This week I get to revive my Ukraine experience as I'll be speaking to a local mens group about the trip. There will be questions and polite attention, but none of these individuals are teachers currently, so will not have the chance to experience what I found while I was traveling to Lutsk. I will appreciate the opportunity to revisit the exchange, however.
At the end of September I will again have this opportunity, as a local Rotary club has also asked me to speak. The Rotary is interested in reviving an international exchange they organized several years ago. The exchange has ground to halt since then, but some members of the community assure me they are again interested in hosting international teachers and sending local teachers overseas. Perhaps I can help spur along this process.
School begins in four weeks, however, and for me the question is how do I keep the momentum of last spring going into this fall? I have a colleague who is interested in helping organize an International Club, and this might be one way to do this. I can also work on projects that will allow me to continue to exchange with the students at Gymnasium 18. What I fear is a let down that comes from distance and the intervening demands of life and job. I hope I can figure out more than one way to keep collaborating with the teachers in Lutsk, if they are interested. If nothing else, I can continue to use the examples in my classroom and to encourage my current students to look beyond the borders of our local school.
