Getting Ready

Dr.Kingston’s musings about our upcoming service trip to Thailand

We have our “team” now after many months of promoting the trip and working through the bumps along the road of planning a faculty led trip.  We have met at least five times now with the students who will be participating in the service trip and we now have our second faculty chaperone, Dr. Tim Hartigan!

It is beginning to feel real and the vision is coming together….at least on our end.  Planning with our contacts in Thailand is an amorphous process.  You are never really sure what you will encounter when you get there in spite of the fact that you clarify multiple times in writing, you keep asking questions about the plans, and you check and double check.  I have warned the students that, while I expect that we have a solid plan for the after school and weekend camp programs, we really do not know what we will find when we get there.  How many children will there be?  We said 40 but who knows?  What ages will they be?  We said grades 2-6 but who knows?  Sabai Sabai….don’t worry……….We will keep you posted!

Our student team is awesome!  We have Kelly and Erica as our team leaders.  They are both RA’s and know how to deal with peers in a way that is somewhere between peer and adult.  That makes me happy because, as you will hear repeatedly, I don’t deal with drama and I am not a camp counselor.  The students know it and my own children will tell you that as well!

We also have Kara, who is an English major, and is our media, communications, promotion, and Blogger leader.  Under Kara’s leadership we will be sure to keep you posted through words and pictures about our experiences and what we are learning.

We also have Meg and Laura who are education majors and who will be providing leadership during our many days of teaching English in the after school programs and the weekend camps.   They are both really enthusiastic and engaged as teachers always are.  We are happy to have them and they will be invaluable to us and the teachers as our educational consultants.

Last but not least ---in fact this is the MOST important leadership role—we have Jessica, a Physical Therapy major and Winette, a psychology major who will be in charge of taking care of our social and emotional needs.  They are going to be in charge of----FUN!  We will be working hard every day while we are there however, we will keep a focus on fun and enjoying each other’s gifts.  Our team leaders have already been facilitating ice breakers to help us get to know each other and Jessica and Winette will continue planning celebrations, ceremonies, and the kinds of activities that will keep us connected and paying attention to our social and emotional needs.  I am beginning to think, based on the funny things we already know about each other, that in some ways, “what happens in Thailand will stay in Thailand!”

We are so fortunate to have Dr. Hartigan accompanying us as a faculty chaperone.  Dr. Hartigan has spent five years in Thailand as a Peace Corp worker and as a teacher at the prestigious “Chula” University.  He has many years of ESL teaching experience and is fluent in Thai.  He will be helping us to understand the culture of the Thai people and learn about the real Thailand experience.  He is currently the Director of the ESL program for international students at Gannon.  He is also on the Fun Team!

I am the associate director of the School of Education and travel to Jordan and Thailand to conduct teacher workshops.  I was in Thailand last spring to work with the teachers in the same schools that we will be working in during this trip.  I am very excited about sharing what I have learned and introducing the people and places that I know with our wonderful team of student leaders.

So if all goes as planned, Dr. Hartigan and I anticipate spending most days swinging from a hammock and sipping tea……….

Just kidding of course….. but we will be encouraging our students to step forward in their leadership roles and will be excited to watch them grow as they navigate a new culture.