TCS sends 2 teachers to Morocco, welcomes international teacher in exchange program
Kayleigh Kassel and Amanda Clapp aren鈥檛 usually the ones raising their hands in the classroom, but during a staff meeting, their arms shot up like one of their most eager students.
Dan Grube, assistant to the dean for international programs at 91女神, was seeking to send two Catamount School teachers to Morocco for a teacher exchange. For Clapp and Kassel, it was a learning experience of a lifetime.
鈥淎s soon as you walk in, it's like being in any other school you go to,鈥 Kassel said. 鈥淚n the world, you just know that kids are kids, and they're going to make silly choices and amazing choices. That's kind of inspiring, too, with education, is that all over the world, it's different but similar.鈥
Kassel and Clapp spent two weeks at the Al-Akhawayn School of Ifrane, an international school associated with Al Akhawayn University, last October. The Catamount School then welcomed Paul Holding, a teacher from the Moroccan school, for two weeks in Cullowhee.
鈥淏eing part of a teacher exchange helps to make our school community richer and more globally aware,鈥 said Sarah Tatham, TCS principal. 鈥淥ur teachers and students were able to make meaningful connections with paired individuals and learn about life outside of Western North Carolina.鈥
鈥淭he exchange also invited detailed discussions on school practices and policies as well as student responses in different cultures. We were all able to walk away from this experience with a deeper understanding of our world and our impact.鈥
From left, Kayleigh Kassel and Amanda Clapp
Morocco was obviously unfamiliar territory for Clapp and Kassel, but a few things felt familiar: Ifrane鈥檚 mountainous terrain and a supportive education community spans worldwide.
The two teachers worked collaboratively with teachers in the classroom at Al Akhawayn, while also building relationships. Kassel and Clapp got to walk around Ifrane, explore the famous market in Fes and even had dinner at four different colleague's houses.
鈥淚t was easy just to kind of get in there and build relationships,鈥 Clapp said. 鈥淲hen you do that, you're automatically part of the learning community, and you're doing your part, so we both felt really welcomed.鈥
Holding, originally from Great Britain, got a taste of a Western North Carolina classroom on the return trip in April. He also got to take in the Carolina coast as he joined the eighth-graders on their field trip to Charleston, South Carolina.
鈥淚t was great, and I think he had a great time,鈥 Kassel said. 鈥淲hen we went, I think it was kind of new, and at first, it took a minute to warm up, but I think because we had that experience and already got to know each other, he just fell right into place and was excited to work with the kids.鈥
Paul Holding
This was the inaugural year of the College of Education and Allied Professions-sponsored program, which Kassel said she and Clapp were the 鈥済uinea pigs鈥 for. According to Kassel, the two could not have asked for a better experience.
鈥淚 think that's what we're all like as teachers: we want to feel good enough and that we're working hard and maybe we can stand alone, but I think removing that barrier of knowing that collaboration is what makes us great as educators,鈥 Kassel said.
鈥淚f we just share what we know, our kids will be so much more successful, and that's the point of teaching.鈥