Torch, Fall 1999

F rom the teeming cities ofChina to the villages of Taiwan, from the Outback ofAustralia to the bustling streets ofBangkok, from the oil-rich cities of Venezuela to beautiful Santiago in the Dominican Republic, from the ancient cities ofEurope to the skyscrapers ofHong Kong, the sun never sets on the Cedarville College alumni who serve God as teachers in missionary and international schools. It Takes A Spark The idea for Cedarville's intercultural student teaching program was sparked by a conversation between Dave Pollock, director of international students at Houghton College, and Merlin Ager, then professor of education at Cedarville College, while both men were in Quito, Ecuador. Pollock shared his vision of sending students overseas for student teaching and emphasized that he felt it would be beneficial both for the student and for the receiving school. In 1972, 4 Torch Ager, who is now dean of the School of Social Sciences and Professional Studies at Cedarville, took two students to Faith Academy in the Philippines and has been working with sending students abroad ever since. Since 1972 approximately 120 Cedarville students have traveled to other countries for student teaching, 18 during the 1998-99 school year. Because teaching interculturally is not limited to a foreign country, students have also gone to a Navajo reservation in Arizona and Christian schools in inner-city