Lara Kessler joined the Peace Corps and traveled to Hungary to teach English as a second language and environmental education
Lara Kessler
I received my B.A. in English with a minor in philosophy from Guilford College in 1994. After graduating, I joined the Peace Corps and traveled to Hungary to teach English as a second language and environmental education. In addition to my formal duties, I designed and led a weekly class for Hungarian teachers of English, co-established an all-English speaking summer camp for Hungarian English students, and secured funds from USAID to create an environmental camp and trail in our county.
After returning to the States and managing a group of AmeriCorps volunteers affiliated with the National Mentoring Partnership, I decided to return to school to pursue a career in teaching. As a Peace Corps fellow in urban education at George Washington University, I worked full time in a troubled high school on the outskirts of D.C. while pursuing a M.Ed. in secondary education with dual concentrations in English and special education.
Although my work at Potomac High School was often fraught with the frustrations associated with urban schools, it was none-the-less, extremely fulfilling. My involvement with a U.S. Depar tment of Education Technology Challenge Grant made it all the more so. With a group of fellow core-content teachers, I wrote a curriculum designed to connect my students lives with pieces of British literature.
Most recently I received my certification in gifted education from the University of Virginia, leading to my work as a specialist in gifted education at Johnson Elementary School in Charlottesville. In that capacity I lead content enrichment classes for gifted and high ability students in grades K-4. This past summer I had the good fortune to travel to Japan as a Fulbright Memorial Scholar.
