Dr. Ronald R. Pope President Serendipity-Russia 1403 Kingsridge Drive Normal, IL 61761-2860 Email     EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGES Since the inception of the American Home in 1992 we have encouraged contacts between American and Russian students and teachers.  Our goal is to go beyond what we are accomplishing through our English and Culture Program by facilitating as many educational exchanges as possible.  In 2004 we teamed up with the University of Illinois Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center for a Fulbright grant that made it possible to take 14 social studies teachers from around the U.S. to Russia for a full month.  We made the in-country arrangements and Dr. Pope was the trip director.  The program was a major success. Fulbright-Hays Group Program Abroad Awards Two major universities and Serendipity-Russia have been awarded grants totaling $235,000 to date. Serendipity provided the in-country programs for three Fulbright grants.  The most recent grant was obtained through the University of Chicago Center for East European and Russian/Eurasian Studies. The first two grants were through the University of Illinois Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center.  Each of these trips have been characterized as a "truly excellent educational experience." See below for links to information on these trips. 2008 Trip Blogs Meredith Clason, Associate Director, University of Chicago CEERES: Meredith Clason’s Blog NOTE: To make Meredith’s interesting observations more readily available—and easier to follow—we’ve put her entries in chronological order, added photos, and converted it all to a PDF file. Jeff Schagrin http://jeffrussia.blogspot.com/ Breanne Goldman www.breanne-russia.blogspot.com These programs provided the participating elementary and secondary teachers with a unique opportunity to learn firsthand about Russia's past and present. 2008 Fulbright Group in Russia 2007 Fulbright Group in Murom, Russia 2007 Project Photo Diary Read this article by 2007 trip participant E. B. Holschuh, a Russian teacher from Texas: Vacationing with Lenin and the “Colonel” 2004 Fulbright Group in the Village of Larinova, Russia 2004 Project Photo Diary Read two interesting articles about the 2004 Fulbright group in Russia: I'm Not Afraid of Russia, I Can Live Here if Necessary! Teacher Thankful for Fulbright-Hays Experience in Russia   Serendipity-Russia continues to: arrange contacts between educators and students assist Russian students who want to study in the U.S. assist American teachers who want to visit Russia provide information to Russian educators including providing publications to the Vladimir Juridical Institute and to faculty and students at other institutions "The large number of criminal justice articles you brought to us from Professor Frank Morn have been valuable beyond description."  Anna Podstrakhova, Head, VJI foreign language program. provide information for pen pals "Being pen pals with fifth-grade students in Vladimir has been a fascinating learning experience for the fifth-grade students at Grundy School in Morton.  Students have expanded their knowledge base, learned research and writring skills, studied more geography, and increased their understanding of themselves and others." Grundy Elementary School, Morton, Illinois Jane Richmond, Teacher Vivian Hubbard, far right, interacted with a teacher education class at the Pedagogical College in Vladimir, April 2000. "Visiting the public and private schools in Vladimir was an exceptional learning experience for me professionally and personally.   I observed and interacted with students and teachers from the lower elementary level through college students majoring in speech therapy at Vladimir Pedagogical University.  It was fascinating to find the common threads between education in Russia and in the United States.  The differences were also apparent and informative.   Their teachers are very hard working with limited resources and are dedicated to their students who are eager to learn." Vivian Hubbard, Speech Therapist Metcalf Laboratory School, Illinois State University   ©Copyright 2009 Serendipity-Russia. All rights reserved.  Site maintained by Serendipity-Russia.  Contact Susan Scoville Pope