Marshalltown High School and Miller Middle School played host to a group of educators from the country of Georgia Tuesday.
The group of 13 from the Eurasian country included school administrators and educators seeking to learn about MCSD’s science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education programs, as well as career and technical education opportunities for district students.
“I think it’s a way we can share, globally, what we are doing here in Marshalltown, Iowa, with career and technical education and Project Lead the Way,” said district Curriculum and Professional Development leader Dee Burt.
Burt said Tuesday’s visit was the second time MCSD has hosted a group from Georgia. The visit was facilitated by the Kalona, Iowa-based nonprofit World Link and funded by a U.S. Department of State grant.
World Link Regional Program Manager Karen King-Fitzgerald said the Marshalltown experience will spark ideas for the Georgian educators to bring back to their own schools.
The visitors were able to check out Miller Middle School’s Modular Technology program and talk to seventh graders about class projects.
“Everything is very impressive – the attitudes, the atmosphere here in the classrooms,” said English teacher Leila Berishvili, one of Tuesday’s visitors.
She said she enjoyed talking to students and found the teachers to be kind and welcoming.
Davit Tepnadze of Georgia Aviation University said he learned a lot from visiting the Modular Tech program, as well as the computer science and biomedical sciences Project Lead the Way programs at Marshalltown High School.
He said he enjoyed hearing about the dual-credit college courses Marshalltown students can take.
“The middle school, high school and community college have a very good relationship with each other,” Tepnadze said.
He said he plans to use Marshalltown’s programs to help enhance the educational curriculum at Georgia Aviation University.
“We have vocational programs. We are trying to create curriculum where the high school program will be with the vocational program,” Tepnadze said. “The system you have here is very interesting to us and we want to adapt this same system.”
The visitors also learned about advanced placement courses, teacher requirements, student clubs and the district’s strong relationships with community stakeholders.
Miller Middle School students McKenna Coleman, left, and Lesley Rios, center, talk to Leila Berishvili, one of the educators visiting MCSD from the country of Georgia on Tuesday. The students were working on t-shirt design at Miller’s Modular Technology classroom.
