GAINESVILLE - Representatives from the Hall County School District, Brenau University, Piedmont College, the University of Georgia, and the University of North Georgia welcome two visitors from Mexico this week as part of an initiative to establish a collaborative effort with between Georgia universities, Hall County Schools and the Academia Internacional (Academy International) and the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional (National Pedagogica University) in Guanajuato, Mexico.
Lore Carrera-Carrillo is the General Director of the Academia Internacional of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, a private dual immersion school for students from Pre-K through twelfth grade. Thirty percent of this school’s student population comes from outside Mexico (primarily the United States and Canada). She is the author of Seven Steps for Success in Dual Language Immersion and hopes to establish a collaboration between Georgia and Mexico complete with opportunities for teacher exchange and student exchange to improve cultural understanding.
Raúl Martínez-Cortés is the director of the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional Unidad III Subsede Dolores Hidalgo in Guanajuato, Mexico. Dr. Martínez works with indigenous communities in Chiapas, Guerrero, and Tamaulipas, Mexico to preserve their languages and culture. He designed an educator endorsement program for teacher competencies that is used in teacher preparation programs in Guanajuato, Mexico. The Universidad Pedagógica Nacional is interested in establishing connections with Georgia universities and Hall County Schools. He feels that this collaborative effort will support student and teacher exchange experiences and action research between his university in Mexico and other universities in Georgia. He is interested in having teachers from the United States go to experience culture and language of Mexico to support improved instructional practices in both places.
Hall County and University officials say they look forward to the chance to strengthen relations and build programs that will improve teaching and learning for a global community.
