South Korean Science Teachers Visit WLMS and other Maryland Schools

Wilde Lake Middle is very excited to be hosting two visiting science teachers from South Korea this coming week. Mrs. Rathmann and Ms. Drakes will be hosting two science teachers and sharing American "best practices" used in middle school science classrooms as well as their additional professional responsibilities that they perform that go beyond their daily teaching assignments. It promises to be a most exciting and informative interaction for all of us.
 
The two South Korean teachers, who will be at WLMS on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, are part of a delegation of 86 science teachers who arrived here in the Baltimore area from South Korea at the beginning of January. The South Korean educators have been receiving professional development coordinated by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) at the University of Maryland Baltimore Campus (UMBC) and sponsored by the South Korean government. As a part of this new program. the teachers will have the opportunity to visit select public schools to see how the research they have been studying at UMBC is put into practice.

In South Korea, the month of January is a time when students have a break from school and teachers are encouraged to participate in professional development. As many of you know, I had the privilege of going to South Korea two years ago and learn more about the way they educate their children. I was impressed with how committed their leaders are to help their teachers continue to learn from each other and from educators from around the world. This is just one example of how the South Korean government invests in their teachers to ensure their students are receiving the best education possible.

As a celebration of this program, Mrs. Rathmann, Ms. Drakes and I have been invited to attend a reception sponsored by the NSTA at the Maryland Science Center on Monday evening.  Each delegation participant and their hosts at each school have been invited to attend this event. We are looking forward to meeting our visitors and sharing our school with them. We believe this exchange will be very beneficial for all involved.