Daily Reporter staff reports
FORTVILLE — The Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation continued its international exchange program when a group of Mt. Vernon educators recently visited Anshan, China, to share educational practices with Chinese schools. MVCSC hopes to continue the partnership with Anshan schools and set up further student and teacher exchanges to advance Mt. Vernon’s International Exchange program.
In total, eight Mt. Vernon educators went on the trip: Mt. Vernon High School (MVHS) Principal Greg Roach; Fortville Elementary teacher Kelsey Sager; Director of Elementary Education and Co-Interim Superintendent Heather Noesges; Director of Secondary Education Scott Shipley; MVHS English teacher Jordan Gerbsch; Mt. Vernon Middle School science teacher Eric Harnish; MVHS Mandarin Chinese teacher Yi-Fan Lin; McCordsville Elementary kindergarten teacher Trina Conover; and MVCSC School Board member Tony May. This group was chosen based on an interest survey sent to all district teachers.
Mrs. Noesges shared her belief in the importance of the program: “We want our students to experience different cultures from around the world in order to help prepare them for life outside of Mt. Vernon.”
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The teachers and administrators that traveled abroad had only positive things to say about the trip.
“The experience was more than I could have imagined,” said Ms. Conover. “One of the most memorable experiences was visiting the Gangdu Elementary School. We visited classrooms and spent time with the students during P.E. while they were practicing ping-pong.”
“I’m so thankful that Mt. Vernon gives their teachers an opportunity to experience education in different cultures,” she added.
