"8th grade graduation of at Lukop School with one of my very first students in Micronesia, Mary Henry."

[The National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) and Peace Corps have partnered to connect Returned Peace Corps volunteers (RPCVs) with elementary and secondary school classrooms throughout the United States through Peace Corps’ Speakers Match program.  Such classroom visits are an ideal way for RPCVs to carry out the Third Goal and inspire the next generation of Volunteers.  Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Diane Hall visited a classroom this spring and shares her experience here.]

I had the great pleasure to present to two groups of 6th graders on Friday, March 11th at Topeka Collegiate School in Topeka, Kansas. This was my first time to present at Topeka Collegiate and I was very impressed with their “Peace Corps Day.” The school had arranged classes and RPCVs so that everyone interacted with an RPCV. It was an amazing feat of scheduling and a big commitment by the school.

RPCV presenters were rotated in and out of classrooms according to their schedules. At lunch, we, along with the 8th grade class, were treated to a catered lunch. As a group we introduced ourselves to the 8th grade and talked a little bit about our Peace Corps experience.

My presentations to the 6th grade were well received. Since I’d been a volunteer in Palau and an APCD in Namibia, I gave them a presentation choice: Namibia or Palau. Amazingly enough, both groups chose Palau. They were very interested in some of the cultural norms of Palau as well as the work I did. The funniest thing for me in my presentation was a technical one. One of the kids asked about the quality of my photos (from a thumb drive on a laptop through an LCD projector) and I explained that I’d taken them with a 35mm camera and had to scan the original slides into computer photos. Although it seems like only yesterday that I was a Volunteer, if I do the math it’s been over 20 years…and these young people had little knowledge of cameras that weren’t digital. I found myself giving a side lesson on photography in the olden days! Kodachrome…gives us those nice, bright colors…

Topeka Collegiate also had an after school community session that invited local folks to come in and talk to RPCVs. Several of us displayed our souvenirs/artifacts on tables and left them out for the evening activity—an art event for students, parents, and the community. It was a full day of Peace Corps community awareness. Hats off to Topeka Collegiate for truly making a full day of Peace Corps!

Speakers Match is a Peace Corps program that brings Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) into classrooms to present their service experiences with students. To enroll or request a speaker, go to Speakers Match.

Constance Speake (Armenia 06-08) gives a presentation to a Delta Kappa Gamma sorority group, February 2010

At the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA), we like to say that the Third Goal of the Peace Corps (to strengthen Americans’ understanding about the world and its peoples) is our first goal.  That means throwing a spotlight on returned Peace Corps Volunteers like Constance Speake, a former teacher and Armenia RPCV who now shares her experience through Speakers Match, a Peace Corps program that helps to connect returned Peace Corps Volunteers with those who want to hear about Peace Corps experiences.  Recently I asked her a few questions about her Speaker Match experience.

How did you get the idea of speaking in public about Peace Corps? What was/is your motivation?

I loved my 3 years in Armenia and wanted to share it with people; I also wanted people to realize that “older” Americans can join the Peace Corps. Talking to groups seems natural to me, as I taught for 45 years.

What did you do immediately after finishing your Peace Corps service?

I left for Armenia in June 2006, and in the the first year back, everyone I talked to heard about my Peace Corps experience. I had taken some 3000 photos, so I edited them, and learned to burn DVDs with some 50 photos.

How many presentations have you done so far?

I believe I have done about 18 presentations.

During your presentation, who is your audience, what tools (i.e pamphlets handouts) do you use to ensure a successful presentation, and are there question / answer sessions during or after the presentation?

I learned during my first presentation that people could NOT ask questions during the presentation; after 2 hours I was only half done with my presentation because of all the questions. So now I tell the group to please save their questions until I’ve finished, write the questions down to remember them. Then the problem becomes mine, to make sure I’m finished in time for questions.

I begin my presentation by speaking a few sentences in Armenian. Then I talk for 2 minutes about the advantages and disadvantages of being an “older” volunteer. (I was 67 when I went). Then I begin.

The groups have mostly been adults: church groups, neighborhood groups, and conference groups. I will be doing one in September at the school where I graduated from high school 55 years ago. So I assume the age range will be 14-18.

During my presentation I show 5 photos of the results of the grants my host country counterpart and I wrote, showing what can be done when the two people are willing to work hard. I talk briefly about grant writing. My counterpart was wonderful. We got along beautifully — and still do by email. I use neither pamphlets nor handouts. But the first 2 slides are a map of Asia and a map of Armenia so the audience can put themselves in “my” world.

