\u00a0 \u00a0 Bette Stobo, who recently earned her bachelor\u0092s degree in elementary education from Marymount University, knows everything won\u0092t always be perfect in the classroom \u0096and that it doesn\u0092t need to be. That\u0092s a lesson she learned while student teaching in a remote Ugandan village this past semester.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u0093I learned to cope with things like having no internet or smart board,\u0094 the Arlington resident said. \u0093Power outages were a regular occurrence. As a teacher you\u0092re not always going to have the tools you think you need, but you learn they\u0092re not always necessary.\u0094<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Stobo, who taught math to 57 students in what equates to fourth grade in the U.S., called the four weeks she spent at the Arlington Academy of Hope in Uganda\u0092s Bududa District \u0093the best thing I\u0092ve ever done.\u0094 She\u0092s confident the experience will serve her well as a teacher.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Arlington Academy of Hope was founded in 2004 by John and Joyce Wanda, natives of Uganda who immigrated to the U.S. to start a new life. The school grew from their determination to provide educational opportunity to the children of their home villages.\u00a0 An ardent advocate of educational opportunity, Marymount President Matthew D. Shank sits on the organization\u0092s advisory council.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Working with the Academy is an experience Marymount faculty and students have had since 2011, when Dr. Alice Young, a recently retired Marymount professor of education, traveled there to conduct teacher training. Now MU students and faculty go to Uganda annually to train local teachers, deliver supplies and conduct research, exemplifying a local partnership with a global impact.<\/span><\/p>\n