My Trip To Maya by Jayme Lynch

Photo: Jayme Lynch (center) with children

Jayme Lynch shares her impression about her staying in Maya village

Photo: Jayme Lynch is teaching
Since I have been in Maya Village, Yakutia, Russia, I have had the pleasure of meeting some of the world’s kindest people. They have been extremely inviting, helpful, and interesting. I couldn’t have picked a better place for my first overseas teaching experience. I have been invited here to help with the students continue to learn the English language and along the way I have learned a great deal from the students as well. I have learned that no matter the conditions of your learning environment, the amount of money you have, or the materials you have or do not have do not determine one’s passion for learning. The children here have a love for knowledge and truly thrive on it.

Photo: Jayme Lynch in class
Their English is growing each day and will continue to grow the more they practice and improve it. The teachers have many roles in their job; they are educators, caretakers, researchers, planners, actors, role models, and so much more to their students. They have one of the most difficult but rewarding jobs there is and I am extremely honored to be working with them. My stay here is almost complete and I am sad to leave all of the wonderful food, culture, and friends I have made during my stay in the Maya Village. I wish them the best with their English and their educational futures.

Yakut TESOL English Summer Camp Hosted by Maya Humanitarian School

On July 15-25, 2010 Maya Humanitarian School is hosting Yakut TESOL English Summer Camp with a guest teacher Jayme Lynch from Plano Elementary School, Texas, USA. The camp is a part of Yakut TESOL and Tex TESOL V partnership started in 2008 when Larissa Olesova (Yakut TESOL President) and Donald Weasenforth (Tex TESOL V Past-President) signed the agreement.
At the camp children take different classes like Conversational English by Jayme Lynch, English Grammar by Sargylana Dmitrieva, and English through Songs by Elena Zakharova. After classes kids are involved in different activities including playing games, watching films, participating in team and individual competitions. Besides, campers have had a great opportunity to visit permafrost area, waterfall, and rocks. Both teachers and kids are excited to make new friends and learn new things.

Elena Zakharova, Yakut TESOL Resource Center Director

Russian students enrolled in Hockaday program catch glimpse of life in the U.S.

12:00 AM CDT on Monday, July 12, 2010
By ANANDA BOARDMAN / The Dallas Morning News
aboardman@dallasnews.com
Eight students from Yakutsk, Russia, are studying at the Hockaday School as the first foreign group to attend a summer session at the private girls' school.
Photos by JOSH BIRNBAUM/DMN
Russian exchange students (from left) Alina Aslanova, 12, Aina Luginova, 12, and Anya Barabanova, 13, waited out a rain delay at a RoughRiders game at Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco on July 3. Hockaday School worked out a summer program so the students could experience American culture. Although the school has long served students from other countries, a Hockaday educator's visit to Russia evolved into an idea to bring a group of Russian girls to Dallas. They are now working on their English skills, enjoying yoga and ceramics classes and learning about life in the United States. Yakutsk is located near the Arctic Circle and is one of the coldest inhabitable places in the world. "It was exhausting, but it's worth coming here," said 16-year-old Dasha Ludina of the six days it took to travel to Dallas. The students arrived to a hot Texas summer on June 15 and will return home Friday. "It's a very good chance for our students to learn English, to learn about the culture and traditions of the United States of America and make friends," said Marina Protopopova, who teaches English in Yakutsk and accompanied the children on the trip. Nicole Carlson, director of summer session residents, said the school has integrated the Yakutsk students into their summer program, along with 21 other international students studying at Hockaday this summer. The idea came about after Elizabeth Smith, director of English for speakers of other languages at Hockaday, spent two weeks in Yakutsk last summer to teach English. Smith stayed in touch with her Russian students and over the course of a year planned a trip to bring the Russian students to the U.S. through Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages Inc. Their parents paid for the cost of the trip. "I was extremely excited ... my mother told me I was going to Hockaday last winter and I didn't believe it," Dasha said. The students take two English for speakers of other languages classes in the morning, and an elective class such as yoga, ceramics or dance during the afternoon. The first few weeks of the trip focused on the differences between the U.S. and Russian cultures; the second half is called "Discovering Dallas." "I was very happy because to go to U.S.A. was my wish, my dream," said 14-year-old Masha Byuraeva. "Here, people are different, more happy, more easy." From The Dallas Morning News

Global learning - Russian exchange students experience life at Hockaday School

From Russia with … education

Yakutsk students learn English, experience Texas
By LINDSEY BEVER
lbever@neighborsgo.com
“The students were so bright, so hungry, so enthusiastic,” she said. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me.” This summer, a handful of Yakutsk students, chaperoned by Marina Protopopova, senior teacher of English in Russia of Yakutsk State University, are spending their first summer in America, developing their language skills, said Tresa Wilson, ESOL summer school director at Hockaday. “It’s a great opportunity to improve their English skills, to get knowledge about the culture,” Protopopova said. “It’s a first experience for me to take students from Yakutsk to another foreign country, and for most girls, a first experience to go to a foreign country.” However, learning isn’t easy. “It’s really hard to talk with other people,” said Masha Byuraeva, 14. “I can’t understand things, but really interesting to learn things.”Dasha said the language skills are something they can take home. “I think when we all come back to Yakutsk, we will be much more patient and tolerant of people of other origins because now we communicate with Chinese, Mexicans,” she said. “Sometimes we do not understand their speech because they have a very strong accent, but we, too.” Wilson said the program is about a global exchange of ideas that will help the students improve their understanding of the rest of the world. That’s exactly what Luda Grigoryeva, 13, wants to take home after the program ends July 17. “It’s hard here. It is America,” Luda said. “Times in Russia, I wish about America because I think it’s really cool country. When I came here I feel, ‘Oh, America!’ It’s country where you can improve yourself.” Submitted photos by JEANETTE KHAN
Danielle Dupuis, a summer English for Speakers of Other Languages teacher at The Hockaday School, instructs international students from China and Yakutsk. The students will continue their studies at Hockaday until summer school ends July 17.

ABOUT YAKUTSK
Yakutsk, founded in 1632, is widely regarded as the “coldest city on Earth.” This time of the year, it is in the mid-’70s with a forecast of 91 F on Monday. Yakutsk students visiting Hockaday were asked to list what makes their city so special. Temperatures range from -50 C (-58 F) in January to 30 C (86F) in July. Yakutsk is the capital of the Sakha Republic. The city is characterized by mountains, river streams and icy temperatures. The city is located on the Lena River in northeastern Russia, about 450 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle. The entire republic has permafrost underneath that has never melted. The population is more than 210,000. Languages spoken are Russian and Sakha (Yukutskian) SOURCE: Yakutsk students

From Park Cities