2006.03.04: March 4, 2006: Headlines: COS - Poland: the Third Goal: Desert Sun: Poland RPCV Lee Wilson wants to expose his students to a post-college opportunity that he calls very "patriotic" because the volunteers are serving as representatives of their country
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2006.03.04: March 4, 2006: Headlines: COS - Poland: the Third Goal: Desert Sun: Poland RPCV Lee Wilson wants to expose his students to a post-college opportunity that he calls very "patriotic" because the volunteers are serving as representatives of their country
Poland RPCV Lee Wilson wants to expose his students to a post-college opportunity that he calls very "patriotic" because the volunteers are serving as representatives of their country
"I hope that as American students we can at least understand there are people in different or worse situations than us, and we should always take advantage of the situations we have here," Macias said.
Poland RPCV Lee Wilson wants to expose his students to a post-college opportunity that he calls very "patriotic" because the volunteers are serving as representatives of their country
Annual Peace Corps event gives class global glimpse
Guest speakers share stories of travel, hard work
Jennifer Larson
The Desert Sun
March 4, 2006
And that's exactly why teacher Lee Wilson, himself a former Peace Corps volunteer in Poland, organizes the event each year. He said he also wants to expose his students to a post-college opportunity that he calls very "patriotic" because the volunteers are serving as representatives of their country.
Because most of his students have not ventured far beyond the Coachella Valley, teacher Isaac Bell thinks it's worthwhile to expose them to people and experiences that are completely unfamiliar to them. Maybe hearing Lambert speak will plant the seeds of an idea in some of their heads.
"You never quite know what is going to impact on an individual student," Bell said. "You never know."
Lambert was conscious of trying to positively represent her own country to the people of Ukraine.
She told Bell's students that she's glad that the Peace Corps requires volunteers to live like the local population in the countries in which they serve - not like a stereotypical American or other expatriate.
Her roughly $200-per-month living stipend paid for a modest apartment - with only cold running water, of course - which was comparable to where local people lived. After all, those were the people she went there to help - and the people she developed affection for.
"It just really levels the playing field," she said. "And you understand what people are doing every day."
Sophomore Monica Zepeda, has never gone further away from home than Mexico, but she was interested in the volunteers' stories of going beyond their own comfort zones and helping people.
Zepeda hopes to break out of her own comfort zone one day, too - although at 15, she's not sure yet where that will take her.
"It's great, going somewhere to make a difference," she said.
Sophomores Maria Macias and Michael Green and some of their classmates also got a taste of the Peace Corps in action when they took a mid-morning phone call from a volunteer who's still on duty.
Lena Hull, a 23-year-old recent college graduate who is working as a teacher at a youth club in Morocco, arranged to call Wilson's classroom and let some of her students chat about their taste in music, television shows and places they'd like to visit. Despite the distance and language barriers, the kids discovered a few things in common.
"They love hip hop and rap," Hull told the Cathedral City High students, to their delight.
When another student eagerly asked what Hull's students want to be when they grow up, she polled them and reported back. Their answers didn't sound so different from answers you might get from a random sampling of Cathedral City High students: a teacher, an engineer, a policeman, an artist.
After the call, Macias confirmed Bell's earlier prediction that many people her age don't think much about the world beyond their own narrow circle of life. Some may say they have dreams, "but they never actually take steps to fulfill their dreams," she mused.
Maybe that will change, if students take steps forward, out of some sort of inspiration for the future. Bell, who hopes his students will consider college and other opportunities to broaden their horizons, hopes so. Wilson and the volunteers who spoke to the students on Friday, certainly all hope so.
Macias hopes so, too.
"I hope that as American students we can at least understand there are people in different or worse situations than us, and we should always take advantage of the situations we have here," Macias said.
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Story Source: Desert Sun
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Poland; the Third Goal
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