Bluewater District School Board is exploring the idea of partnering with Korean school boards to provide opportunities for Korean teachers and students to study English in Grey Bruce.
“The Municipality of West Grey has been exploring business opportunities in Korea,” says Board Chair Jennifer Yenssen, “and it was Mayor Kevin Eccles who suggested a meeting between Korean representatives and Bluewater.”
A partnership could initially involve Bluewater and West Grey and could see Korean teachers and students come to the area for four to six weeks during July and August to participate in an educational home stay program. West Grey will provide the billeting and Bluewater will provide the programming.
“This is an exciting opportunity for our area,” says Mary Anne Alton, Director of Education. “The established West Grey connections with Korea give Bluewater a chance to explore international educational opportunities.”
The Director of the Board met last fall with West Grey Mayor Kevin Eccles and two Korean representatives, who later made contact with school boards in Korea. Arrangements are being made, subject to final Board approval, for the Chair and Director to attend meetings with their counterparts in three Korean School Boards. Those meetings are essential to the process but impact on the board’s budget will be minimal as all expenses in Korea will be covered by the Korean contacts.
While there could be long-term positive financial implications for the board if fee-paying students were to come to Bluewater, Yenssen says, “Our primary goal at the initial stages of this partnership is to establish opportunities for cultural exchange.”
During the summer of 2009 students from Korea participated in a home stay program in the Durham area and an agreement may include provisions for future summer camps in Bruce-Grey.
“We’re hoping that in the long-term there may be provision in any agreements we reach to allow Bluewater teachers to visit partner boards in Korea for a one year period to teach English as a second language programs,” Alton adds.
