Distance Doesn't Stop Us!
When Mason Public Schools (MPS) staff received an email with the subject, "Book Club Tomorrow with Pretoria, South African Teachers: What? Where?" it may have caused some concern about how the district would support this long-distance effort, given our tight budget.
Take a deep breath! Relax! It's one of the positives of technology!
Almost three years ago, Michelle Vanzyl, the principal at Curamus School for Autism in Pretoria, South Africa, was at Michigan State University on a competitive program sponsored by the University of South Africa.
During this visit, she indicated to Dr. Amy Jamison, co-director of the African Alliance, that she would like to visit a Michigan school. The rest is history!
After that, a partnership was discussed with the net result being a book club focusing on autism.
Lauren Fuselier, Mason's teacher consultant focused on serving students with Autism, orchestrates the discussions across 8,400 air miles on specified dates for MPS staff at 7:30 AM, allowing the Pretoria teachers to dial in at the end of their school day.
The book club is currently reading and discussing “Loud Hands: Autistic People Speaking.” Through the club’s conversations, we have determined the main challenges facing both communities are community and family understanding of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and communication barriers for students who are multilingual and on the autism spectrum.
Our intended outcomes are enhanced teaching skills, resource development, improved student support and sustained collaboration, with an eye on the future exchange program.
While distance doesn't stop the book club, the exchange program remains a dream we are convinced can be a future reality!
