January 26, 2006
CIS Educator Returns to Uganda with UNITE Project
HARRISBURG, N.C. – Carolina International School (CIS) is again sending one of its teachers to Africa in its continuing partnership with UNITE.
Juliette Jones, who teaches fourth grade, will depart Monday for the Republic of Uganda, located in central Africa, as part of Uganda and North Carolina’s International Teaching for the Environment program. UNITE is an educational and cultural exchange developed by the North Carolina Zoo.
Jones, who is one of only six educators from across the state on the UNITE field team, will spend three weeks sharing environmentally themed lessons in schools throughout Uganda. The team will use school gardens as teaching tools and will identify alternatives to chemical pesticides for these gardens. In addition, the North Carolina educators and their Ugandan partners will explore the interconnections between the Earth, food and personal health and how they relate to environmental conservation. Jones, who also was a part of last year’s UNITE team, said she is looking forward to again seeing Uganda’s wildlife, “especially the monkeys,” and spending more time in the schools she previously visited.
As part of CIS’s partnership with UNITE, its kindergarten through third grade students will be working to create gardens on the local campus to promote conservation. They will use these UNITE gardens in studies similar to those of the Ugandan students. In addition, CIS is raising money to benefit its sister school in Rweteera, which Jones will be visiting.
CIS Principal Deanna Duncan, who has been associated with UNITE since its inception in 2001 and has visited Uganda twice, sees the project as “an incredible gift.” “It focuses on two pillars of our school – international community and environmental awareness,” she said. “Through this project, we have a wonderful opportunity to learn about, share and embrace the people and cultures of another country.” In addition to Jones and Duncan, CIS educator Saretha Lavarnway has traveled to Uganda with UNITE.
In October, Tinka John, Uganda’s coordinator of UNITE, visited CIS as part of a six-week tour of North Carolina. He shared information about his country and its schools with students at every grade level. UNITE is aimed at establishing scholastic partnerships between Ugandan and North Carolina schools to advance the well-being of both people and planet. The project strives to motivate teachers and students to think globally, act responsibly and feel rewarded by personal interaction with each other.
* * *
Carolina International School is a new North Carolina public charter school offering grades K-7, adding a grade each year to become a full K-12 system. The school’s mission is to nurture students’ natural curiosity and joy of learning while they achieve academic excellence through a challenging, interdisciplinary, international curriculum. For more information, visit the Carolina International School website at www.CarolinaInternationalSchool.org.