I have only slightly changed my presentation depending on the group.  For example I emphasize church subjects when speaking to a church group; I emphasize the contribution Delta Kappa Gamma made when speaking to those groups.

Tell me more about those grants….

The grants were those three which my counterpart and I did while I was in Armenia. The first year we completed one for the CALL (Computer and Language Laboratory; the second year we completed another one for the CALL, to improve it; the third year we completed one for the Vardenis State College Library which was not quite finished when I had to leave, so it was turned over to another Peace Corps Volunteer. It finally got finished 2 months later.

Thank you, Ms. Speake for sharing this information with me!

There are many ways RPCVs continue to accomplish the third goal, and signing on to Speakers Match is just one of them. By raising awareness of Ms. Speake’s activities, NPCA hopes that more volunteers will be inspired to step up and share their experiences.

Today’s youth will graduate into a world that requires global knowledge and skills for success in college, careers, and civic life.  As evidenced by the global economy, increasingly diverse communities, and rapid information-sharing via the Internet, opportunities to interface with people across the world are greatly increasing.  However, not all young people have meaningful opportunities to learn about the world.  Recognizing this, the New York State Afterschool Network (NYSAN) and NPCA have partnered to connect Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) with local afterschool programs.  RPCVs can volunteer to build upon and extend their Peace Corps experience to create global learning opportunities for children and youth from pre-kindergarten through high school.

Participating RPCVs will receive training and support, and will work with afterschool program specialists to develop a series of activities founded on their international service experience.  They will then be matched with organizations in their area that run before-school, afterschool, and weekend programming.  RPCVs can choose to volunteer with programs over a few weeks or for the duration of a semester, summer, or year.

This program is intended to support youth to gain knowledge and develop skills aimed at building their global competence and to provide RPCVs with a unique opportunity to share the Peace Corps experience.  This is a pilot program in New York with hopes of expanding the program after the first year.  We hope you will consider sharing your expertise by taking part in this important program.

Information sessions will be held in January in Buffalo and in New York City. Following a training session in February, interested RPCVs will be matched with afterschool programs.

To sign up or for more information, email Jennifer Siaca, NYSAN Project Manager at jsiaca@nysan.org.

Angene Wilson at the Peace Corps Parade of Nations at the Inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009

There is something really special about educators who have been Peace Corps Volunteers.  New generations of students are privileged to have Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) teachers with diverse global perspectives, who are able to emphasize from experience the importance of cultural sensitivity and international awareness.

For RPCVs, the role of being a global citizen doesn’t end when they come back to the United States.  And for some volunteers, the job continues even into retirement. RPCV teacher Angene Wilson (Liberia, 62-64) is one of these people. For the past 15 years, she has been involved with Global Education projects at the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA). Angene further impacts her community by taking on projects such as her new book, Voices from the Peace Corps: Fifty Years of Kentucky Volunteers, which comes out early next year.  It was co-written with her husband, Jack, who is also a former Liberia volunteer.  The book is based on interviews that Angene and Jack have been conducting for the past six years with Kentucky RPCVs of all five decades.  Angene calls the book “a celebration of the ‘toughest job we ever loved’ and also a description of how we became citizens of the world for the rest of our lives.”

Angene and Jack Wilson's new book, Voices from the Peace Corps: Fifty Years of Kentucky Volunteers

One aspect of Angene’s global education work with the NPCA involves developing engaging lesson plans and discussion topics based on articles in NPCA’s quarterly Worldview Magazine.  “It is such fun to get the articles and consider what topic or story might resonate with high school students.  From the issue coming out this fall, I chose an article that I thought teachers would appreciate reading.”  Angene hopes that teachers use her lesson plan ideas, and says that she used to try them out in her own classroom, when she worked at the University of Kentucky as a secondary social studies educator.  She remembers using the entire special issue of Worldview Magazine about Afghanistan, which was published soon after September 11, 2001.

For the Peace Corps’ 25^th Anniversary, Angene wrote an article about how the PC experience impacts the work of RPCV teachers when they return home.  She interviewed and observed 17 RPCV teachers in six states, and devised a questionnaire that 36 other RPCV teachers in 23 states filled out.  Four statements garnered between 81% and 86% agreement among RPCV teachers:

• My experiences give me lots of examples to use as I talk to my classes.
• I have a different and world perspective.
• I am more aware of international events.
• It’s not just knowing about a country’s economics but also a cultural sensitivity to the country’s point of view that is important in my teaching.

Angene's lesson plans are based on articles in Worldview Magazine.

