"The Next Best Thing to Being There!"

Posted: March 4, 2011

So the advertisement for the telephone companies once said, and it is still true, but now with something perhaps Dick Tracy would appreciate.  Today’s classrooms are reaching to the far corners of the globe taking advantage of the high tech and low cost of Skype. Grade 6 students of  Greg Theriault and Joanne Robichaud at Eleanor W. Graham Middle School in Rexton recently had a “video conversation” with local residents Tom and Judy Snowdon who are presently in Egypt with fellow Menonites providing humanitarian aid.  The students had many questions for Mr. and Mrs. Snowdon about what life is like in the northern African country and about their experiences during the recent political turmoil. There are plans to continue the “conversation” via Skype and to include students in Egyptian schools.  Meanwhile students at Gretna Green Elementary School are looking forward to having a “video conversation” with one of their school mates who is presently visiting South Africa and grade 2 students at that school as well as Nelson Rural School are regularly in touch through Skype with their peers in Dallas, Texas. These are just some of the recent international contacts that are happening regularly in District 16 schools and are helping students develop their global awareness.