OCR Text |
Show UNIVERSITY JOURNAL CAMPUS NEWS IPA~E 2 r ~ - - - - - - - - - - - .- - - , I I I I I I I I I I : : $5 OFFANY SKATEBOARD : : : WffH PURCHASE OF $25 OR MORE : 1 L _!. ~':2_N,!.E'!!~so.! 1:!_R:::!_5~ E;!'!!S~~'?... .J M .\ N \ \' .\ S .v\ f A N T T O H !\ V f \V I N C, S VOUll W.JINTTO T.hV OU.ft .bU.t:.t:.nlO WING~ ' .,...,.~ " (UNLESS, OF COURSE, YOU'RE A CHICKEN) Winger's, home of World Famous Buffalo Wings Ribs • Chicken • Siuling Fajitas • Sensational Salads Gourmet Sandwiches and Burgers Kids Menu & More. NOW SERVING BREAKFAST! An American Diner 1555 West Regency Road • Cedar City • 867-1700 • ·,,, . '. \ -.. \ 1 f \ ~,,, • • 1 1 • \ • 1 •• ·"' t , TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 1999 Mexican experience 'great' and growing What began as a one-teacher. one-student trip to Colonia Juarez in northern Mexico, has grown into a combination super university practicum and humanitarian service project. Four years ago Utah Valley State College invited Ann Barnes, assistant professor of special education at Southern Utah University, to accompany a group of students and faculty members on a cultural awareness field trip to elementary schools in northern Mexico. Schools in Colonia Juarez, in the state of Chihuahua, had requested that someone trained in special education come with the UVSC group. UVSC does not have a special education program. SUU does, so Barnes received the offer. She accepted the invitation from her colleague at UVSC and was accompanied by one SUU special education major on the trip to Mexico. They provided educational ·•· evaluations for three students who were struggling and assisted . local faculty members develop strategies for student success. "Mexico has no special education program," Barnes explained. "That is far different from the situation in the United States where all students are assessed, diagnosed, and have programs available for them." The SUU representatives were invited by the Mexican school to return the following year. On the second trip, Barnes was accompanied by Don Barnes, SUU professor of special education, and nine students. Ann Barnes Again they assessed, diagnosed, and made recommendations for students; only this time, they did it in two schools and with more students. During their stay, the SUU group was approached by a small private school in Nuevos Casas Grande, established by a group of parents to provide educational experiences for their children. None of the parents had training with special education, so the SUU group established what has become an ongoing relationship with the school, assisting with curriculum, materials, and individual evaluations. An especially close relationship Don Bames is developing between SUU personnel and the faculty. Regular contact between the Mexican school and SUU takes place throughout the year to assist students dealing with le~ing problems. "This school is performing an unbelievable feat. With almost no resources, they have established a program for these special education students," Barnes said. "They became aware of the services available to disadvantaged students in the United States, and they have set out to replicate those services." During a trip last November, the SUU students, accompanied by three professors, also began working at a public elementary school with many needs. "These children have nothing in the way of educational supplies.ff Ann Barnes explains. "Literally, the government supplies one school with one box of chalk for the year; that's the sum total of their supplies. The paper and books and pencils we bring are a godsend. We took so many pencils this year that it took our group nearly one full night just to sharpen them. The response to our bringing books in the Spanish language was very touching." The supplies all come from those making the trip. "The students hit up anyone they know to contribute," Barnes said. "An 'alumni group' has now been organized to help in the future. All those who have been on one of the trips are always willing to do whatever they can. Providing supplies has become a Christmas project for the family of one student who went on a prior trip." Barnes describes the task of making a dent in the need for supplies as "overwhelming." Still, she says that "down there. so little goes so far. It's difficult to fathom that kind of poverty." With the exception of offering credit for the practicum class and making vans available for transportation, the university does not underwrite the program in any way. Students each pay $110 to make the trip. That money pays for all transportation (including van rental), two nights of in-transit lodging, and the required Mexican auto insurance. Housing in Mexico is provided free with families and at a hacienda owned by a family from Colonia Juarez. "The benefits to the college students of this experience are invaluable," Barnes sald.·"It allows them to see the background and previous circumstances of school children who are now in a rapidly growing U.S. Hispanic populatipn."It also allows our students and . future teachers to feel what it's like to be in a minority culture and to not speak the predominant language. And it provides intensive special education training opportunities that might not otherwise be possible. Students get more opportunity in one week to perform initial evaluations.than they would get in years in the United States." Barnes is also high on the practical teamwork experiences students receive, on the close interpersonal relationships they develop, and on the enthusiasm· they bring home to their other education classes . A side benefit to SUU comes _ · from an association with Myrna Salgado, a teacher in Mexico who makes many of the arrangements for the annual visits. Salgado lives with the Barnes family and attends classes 1 • each summer at SUU to complete her master's degree. · "It's enriching and enlightening for any student who attends classes with Myrna," Barnes said. "She provides some of the same understanding of school conditions in Mexico for master's candidates,that our students making the trip receive so intimately." In the future, Don and Ann Barnes would like to start working with the Pedagogical Institute (teachers pollege) in Casas Grande to begin preservice training to help new Mexican teachers to be more comfortable in their work with minor disabilities children. 'We hope that what has been started will continue to grow·and be helpful to students with disabilities in that area," Ann Barnes says. ,.-~----=-------, |