And 97% of the RPCV teachers said they teach that American culture is not the only culture; just because you don’t believe or understand it doesn’t mean that it’s wrong.  Now, 25 years later, there are surely even more RPCV teachers imparting these values in the classroom.  Angene is a wonderful example of how the Peace Corps experience can strongly and positively affect the rest of an RPCV teacher’s life—and hopefully the lives of their students as well!

Be sure to check out the archive of Angene’s Worldview lessons plans on the NPCA website.  Also, educators and RPCVs interested in teaching students about the Peace Corps experience firsthand can sign up for Speakers Match, a program that brings RPCV speakers into America’s classrooms.

Those interested in pre-ordering Angene and Jack Wilson’s new book, Voices from the Peace Corps: Fifty Years of Kentucky Volunteers, can do so here.

2010 NPCA scholarship winners, from left to right: Chris Blackwood, Erin Peot, Jill Ranaivoson, Jason Lubanski, Katrina Busick

NPCA is pleased to announce the winners of the 2010 SIT Graduate Institute scholarships to pursue master’s degrees in international programs at the school’s Brattleboro, Vermont campus. The NPCA scholarship was established in 2000 to recognize the long-standing ties between SIT and the Peace Corps. Members of the NPCA who have one year or more of significant intercultural experience are eligible to apply and several awards of $10,000 are made each year.

The 2010 scholarship winners are:

Chris Blackwood is a current student in the MA for International Education program at SIT, with a focus in Youth Program Leadership. His interest in working with youth was ignited during his Peace Corps service in Morocco as a Youth Development Volunteer (2007-2009). Prior to his Peace Corps service, Chris worked for a variety of non-profit organizations with progressive political initiatives, yet found the empowerment of youth- especially girls- to be his true calling while serving in Morocco. Chris’ most recent job was working as a program coordinator for the Global Young Leaders Conference, in which he managed large conferences of high school aged students in Washington, DC and New York City. For his practicum he hopes to get involved with an organization that provides access education to girls and women in North Africa and/or the Middle East, and to continue to build upon it as a career.

Erin Peot served as a PCV in Kyrgyzstan, where she collaborated with a local organization on a number of gender and development projects. She most notably assisted in the production of a six-part TV series, which highlighted local women in the business and political spheres, while examining current obstacles women face in their personal and professional lives. Erin’s experience as a PCV fostered her interest in social justice and development. Thus, after returning to the United States, she worked as a Global Development Policy Intern at Women Thrive Worldwide in Washington, DC. There, Erin examined the direct effect of Foreign Assistance Reform and the International Violence Against Women Act on women, and in turn, the influence of these policies on societies throughout the world. Erin is currently studying Sustainable Development at SIT Graduate Institute. She is grateful to be a student in the experiential learning community at SIT and she is looking forward to continuing her professional development.

Jill Ranaivoson (Madagascar 2004-2006) is pursuing a Master of Arts in International Education. While in Madagascar, Jill taught English as a Foreign Language to 6th and 9th grade students in the small coastal town of Vohémar. In addition to classroom teaching, she spent time leading a weekly information technology course for the director and faculty members of the local high school, whose computers sat unused due to lack of knowledge. Also, in collaboration with two local teachers, Jill created a 1,000-word dictionary with English translations of the local Malagasy dialect, Sakalava. Prior to and following her service with the Peace Corps, Jill worked with immigrant and refugee high school students at the International Institute of St. Louis

Jason Lubanski served as in Peace Corps Thailand Group 103 from 1993-1995 as a TEFL/Crossover Project volunteer. He taught English at a rural junior high school in a remote area near Cambodia and coordinated primary teacher trainings as well as conducting primary school outreach programs and English camps. After his service, he continued to live in Thailand, eventually working with Burmese refugees, migrant workers, and ethnic minority groups located in the mountains of Northern Thailand. Most recently he has assisted project development and evaluations for projects designed to prevent human trafficking and advocating for migrant worker’s rights. In 2007, he rejoined the Peace Corps Thailand team as the Cross Cultural Trainer of Group 119. He will be studying Sustainable Development and plans on returning to Thailand to continue his work there assisting grassroots Thai NGOs working for social justice among the marginalized migrant and hill tribe communities near the Burmese and Laotian borders.

Katrina Busick (Tonga 2004 – 2006) will pursue a Master of Arts in Sustainable Development with a concentration in Community Development and Social Action. While in Tonga, Katrina worked as a primary school teacher, focusing on English, math, physical education, and nutrition. Some of her accomplishments included: partnering with a secondary school wood shop program to build bookshelves for the primary school library in Falevai, starting a “Kindergarten” for children in the village too young to attend school, and writing a successful grant to build a passable road for transportation of students to secondary schools. Katrina’s primary project was in the village of Falevai, but she also partnered with schools and other groups in five other villages, at their request, to increase education in the island group. Prior to her service in the Peace Corps, Katrina was an elementary school teacher on the Navajo Reservation in Beclabito, New Mexico.

