By Pamela ONeal
The Haysville Times
Students at the Haysville Middle School look over musical instruments brought back by their teacher from her trip to Asia.. Credit: Walking into Kathi Fischer’s music room at Haysville Middle School is like walking into any other music room at any other middle school. Chairs are neatly arranged in rows while musical instruments decorate the left over spaces.
But one corner of the room is anything but typical. That is where Fischer proudly displays instruments, postcards, and pictures almost too numerous to count from East Asia.
Fischer was one of twenty two teachers from Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma who participated in an educational, three-week tour of East Asia this summer, a trip which Fischer says she was “very pleased” to take.
She explains how her students will benefit from her experience, “That is why this whole program happens.” According to her this trip “encouraged [teachers] to close the gap, and create bridges between the countries.” The teachers not only help students understand the increasingly importance of connecting with people overseas, but also to integrate other parts of the learning process.
“Right now our sixth graders and our seventh graders study those parts of the world in their social studies. So now it’s great because we know kids are hearing it from their social studies teacher. They can hear it from different sides . . . they can also hear it in the music.”
Fischer’s students will be able to experience the sounds of East Asian music from instruments and CDs she purchased on the trip. She says she wanted to take the trip because she wanted to learn more and says it went “way beyond” her expectations.
Fischer was able to apply for the trip after she attended a Teaching East Asia workshop last year. The trip was organized by Associate Director Nancy Hope of the Kansas Consortium for Teaching about East Asia (KCTA) and Director Dr. Jessica Stowell, of the Oklahoma Consortium for Teaching about Asia.
Because of the minimal cost for the teachers, and because of the great experience, Fischer encourages other teachers to attend workshops and apply for these grants. More information can be found at www.kcta.ku.edu/tea.