New Bedford Teacher Summers in Puerto Rico to Learn Culture

Even though our Teacher of the Month program is technically on summer break, we love sharing stories about awesome SouthCoast teachers that give their all to their students and their schools.  One Alma del Mar Charter School teacher, has decided to dedicate a major chunk of her summer to bringing enrichment to her school.

Rachel Brainard landed in Puerto Rico yesterday for a month-long dive into the island's culture and language. Her goal is to learn more about the culture and to gain a better understanding of her students' backgrounds, many of whom are English Language Learners. While in PR, Brainard plans to start up a pen pal program with a Puerto Rican elementary school.  This program would provide more opportunity for her students to practice their English.  Rachel also plans to spend time volunteering at one of the schools that was devastated by Hurricane Maria. She just wrapped up her rookie year as the school's ESL (English as a second language) specialist.

The trip is funded by the school's "Amazing Fund", which is a donor support effort that allows teachers at the school to dig deeper into the content that they teach by acquiring first-hand knowledge.

She plans to take over the Alma del Mar Instagram account once she's settled into the country.

Alma del Mar also tells Fun 107 that later this month, Hanna MacDougall, a Middle School Specialist, will travel to Ecuador to explore and learn about that South American country.