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REAL PEOPLE: LOCAL ENGLISH TEACHER ORGANIZES ARMENIAN SPELLING BEES
Molly McGowan
Burlington Times News
http://www.thetimesnews.com/articles/english-51562-second-spelling.html
Jan 16 2012
Matt Oakley is a teacher who recently organized an English spelling
bee for the second year in a row. Considering English is the second
language to all his students, that's a pretty big deal.
Matt, from Burlington, is 19 months into his 27-month commitment to
the Peace Corps Armenia, where he works at the National Institute of
Education in the city of Kapan. In an email interview, Matt said his
job is a little different than the rest of the teacher volunteers,
who are usually assigned a specific village instead of a position
with several schools.
The Peace Corps is currently working in 67 other countries in addition
to Armenia, and has been in 139 countries in the organization's
50-year history, said Matt. More than 780 Peace Corps volunteers have
served in Armenia alone, since the program began in the country in
1992, according to a news release. Matt is one of 98 volunteers who
are currently working in Armenia, in either community and business
development, or English education.
Thanks to his extensive teaching background in North Carolina, Matt
has a position that allows him to work in about 14 schools in Kapan
and its surrounding villages, and consult the teachers there. Since
he's the only volunteer in that position, Matt organized - for the
second time - a spelling bee for local students.
This year, the competition was held in one of Kapan's larger schools,
No. 7, where Armenian college students and other Peace Corps volunteers
judged.
"It has been one of my goals of my second year to extend outreach and
my teaching to more of the local villages, and this was reflected in
the large turnout," he said.
Matt said the contest in Kapan was one of four regional competitions
in the main cities of Syunik, the southern region of Armenia. In
each regional contest, students in grades 6 through 12 competed and
the top two finalists from each grade will advance to the regional
championships in Spring 2012.
Matt said the trip to the city of Goris - where the regional
championships will be held - was a major motivator for the children
he taught, who had studied extensively for the contest. Their
determination was epitomized by two 9th-grade girls, who Matt said
spelled all the 9th and 10th grade vocabulary words before the first
place winner was determined when she spelled an 11th grade word.
"It took nearly an hour to determine a champion from these two
hard-working girls," he said.
The spelling bee isn't the only English-related contest created and
sponsored by Peace Corps Armenia volunteers, said Matt. There's the
National Poetry Recitation Festival and the International Writing
Olympics, which he said expanded to four continents last year and
has participants in 12 countries.
But the spelling bee is what Matt has had his hand in during the last
two winters. He said since he's the only English teacher working there,
it's logistically easiest for him to coordinate with participating
schools, and figure out transportation and prizes for the competitors.
And it's no wonder Matt scored a position at the NIE - he was an
accomplished scholar and teacher while still in North Carolina. His
father, Bernie, said his son was destined to be a teacher. "He knew
going into college," Bernie said, explaining Matt earned a teaching
fellow scholarship for the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Matt studied child development and religious studies at UNC after
graduating from Williams High School in 1995. Before joining the
Peace Corps, Matt was a special education teacher in the Durham,
Wake, and Alamance County school systems for 11 years, which he said
put him in a position to help students - and teachers - in Armenia.
"I know he's working with teachers along with (students)," Bernie
said of his son. He said the schools in Armenia aren't as familiar
with special education as in the United States, and Matt helps
Armenian teachers learn and understand how best to teach children
with special needs.
Bernie said Matt's older brother, Tripp, is also teaching abroad, in
China. With both of his sons' different schedules, Bernie said this
past December was the first time in seven years the family had been
together in Burlington for Christmas. Nevertheless, he and his wife
are very proud of their boys, and keep in touch with them on Skype.
"We generally try to get up with each other on the weekends,"
said Bernie.
Though both his sons live continents away, Bernie said he can't always
feel the distance.When other parents exclaim when he drops the words,
"China" or "Armenia," Bernie said he sees his children as much as
some parents whose children live a few states away. "I don't really
feel like they're so far away," Bernie said.
That's partially because his sons stay so well-connected, watching the
Republican presidential debates and sports on the Internet. "They keep
me up with ACC sports and I'm right here," Bernie said, laughing. He
said when people ask him how he deals with the worry of something
dangerous happening to his children overseas, Bernie says bad things
can happen over here, too.
"It's terrible to think about. And that's why you don't think about
it," he said. Bernie said he's at ease about Matt being in Armenia
because he has faith in the organization for which Matt works. "I
trust the Peace Corps," he said. "I expect them to take care of him."
And though Matt hasn't expressed specific career plans after he's
completed his 27 months in the Peace Corps, his father said he has
lots of options. With about a decade of experience with the North
Carolina teaching system, Matt could retire comfortably after another
19 years working in his home state.
