Three Genesee Community College faculty members recently returned from an English language cultural program in Sao Paulo, Brazil. And the college is getting ready for several more global education and study-abroad opportunities this academic year.
Connie Boyd, Charley Boyd and Susan Drexel spent three weeks teaching English language and cultural immersion to students at FATEC Americana in Brazil.
"I really felt like I was taken in and was a part of a family when I was there," Sue Drexel said. "The people were so protective and we knew we could trust them to show us around their beautiful country."
The three instructors taught students aged 17 all the way to adults in their 50s. They focused on teaching American culture to the students through video clips, show-and-tell style activities and group projects.
Each night they taught a different topic, including holidays, food, families, music and sports. During the sports night, the Batavia Muckdogs were shown to the Brazilian students through YouTube clips to teach them about American baseball.
The Boyds and Drexel were amazed at the dedication of the students, who many times worked all day then attended the cultural immersion classes from 7 until 11 p.m.
"The students were incredibly dedicated to the program," Connie Boyd said. "They wanted to know about our culture and were very open with us. The Brazilian people are very gracious and have such pride for their country."
Genesee and FATEC Americana hope to expand and develop the program throughout the next academic year.
This fall, director of Curriculum Development, James Goodwin, will visit FATEC and the first group of Business faculty members will travel to Brazil in January to teach business and culture to FATEC students.