The mission of SIT Graduate Institute is to prepare students to be interculturally effective leaders, professionals, and citizens. In so doing, SIT fosters a worldwide network of individuals and organizations committed to responsible global citizenship. SIT fulfills this mission with field-based academic study abroad programs for undergraduates and degree and certificate programs for graduates and professionals.

The SIT scholarship is just one of the many benefits of NPCA membership. To learn more about the scholarship, click here, or to become a member of NPCA, click here.

Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Nancy Gehron (right) uses props to share her Peace Corps experience with middle school classrooms.

“While it amazes me, so many Americans have NEVER heard of us!” says Nancy Gehron, Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) of Falls Church, VA, who served in Togo from 1983 to 1985.  Nancy participates in Speakers Match—a program that brings RPCVs into classrooms to teach students of all ages what Peace Corps is, and why it’s important.  “I love talking to kids about Peace Corps and my experiences,” says Nancy, “Since the day I came back from Togo, I’ve been recruiting the next generation of Volunteers.”

Years ago, Nancy spoke at several schools, career fairs, and classes studying Africa at the request of Peace Corps and the schools’ administrations.  Since returning from work in Madagascar and Tanzania as an Administrative Officer in 2008, Nancy has been contacted by the Speakers Match office to reach out to more kids about the Peace Corps experience.  She has spoken in an after-school program for economically disadvantaged students (some of whom were actually from Africa) and to classes studying the 1960s.  “I talked about how while my dad was serving in Vietnam, I’d see the Peace Corps advertisements during the news hour and I always knew that Peace Corps was going to be how I would serve my country.”

Nancy makes her Peace Corps experience come alive for the students, who are mostly middle school kids, by bringing in props and maps and telling stories about giant bugs and interesting foods she has eaten.  “In my village, dogs were a prime source of protein,” says Nancy.  She discusses with kids the difficulties Togolese students face in crowded schools with little resources, and what it’s like to live with no running water or electricity.

It’s fascinating for the students at home to learn how people their age are living in other parts of the world.  They have a chance to hear personal stories about issues they have only read about in books, such as colonization, HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB, and poverty.  Nancy says, “If I’m talking about challenges to development in Africa, I try to look at the number of students.  I’ll say, for example, if we were in Tanzania, out of the thirty students in the room, three of you would have AIDS, all of you would have suffered from malaria at some point, etc.  The more you know about the class size and what the subject is, the better you can prepare on the subject to make it meaningful.”

RPCVs and teachers can enroll in the Speakers Match Program to bring the Peace Corps experience into America’s classrooms, so today’s kids grow up knowing exactly what Peace Corps is and why it is needed.

To learn how you can speak to students about your Peace Corps experience–or to request a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Speaker–visit  http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/speakersmatch/

RPCV Patrick Bell (Costa Rica 97-99) teaches Spanish in Lexington, Kentucky.

Imagine being a Peace Corps Volunteer in Lithuania in the late 1990s, arriving at your host family’s home for the first time, and being cheerfully greeted by 50 of your new and curious Lithuanian neighbors. Michael Blasi shared this exciting “movie star” moment from his service with school children back home in Chicago. He is a participant in Speakers Match, a program that brings Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) into America’s classrooms, allowing them to share their extraordinary stories and inspire the future generation of global citizens.

Despite what some people may think, the job of Peace Corps Volunteers doesn’t come to an end when they leave their host countries. In fact, perhaps one of the most crucial services that Volunteers provide is their adherence to the “third goal.” The Peace Corps mission states that RPCVs are to “help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.”

Michael Blasi and other RPCVs strive to instill this lesson of cultural understanding during their classroom presentations, so that students know how to operate more positively in our global community. Blasi tells his audiences that “there is not always a right and wrong way of doing something… I usually say to them, ‘In America we learn American things; time is money; you must have plan or a goal… baseball, hot dogs and apple pie. These are not bad things but just something we value. The rest of the world does not want to be told what we do is the right way.’ I hope the audience can understand that message.”

Through Speakers Match, Blasi has spoken with young people ranging from 7th graders to 25-year-old college students. They all react with interest and enthusiasm. Students are curious to learn firsthand what a day in the life of a Peace Corps Volunteer is like. They want to know the rewards and challenges of living in a different country and being away from home. What exactly do PCVs eat? Blasi answers all varieties of questions that many students, not having had much exposure to the Peace Corps, are excited to have the opportunity to ask.

