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Hunter March: We've been doing AP courses Summer Institute programs here at the
University for many, many years - especially in fine arts.
And we just came up with the idea that - wouldn't it be fun; wouldn't it be
a fantastic way to get the certification
by
doing the Summer Institute
in another country -
and we chose Costa Rica to be our first-place. Fred ***: Well the A.P. program whether it's here
in Austin or in Costa Rica
is four intense days
of training with highly expert
high school teachers who've been working for the College Board and in A.P.
themselves in their classes, as well as, conducting the Summer Institutes.
It includes, for studio art, lots of hands on activity,
as well as, detail analysis and strategies for helping students be
successful in an A.P. portfolio
submission.
Amarante Lucero: Oh, my goodness! The opportunities are so incredible when you're down there.
Besides the professional training, which is the core experience,
Costa Rica offers so many different things for individuals to do. It's so much
enrichment. The
excursions are amazing!
Two are planned.
One is a day when you actually get to go to the top of a live
volcano. You get to go to a coffee plantation, and believe me, coffee in Costa Rica is so important
and you're just going to have some of the best coffee you've ever had. You will then go into
the rain forest where you go what's called on a canopy where you zip line from the
top of one treetop to another looking down into the forest as your zipping along.
It's an amazing country.
FW: So.. if one needs to do
A.P. training,
why not go to a place that's a great vacation spot to visit, as well.
The host families living in a neighborhood these are families that
they're used to having students come and adults and others coming to..
to stay with them.
So they are treated as a member of the family. Each individual will have their own
bedroom. The guests share a bath. AL: ..and then
the home stay includes two meals a day - breakfast and supper.
So you get authentic, home cooked
Costa Rican food, which is delicious!
FW: So, it gives the participants an opportunity, if they so choose,
to get more immersed into the local culture.
AL: The fact that you're in a different culture, a culture that has a different
world view
and you come back with a different perspective
on the world and so that feeds your everyday life once you get back.
HM: Studying in Costa Rica or studying in any foreign country
offers new benefits for teachers.
Once you've been to a place
and once you studied there
you know so much more that you can take to your students,
not only about the customs
and the culture,
but your own photos and your own slides that you share with them. With you in the
picture, your kids know you've been there;
they know that there's something real in what you're sharing
with them.
FW: For me personally,...
visiting Cost Rica.. and being there is this an adventure.