A delegation of educators from Tunisia visited the Bolles Upper School San Jose Campus on March 29 as part of their work with the English Access Microscholarship Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.

The teachers in this program provide a foundation of English language skills to bright, economically disadvantaged students, primarily between the ages of 13-20, in their home countries. The goal of the program is to help these students secure better jobs and educational prospects.

Bolles Director of Global Learning and Engagement Natalia Aycart arranged an afternoon of international dialogue in the Chahlavi Center for Global Learning and Engagement in which Bolles upper school students, faculty and administrators shared their perspectives with the Tunisian delegation and overviewed innovative and effective ways to teach English as a second language.

The visiting educators also had the opportunity to shadow Bolles upper school ESL teacher and international advisor Jessica Boylan during one of her classes to get a first-hand look at her innovative teaching tools and techniques discussed during their earlier meetings. The Tunisian educators were encouraged to participate as Boylan led the students in informal poetry readings and a short exercise in which they created a poem using 50 words that meant something special to them or expressed a theme while using a poetic literary device.

Thank you to all the participants for an enriching cultural and educational exchange! #BollesGlobal

Bolles Participants

Natalia Aycart, Global Learning and Engagement Director
Jessica Boylan, International Academic Advisor and Academic English Teacher for International Students
Danielle Jones, Upper School French Language Teacher
Kila McCann, Dean of Admission & Financial Aid
Sara Phillips-Bourass, Upper School Arabic and French Language Teacher

Tunisian Delegation

Larbi Khadhraoui, English Teacher, Taher Ben Achour Secondary School – Nefza, Ministry of Education, Tunisia
Kais Khlaifi, English Teacher, Ministry of Education, Tunisia
Karima Maamri, Secondary School English Teacher of English, Ministry of Education, Tunisia
Ikram Majdoub, English Teacher, Ministry of Education, Tunisia
Abdelhakim Maraouch, English Teacher, Ministry of Education, Tunisia