Moraine Valley Dean Piloting 'Virtual' Peace Corps

PALOS HILLS, IL — Moraine Valley Community College is helping pilot a virtual option for participating in the Peace Corps. The pilot program allows previous Peace Corps volunteers to donate their time to virtually helping others around the world in some capacity.

Michael Morsches, the dean of learning enrichment and college readiness at Moraine Valley, was chosen to help pilot the virtual option for participating in the Peace Corps based on his vast experience with the corps over the past three decades. In the late 1980s, Morsches began his Peace Corps journey, teaching in Jamaica. Since then, he has been involved in various projects overseas and decided to apply for this new virtual program. After a competitive process, he was accepted.

“I am very honored to have been chosen for participation in this project,” he said. “Opening the Peace Corps mission to new generations and Americans who cannot participate in the traditional manner of service is an incredible opportunity.”

The Peace Corps was established in 1961 by an executive order of President John F. Kennedy and authorized by Congress. The virtual program matches Kennedy’s vision of Peace Corps service, including provided skilled American volunteers to assist developing countries in such fields as education, health, entrepreneurship, women's empowerment, and community development.

Participants spend five to 15 hours per week for 12 to 27 weeks collaborating with a host country counterpart on tasks to advance the philanthropic mission of the Peace Corps and lend their expertise in environmental issues, educational programming, technology, youth development, literacy, English teacher training and more.

Since June 2, Morsches has been working with a rural community center, the Association Center Noyau for Excellence, in El Mers, a small town in Morocco. His counterpart, Abdelmajid Tiloulout, is the English Club facilitator/president of the center, which has a club for English, math and extra activities. The two meet a few times per week to discuss pedagogy and strategies to start and sustain an engaging student group.

Together, they are working to expand the existing English Club to more members and helping students improve their English skills to get better placement into more competitive university programs. For now, Tiloulout is meeting with the students, who voluntarily participate, to establish the group before Morsches meets them. They ultimately want to create an English language cohort in the school with a four-year program for younger learners.

“This collaboration with Michael will surely help improve the way I am personally working with my students thanks to his experience in the field of teaching and monitoring teachers, especially because I am a beginner teacher and still need to know many things related to teaching,” Tiloulout said. “This program will help students improve their linguistic abilities and prepare them for their university studies, especially because most of the references related to science are written in English.”

Currently, the program is limited to returning Peace Corps volunteers, but eventually will open to all qualified U.S. citizens.

This press release was produced by Moraine Valley Community College. The views expressed here are the author’s own.