Or, Bernie said, Matt could teach on military bases somewhere in the
world. "He and his brother both are looking at a global search for
jobs," said Bernie. He said Matt not only has to figure out where
he wants to work, but also where he wants to live. But wherever that
may be, Bernie said the family supports him, and, "I know it will be
teaching somewhere or another."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Molly McGowan
Burlington Times News
http://www.thetimesnews.com/articles/english-51562-second-spelling.html
Jan 16 2012
Matt Oakley is a teacher who recently organized an English spelling
bee for the second year in a row. Considering English is the second
language to all his students, that's a pretty big deal.
Matt, from Burlington, is 19 months into his 27-month commitment to
the Peace Corps Armenia, where he works at the National Institute of
Education in the city of Kapan. In an email interview, Matt said his
job is a little different than the rest of the teacher volunteers,
who are usually assigned a specific village instead of a position
with several schools.
The Peace Corps is currently working in 67 other countries in addition
to Armenia, and has been in 139 countries in the organization's
50-year history, said Matt. More than 780 Peace Corps volunteers have
served in Armenia alone, since the program began in the country in
1992, according to a news release. Matt is one of 98 volunteers who
are currently working in Armenia, in either community and business
development, or English education.
Thanks to his extensive teaching background in North Carolina, Matt
has a position that allows him to work in about 14 schools in Kapan
and its surrounding villages, and consult the teachers there. Since
he's the only volunteer in that position, Matt organized - for the
second time - a spelling bee for local students.
This year, the competition was held in one of Kapan's larger schools,
No. 7, where Armenian college students and other Peace Corps volunteers
judged.
"It has been one of my goals of my second year to extend outreach and
my teaching to more of the local villages, and this was reflected in
the large turnout," he said.
Matt said the contest in Kapan was one of four regional competitions
in the main cities of Syunik, the southern region of Armenia. In
each regional contest, students in grades 6 through 12 competed and
the top two finalists from each grade will advance to the regional
championships in Spring 2012.
Matt said the trip to the city of Goris - where the regional
championships will be held - was a major motivator for the children
he taught, who had studied extensively for the contest. Their
determination was epitomized by two 9th-grade girls, who Matt said
spelled all the 9th and 10th grade vocabulary words before the first
place winner was determined when she spelled an 11th grade word.
"It took nearly an hour to determine a champion from these two
hard-working girls," he said.
The spelling bee isn't the only English-related contest created and
sponsored by Peace Corps Armenia volunteers, said Matt. There's the
National Poetry Recitation Festival and the International Writing
Olympics, which he said expanded to four continents last year and
has participants in 12 countries.
But the spelling bee is what Matt has had his hand in during the last
two winters. He said since he's the only English teacher working there,
it's logistically easiest for him to coordinate with participating
schools, and figure out transportation and prizes for the competitors.
And it's no wonder Matt scored a position at the NIE - he was an
accomplished scholar and teacher while still in North Carolina. His
father, Bernie, said his son was destined to be a teacher. "He knew
going into college," Bernie said, explaining Matt earned a teaching
fellow scholarship for the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Matt studied child development and religious studies at UNC after
graduating from Williams High School in 1995. Before joining the
Peace Corps, Matt was a special education teacher in the Durham,
Wake, and Alamance County school systems for 11 years, which he said
put him in a position to help students - and teachers - in Armenia.
"I know he's working with teachers along with (students)," Bernie
said of his son. He said the schools in Armenia aren't as familiar
with special education as in the United States, and Matt helps
Armenian teachers learn and understand how best to teach children
with special needs.
Bernie said Matt's older brother, Tripp, is also teaching abroad, in
China. With both of his sons' different schedules, Bernie said this
past December was the first time in seven years the family had been
together in Burlington for Christmas. Nevertheless, he and his wife
are very proud of their boys, and keep in touch with them on Skype.
"We generally try to get up with each other on the weekends,"
said Bernie.
Though both his sons live continents away, Bernie said he can't always
feel the distance.When other parents exclaim when he drops the words,
"China" or "Armenia," Bernie said he sees his children as much as
some parents whose children live a few states away. "I don't really
feel like they're so far away," Bernie said.
That's partially because his sons stay so well-connected, watching the
Republican presidential debates and sports on the Internet. "They keep
me up with ACC sports and I'm right here," Bernie said, laughing. He
said when people ask him how he deals with the worry of something
dangerous happening to his children overseas, Bernie says bad things
can happen over here, too.
"It's terrible to think about. And that's why you don't think about
it," he said. Bernie said he's at ease about Matt being in Armenia
because he has faith in the organization for which Matt works. "I
trust the Peace Corps," he said. "I expect them to take care of him."
And though Matt hasn't expressed specific career plans after he's
completed his 27 months in the Peace Corps, his father said he has
lots of options. With about a decade of experience with the North
Carolina teaching system, Matt could retire comfortably after another
19 years working in his home state.
Or, Bernie said, Matt could teach on military bases somewhere in the
world. "He and his brother both are looking at a global search for
jobs," said Bernie. He said Matt not only has to figure out where
he wants to work, but also where he wants to live. But wherever that
may be, Bernie said the family supports him, and, "I know it will be
teaching somewhere or another."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress