Polyglot
Four NPCA Members Receive SIT Scholarships
By Anne Baker on Wednesday, November 16th, 2011
2011 NPCA scholarship award winners, from left to right: Amanda Drapcho, Jesse Routte, and Erica Fredrikson. Michael Maffie is not pictured.
National Peace Corps Association members who want to pursue master’s degrees in international programs at the SIT Graduate Institute’s Brattleboro, Vermont campus can take advantage of a special scholarship program. SIT awards $10,000 scholarships to selected members of the NPCA who have one year or more of significant intercultural experience.
SIT Graduate Institute offers master’s degrees, as well as certificate and professional programs, in international development theory and management. Degree programs in Conflict Transformation, International Education, Sustainable Development, and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) are based on based on an experiential learning model and a commitment to social justice and intercultural communication.
This year, there were 4 recipients of the NPCA / SIT scholarship.
Amanda Drapcho, originally from Portsmouth, NH, is a current student in the MA in Conflict Transformation program at SIT with a focus on using the arts and theater as a tool for social change. Amanda received her BA from Plymouth State University in New Hampshire, where she studied theater with a focus on playwriting and directing. After college, Amanda served in Peace Corps in The Gambia as a Health and Community Development volunteer. During her service, Amanda led numerous gender empowerment programs; including producing a documentary highlighting the work of local community activists. After Peace Corps, she worked for Americorps in Portland, Maine doing community development.
Jesse Routte, originally from Reading, PA, is a current student in the MA in Sustainable Development program at SIT with a focus on international development. He received his Bachelors degree from St. Olaf University in Minnesota, where he met his wife, Emily Mooney Routte. After college, they served in the Peace Corps together in Mozambique. Jesse served in the southern provincial capital, Xai-Xai as a teacher trainer at the Mozambican Teacher Training Institute. Alongside his teaching duties, Jesse sponsored and ran a boy’s group and a theatre group. He later took over and expanded the regional organizations that ran the boys groups and theatre groups.
Erica Fredrikson originally from the San Francisco, CA area, is a current student in the MA in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) program at SIT. Erica received her BA in American Studies from Grinnell College in Iowa. After college she served in Kiribati from 2003-2006 as an education volunteer. While in the country, Erica coordinated a library construction project and an anti-corporal punishment campaign at the school. Erica went back to Tarawa, the capital, from 2009-2010 and worked as an ESL teacher. Her teaching internship at SIT this spring will be in Morocco. After completing her degree, Erica wants to continue teaching overseas.
Michael Maffie from Boston, MA, is a a current student in the MA in Sustainable Development program at SIT. He received his BA and MA in Education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Michael has over 20 years of technical writing and teaching experience. He served in the Peace Corps in a community in rural Liberia, where he taught secondary mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology, and trained teachers.
NPCA wishes to congratulate all of the winners this year!
SIT is still accepting applications for Spring and Fall programs and scholarships are available. Please visit www.sit.edu/graduate for more information.
You can read more about the National Peace Corps Association’s member benefits here.
