Spanish Ministery of Education Representative visits RSI

Pictured from left to right: Mai Yang (MDE), Sra. Remedios (RSI Gr. 3), Representative Juana Barrado Esteban, and Dr. Staloch.

On Thursday, December 12th, RSI and Dr. Staloch had the opportunity to welcome and meet with Representative Juana Barrado Esteban, from the Education Ministry of Spain and Mai Yang, from MDE who coordinates the MN Visiting Teacher Exchange Program.  Representative Barrado Esteban was in Minnesota to tour RSI and visit the classrooms of three MN Visiting Teacher Exchange Program from Spain

MDE sponsors teachers from other countries to assist in our recruitment of international teachers to Minnesota. Sharing knowledge and teaching strategies benefits program participants and enhances bilingual teaching for our communities in Minnesota.

MDE partners with the following international government organizations to recruit visiting teachers:

• Spain: Spanish Ministry of Education
• Mexico: Mexican Ministry of Education
• Taiwan: Taiwan Ministry of Education

RDALE is a participant district of this district, as RSI is currently hosting three exchange teachers from Spain.  Elena Remedio, Victor Gonzalez, and Antonio Alvarado. Teachers receive a J-1 visa sponsorship for 3 years-with the potential of an additional two years.  To date, this has been a very successful mutually beneficial partnership.

Pictured above from left to right: RSI Teachers participating in the MN Teacher Exchange program: Sr. Gonzalez (Gr. 3), Sra. Remedios (Gr. 3), and Sr. Alvarado (Gr. 2)

Our students, parents and staff have the opportunity to work with professionals who are native speakers of Spanish. Both visiting and Minnesota teachers expand their use of language, deepen their understanding of each other’s cultural practices and perspectives, and bring a valuable international perspective to our classrooms.