June 4, 2003
Bryn Lynch to teach abroad
CHS teacher headed to Argentina under Fulbright exchange
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Taking her multi-cultural skills and interests on the road, Bryn Lynch is heading to Argentina this summer.
The Central High School Spanish teacher was selected as a participant in the Fulbright Teacher and Administrator Exchange Program. Lynch is one of 250 teachers and administrators from the United States heading to a foreign country to teach during the next academic year. During that six-month period, a teacher from Argentina will take her place at Central High School.
An enthusiastic student of other cultures, Lynch was intrigued by the Fulbright program when another teacher at the school applied for a grant last year. Though that exchange did not happen, she decided to apply this year. She picked Spain as her first placement choice, Argentina as her second and Mexico as her third.
With her sights now set on the University of La Pampa in Santa Rosa, Argentina, Lynch is eager to begin the expedition. She and her two junior-high-school age daughters will leave in late July and live, work and attend school in the city situated 400 miles west of Buenos Aires.
"I've always studied multi-culturalism in some sense or another," said Lynch, who lived in Europe for 14 years and has been a teacher in the Traverse City Area Public Schools for six years. "I have a pretty good background in Latin American literature."
"It is exciting, I am really excited to go," she added. "My Spanish is very fluent but there's always room for improvement."
Graciela Adamoli will teach Lynch's classes for the first semester next year, giving Spanish students at Central an excellent opportunity to learn from a native speaker.
"She is coming in early August and she has a three-day orientation in Washington, D.C.," Lynch said. "The students are excited but they are a little nervous about her understanding them and them understanding her. They know that it is a pretty awesome opportunity."
The Fulbright Teacher and Administrator Exchange Program began in 1946 as a way to promote cross-cultural awareness. Next academic year, 34 countries will participate from around the world, with teachers trading places for either a six- or a 12-month stay. More than 23,000 teachers have participated in the program since its inception.
While at the University of La Pampa, Lynch will teach American literature and other introductory courses, curriculum selected by the university. She will also teach a seminar on cross-cultural immigrants, probably selecting East Indian and Cuban immigrants though she is still waiting for approval on that plan.
Lynch has a prior, tenuous connection to the Fulbright program. While living in Europe she taught English, worked in an art gallery and also worked in the Fulbright Commission. At this job, she met Fulbright exchange teachers but never dreamed that one day she would be one of them.
Lynch is preparing for her trip by studying Argentinean geography and culture. While she and her daughters are experienced world travelers, they are still reading all they can find about the country and its people. She believes that the trip will be a unique learning opportunity for her family.
"Even though their friends are feeling sorry for them, they are not feeling too sorry for themselves," Lynch said of her daughters. "They do a pretty good job at French and Spanish and they will be attending a private junior high and high school."
"They are not too sure they want to wear a uniform to school, green and white plaid skirts," she noted.