Many people outside of the United States dream of coming here to expand their educational opportunities.

In January of 2000, 17 teachers from Central America were able to make this dream a reality with the help of a year-long grant from the Cooperative Association of States for Scholarships (CASS). The teachers represent four Central American countries: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua.

Palo Alto was chosen as the host-college for the visiting teachers. When they first arrived, they all agreed that they were welcomed with open arms by the faculty and students here on campus. Even though the language barrier had a big effect on the way they communicated, it did not change the way they were treated.

During the Spring 2000 semester at Palo Alto, the visiting teachers were taught techniques to better educate their students. What they learned were new math procedures that would keep their students’ attention and also art projects that would relate to a subject being taught, either in science or in English. For the Fall 2000 semester, the visiting teachers were assistants at Burleson Elementary and were able to help students while they were there.

Santos Tale, a teacher from Guatemala, said, “I especially liked working at Burleson Elementary School. Burleson’s bilingual program gave me ideas on how to integrate students who speak different languages in my classroom.”

“I am very happy about the way that Spanish is being implemented into schools here, such as Burleson,” said Maria Meza, a teacher from Honduras. “I would like to present this idea to my administrator to see if English could be implemented into our school.”

During the summer, the visiting teachers took a trip to Corpus Christi, where they took part in a marine life program. They were led by Brad Chandler, a Biology teacher at Palo Alto, who showed them many types of aquatic organisms.

Each visiting teacher was assigned a mentor to welcome them and introduce them to San Antonio and the surrounding area. Mentors also invited their “colegas” into their homes for dinner to interact with their families and to eat some Texas cuisine.

“I took my colega home for dinner several times, because I wanted to learn more about his life in another country,” said Mark Hogensen, an Art professor at Palo Alto College. Despite the language barrier, they communicated through the universal language of friendship.

“My colega is a delightful, energetic and committed individual. It was a pleasure to meet and work with her,” said Irene Scharf, Palo Alto College librarian and mentor to Maria Meza from Honduras.

Because of the large classes and diverse ages in these countries, the teachers use student facilitators in their classrooms. Students break into groups and learn from each other. When a problem arises that they cannot work by themselves, the table sends one student, or their facilitator, to the teacher to get help for the rest of the group. After the child tells the teacher what the question is, the teacher then goes back and helps the students in that group.

“The biggest problem in my country is teaching in rural areas, which is much different from the city. It is harder to do, and we know not everyone will learn because of the need to work with our students one by one,” said Nelson Mejia, a teacher from Nicaragua.

“In my school, parents participate and want to know every possible way they can help their kids at home,” said Juan Chicas, a teacher from El Salvador.

The Central American teachers enjoyed being here immensely. They did, however, have their pet peeves. One was the way some people kept their appearance. Ana Romero, a teacher from El Salvador, said that she did not like seeing all the people with piercings and tattoos.

David Montenegro, a teacher from Guatemala, was surprised that we do not have a very strong sex education program here. Seeing how the U.S. is so liberal and filled with freedoms, he wondered why sex ed is not taught at a younger age. Being from a country where over population is a growing problem, he can see where the United States might be headed in the same direction.

Overall, the teachers liked being in San Antonio and learning from their new surroundings. And, those at Palo Alto liked learning from their new friends.

Jessie Dominguez, a mentor to Nelson Mejia and a Continuing Education Specialist, said, “In addition to sharing ideas, thoughts and observations about the contrasts in our societies, we also formed a good friendship and professional rapport. My colega is a nice guy and a good friend. I plan on visiting and staying in touch, and I hope to visit him in Nicaragua on a future vacation.”