Torch, Fall 1999

I l me to teach on the mission field someday. Being at Faith Academy reinforced that desire." Kim Rideout '99 and Emily Davis '99, who student taught in Nigeria and the Dominican Republic, respectively, have begun their teaching careers overseas. Rideout has signed a two-year contract with International Schools of China and Davis is teaching fifth grade at Santiago Christian School in the Dominican Republic, where she student taught in the fall of 1998 . Forstrum, Dunham, Clark, Musser, Mansfield, and Baisley are all open to the possibility of returning overseas to teach someday. David Greenhalgh, president of CCTECC and associate professor at Eastern College, recently completed a study on the impact that student teaching abroad had on student teachers. He found that 29 percent of the former student teachers surveyed have taught in overseas schools. Of those that have not taught overseas, 43 percent work in public schools and many of them are in cross-cultural settings. Even if they did not return overseas, the graduates surveyed did agree that student teaching overseas left a lifelong imprint. Greenhalgh found the following to be the most prominent effects: " (1) They developed sensitivity and compassion to other cultures, to minorities, and to immigrants . (2) They were prepared to work with a cross-cultural ministry in their church. (3) They were enabled to do translating and tutoring for ethnic minorities in their communities. (4) Their worldview 8 Torch changed as did the way they designed curriculum. (5) They became more intentional about and comfortable in cross-cultural settings." The challenges fo r student teaching cross-culturally are real, but so are the rewards. Anyone, whether a retiree, student, or person in the midst of a career change, can use cross-cultural teaching as a means to grow in our Lord while serving others in a Christlike fashion . For more information, contact Cedarville College at 1-800-CEDARVILLE. Li]