Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008
Sehome educator has learning experience in Argentina
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closeIt isn't often that an assistant principal lands himself in summer school.
But in a way, that's what Sehome High School's John Van Haalen did when he went on a Fulbright exchange to Argentina this July.
"I didn't really have a goal of learning so much as a goal of making connections with the people, being a goodwill ambassador," he says.
He stayed with his local counterpart and spent time at her high school in Santa Fe, the Argentina high desert town that's the size of Deming.
Students throughout the region were bused to the school from their homes miles away. Though the students' faces weren't familiar, their spirits and personalities were.
"Kids are kids all over the world," he says. "They're enthusiastic, they're happy, they love to learn."
From those children he learned how to create connections between his own Spanish-language students and how to get them more resources.
Van Haalen spent about a month in the country with his wife, Teresa, director of curriculum for the Mount Vernon School District. She had done a Fulbright exchange in Argentina two years prior and took this opportunity to stay with her former exchange partner.
"That's a contact that we'll probably have for the rest of our lives," Teresa says of her partner, who made many fans when she visited Bellingham during the exchange. "They're really long-lasting relationships."
Eastablished by U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright in 1946, the Fulbright Program is now a well-recognized international exchange effort that provides grants for students and educators in the United States to switch places with their counterparts in another country.
"It was his vision for people in the field of education to share and learn from other countries," Van Haalen says. "It was really a goodwill thing."
Having the opportunity to experience life and learning in another country offers perspective on just how good it is at schools in America.
"We're just so resource-rich," Teresa says. "We have so much compared to a country like Argentina. They have one computer in their school. They have no heat, no library - all this stuff we take for granted."
Much of the couple's recent travel has focused on South and Central America, where they feel more at home with the language and appreciate the natural beauty. They also have fond memories of the rich history of Europe.
"I've always loved to travel," Van Haalen says. "I remember when we went to Europe, how interesting it was to be in an area where there's so much history and to experience the history we read about."
The first two weeks of their Fulbright trip, the couple traveled the country from bustling city to lush jungle. They visited Iguazu in northeast Argentina, where rivers come together in the jungle to form tremendous waterfalls.
"It was beautiful," he says.
"We were soaked when we got out of there," Teresa adds.
They also rented an apartment in Buenos Aires and felt the rapid rush of city life.
"I think it's really important for people to get out of their comfort zone," Teresa says. "We're so isolated here. For most Americans you can stay in your little community and never get out and get anywhere, never hear a different language or try different food."
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