairly all-inclusive. It covers roundtrip airfare, in-country
transportation, tuition to
Casa Xelajú, your homestay with a Guatemalan family, all weekday meals,
cultural activities,
weekend hotel stays, and some weekend meals. There are a few things where
the costs are
not included, such as a $25 tip fee, the remaining weekend meals, and any
souvenirs, coffee,
or ice cream that you might buy on your own.
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You may qualify for some Staff
Development money on this trip. Depending on how much
you have used in the past year, and how much you will use what you will on
the trip, teachers
could be reimbursed up to $1000 of the cost of the trip. Other personnel should
check I should
check with their departments on this. All applications for Staff Development
money should be
approved before our departure date.
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There are two main contacts for
this trip: Ana Viveros and Chris Perry. Ana Viveros can
be emailed at Ana.Schmitz-Viveros@mpls.K12.mn.us,
and Chris Perry can be emailed
at VIDACPL@aol.com. Email is the best
way to reach us, but if you´d rather call, Ana can
be reached at (763)-783-0041.
You can also visit the Contact
Us page.
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