Bristol Township Teacher Among Select Group Heading Overseas

A Levittown teacher was chosen to head to South America and teach English as a second language as part of an international educators exchange program.

Elizabeth Gregory is one of only 110 teachers chosen by the State Department and the International Research and Exchange Board (IREX) to participate in a two-week international teacher exchange program.

Gregory will head south of the equator to Argentina where she will be teaching students English to the native Spanish-speaking students.

"This year, I teach ESL to foreigners and Spanish to Americans. This combination gives me an opportunity to gain more insight into second language teaching that I can share with my host teacher," Gregory said.

In addition to teaching English, Gregory will visit various Argentinian non-government organizations, parents' committees, serve as a guest speaker on U.S. Culture and education as well host a series of workshops for the teaching community.

The exchange will provide an Argentinian teacher the opportunity to come state-side and take part in a professional development program run by a set of universities in an effort to develop an enhanced skill-set in education, as well as a better understanding of U.S. Culture.

IREX has been exchanging educators internationally for over 40 years. Started in 1968, IREX initially included the involvement of the then USSR, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Romania. In recent years, IREX has collaborated with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in an effort to maintain libraries and help provide access to free computers all across the globe.