“I would hope the sharing of my stories to an audience would open a door or show someone a door,” says Blasi, who may have already helped to inspire a new generation of Peace Corps hopefuls. By leaving behind the importance of cultural understanding, Blasi’s lessons are a success. He hopes he can help reduce the fears that some students have about traveling to foreign countries, or help them recognize the “universal similarities we all share regardless of our many differences.”

After seeing its benefit, Michael Blasi says he would be happy to participate in Speakers Match in the future, and would also serve again in the Peace Corps. Programs that bring the Peace Corps home to America’s youth are a great way for Volunteers to begin working on that essential “third goal”—the one goal that makes sure the job of a Peace Corps Volunteer is never done.

Speakers Match is a Peace Corps program that brings Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) into classrooms to present their service experiences with students. To enroll or request a speaker, go to Speakers Match.

Regardless of whether or not students are planning to become Peace Corps Volunteers, hosting a guest speaker can prove to be extremely rewarding.  RPCV speakers at Chelmsford High School have successfully opened up young minds to a new world of global service possibilities after college.  Speakers also enhance the sometimes ho-hum traditional learning experience by demonstrating how school subjects can be practically applied in real life situations.  One of McIvor’s Volunteers presented to her upper level language classes exclusively in Spanish, proving to her sometimes skeptical students that developing practical language ability is both attainable and incredibly useful.

It isn’t just Spanish classes that are benefiting from RPCV visits either, McIvor makes clear— “What RPCVs can share touches every field.”  Volunteer speakers have backgrounds in a wide range of subjects, including biology, the environment, oral and written communication, science, math, history, psychology, and culture.  In the past, Speakers Match presentations have been enriching and advantageous to a number of diverse school subjects, and for every age group—from elementary to college students.  McIvor and her students found their time with Volunteer speakers so gratifying that they decided to be of assistance to other Volunteers.  Currently, they are helping to fundraise for a Peace Corps project in Nicaragua.

Daily life in the Peace Corps as compared to American life seems to be the most impressive and fascinating topic for students, many of whom know very little about the Peace Corps before meeting a Speakers Match Volunteer.  McIvor explains that her students “understand going abroad to be a tourist, even do a homestay, but to actually serve… that is a new concept for many.”  RPCV speakers are warmly welcomed and applauded in McIvor’s classrooms.  Her students look forward to the presentations, which involve anything from photo slideshows to personal stories from the field.  Some RPCVs bring along artifacts from their host countries for the students to pass around to see and touch.  Students “are always fascinated and often moved by having someone share personally their growth and experience,” adds McIvor.

Teachers always hope that their lesson plans resonate and continue to impact their students long after the final bell rings.  They are constantly in search of better ways to make that happen.  A smart solution seems to be to invite someone to class who has put classroom skills to work in the global community.  McIvor urges other RPCVs to come forward and accomplish the Peace Corps’ “third goal” by speaking to students.  “They are in a powerful position to connect what is happening in the classroom to the real world, and making a difference for good,” she says. Teachers and RPCVs, take note this school year—sign up for Speakers Match and help connect students at home to their world.

Have you participated in Speakers Match?  Let us know!  Or tell us about the experience in the comment area below.

Click here to download the lesson plan and the corresponding article.

A subscription to WorldView magazine is included with a membership in the National Peace Corps Association. Click here to learn more about the magazine or here to subscribe. You will find previous lesson plans and discussion guides for each issue of the magazine here.



Help EdSteps to Assess Global Competence

2011 ICAF World Children’s Festival

2010 Natural Disaster Youth Summit

The mission of SIT Graduate Institute is to prepare students to be interculturally effective leaders, professionals, and citizens. In so doing, SIT fosters a worldwide network of individuals and organizations committed to responsible global citizenship. SIT fulfills this mission with field-based academic study abroad programs for undergraduates and degree and certificate programs for graduates and professionals.

NPCA scholarships are available solely to current members. The NPCA scholarship was established in 2000 to recognize the long-standing ties between SIT and the Peace Corps. Members of the NPCA who have one year or more of significant intercultural experience are eligible to apply and several awards of $10,000 are made each year.

NPCA members can request information regarding this exclusive scholarship opportunity at 800-336-1616 or 802-257-7751, or on the SIT website.

The SIT scholarship is just one of the many benefits of NPCA membership. To learn more or become a member of NPCA, click here.