Peace Corps volunteers works in Russian schools
As Russian English teachers continue to leave local schools to take higher paying positions in the private sector, the Peace Corps is focusing its efforts on training the next generation of Russian English teachers. Russia's economic problems have made it difficult for the Ministry of Education to provide modern textbooks to schools, many of which are still using Soviet textbooks containing anti-American propaganda. In Western Russia, Volunteers authored five textbooks that were published regionally at low cost.
Volunteers also work with students at the high school level. Volunteers in Western Russia conducted a two-week summer immersion program called "Camp America" for over 100 teenagers. In the Russian Far East village of Arsneniev, a Volunteer founded the first English-language newspaper for teens. This for-profit newspaper is written by advanced students from different schools, who are learning layout design, marketing and editing. The profits from the paper provide revenue for new English materials.
|