Connecting classrooms across the world

Teachers Without Borders members pose for a photo in front of a map of the world in Cheyenne Arapahoe hall Monday following their meeting. Back row, from left to right: Amanda Ferdrick, Gabrielle Biscaye, Lea Hahlbeck, Sarah Budisavljevic. Front row, from left to right: Megan Cruise, Kerrie Dochen, Jan Miller. (CU Independent/Lee Pruitt)

CU students have a unique learning and volunteer experience right at their fingertips with a student group focused on education called Teachers Without Borders.

The Teachers Without Borders mission statement says they are a student-run group designed to provide students with the opportunity to support the value of education across the world.

“Basically, we’re university students trying to help people,” said Megan Cruise, co-president of Teachers Without Borders at CU and a 20-year-old sophomore anthropology major. “We want to connect high school students here in Boulder with high school students abroad.”

The group, which started at CU in February, has been working to influence schools in the U.S. and more closely, Boulder, Cruise said.

Cruise alluded to several projects and goals for the future but said that currently, TWB’s main project is called “connecting classrooms.” The purpose behind the venture is to connect high school students in the U.S. to students abroad.

Jan Miller, a 19-year-old sophomore film studies major and co-president of Teachers Without Borders at CU, said that the connections students make pay off over time as well as help teachers. The program is cost-efficient because it doesn’t require traveling and can be done from home.

“We’re trying to help promote diversity while sharing experiences,” Miller said. “Ultimately through these connections we hope teachers will get the resources they need.”

Funding trips to Africa and Asia are quite costly—airfare alone can set one back several thousand dollars—which is why Miller said they are looking into alternative, cheaper travel opportunities, as well as applying for grants and hosting fundraisers.

“We do this to provide teachers with any assistance that they need,” Miller said. “We’d love to travel all the time but it’s expensive which is why we’re working on connecting classrooms. We’re all working together on the same thing without going abroad.”

Teachers Without Borders plans on holding monthly fundraisers and just finished putting one on, Cruise said. She explained that donations will most likely go towards a trip to Peru this winter break for a small group of students.

Cruise also said the multi-week trip will act as an assessment expedition for the group to become immersed in the culture, and that the following summer, a larger group will return for several months.

“We just did a fundraiser with Jamba Juice,” Cruise said. “In the long-run we have a pancake break on Nov. 7 at the Applebee’s in Broomfield from 7-9:30 A.M. You can buy tickets through [TWB] or show up and buy a ticket there.”

TWB hopes to have different travel opportunities for the summer of 2010, Cruise said.

Any student can become a member of Teachers Without Borders, as Miller said, although many of the members have extensive travel experience in third world countries.

Cruise has spent much time in Central America, and she said members with similar experiences are utilized as resources in their respective countries.

Melanie Wiener, an 18-year-old freshman French major, says the traveling opportunities with Teacher Without Borders provide a good incentive to join and help.

“It sounds like a great group,” Wiener said. “Experiencing new cultures and seeing how kids your age live in different countries seems worthwhile. Especially, if for the most part, the expenses were covered; then it’s like a study abroad opportunity for cheap.”

To contact Teachers Without Borders send them an e-mail at Cu.teacherswithoutboarders@gmail.com.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Adrian Kun at Adrian.kun@colorado.edu.