A bit of Yucatan in Iowa
Ryan Gresavage - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 7/6/07 Section: Metro
Gifted junior-high students from the Yucatan, Mexico, are visiting Iowa City this week to take part in a summer learning program at the UI.
Though the group only represents 14 of the approximately 1,000 international students scheduled to visit the UI this summer, it's the first to take part in the Belin-Blank summer seminar sponsored by the Belin-Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development.
The group consists of six boys and eight girls who were picked for the program by Pedro Sanchez Escobedo, the coordinator of the Yucatan Scholars Program and a UI alumnus. Twelve of the students are from Yucatan, while the remaining two are from a gifted program in the state of Sinaloa.
Nicholas Colangelo, the director of the Belin-Blank Center, got the ball rolling on the project last year when he visited Merida, the capital of Yucatan, and met with interested officials. The center recruited resident assistants and student ambassadors to facilitate activities.
Colangelo said he hopes the visit allows students to see American culture and promises both an academic and cultural experience.
Though the students are only here for the week - they're scheduled to depart July 8 - student-program administrator Jan Warren hopes the experience will last a lifetime.
"We want students to learn inside, but outside as well, through the activities they do and relationships they form - sort of a cultural exchange," she said.
An average day for the students consists of six academic hours followed by recreational and social activities, she said. Some of the activities have included visits to the UI Colleges of Medicine, Pharmacy, and Engineering.
On the recreational side, the children participated in a "wacky Olympics" - including a watermelon-eating contest and a javelin throw featuring Pool Noodles. They also saw a hypnotist and watched the fireworks on the Fourth of July. One student threw the opening pitch of a Cedar Rapids Kernels' game.
"I think the children are having the time of their lives," Warren said. "You don't get to go on a lot of trips by junior high, and because there's just not a lot of opportunity for gifted children in Mexico, this is just 'wow' for them."
Many of the social events are meant to meet the Mexican students' main goal for the trip: get to know Iowa junior-high students.
A number of other junior-high children from Iowa are attending advanced programs at the UI, which gives the Yucatan students the chance to interact with Iowa kids and see what life is like for them.
All Belin-Blank seminar students live in Daum during their stay. This close-quarter living has fostered interaction, said UI sophomore Leif Galstad, a summer resident assistant.
He has been in constant contact with the children for the past week.
"They seem to be having a great time," he said.
E-mail DI reporter Ryan Gresavage at:
ryan-gresavage@uiowa.edu
Though the group only represents 14 of the approximately 1,000 international students scheduled to visit the UI this summer, it's the first to take part in the Belin-Blank summer seminar sponsored by the Belin-Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development.
The group consists of six boys and eight girls who were picked for the program by Pedro Sanchez Escobedo, the coordinator of the Yucatan Scholars Program and a UI alumnus. Twelve of the students are from Yucatan, while the remaining two are from a gifted program in the state of Sinaloa.
Nicholas Colangelo, the director of the Belin-Blank Center, got the ball rolling on the project last year when he visited Merida, the capital of Yucatan, and met with interested officials. The center recruited resident assistants and student ambassadors to facilitate activities.
Colangelo said he hopes the visit allows students to see American culture and promises both an academic and cultural experience.
Though the students are only here for the week - they're scheduled to depart July 8 - student-program administrator Jan Warren hopes the experience will last a lifetime.
"We want students to learn inside, but outside as well, through the activities they do and relationships they form - sort of a cultural exchange," she said.
An average day for the students consists of six academic hours followed by recreational and social activities, she said. Some of the activities have included visits to the UI Colleges of Medicine, Pharmacy, and Engineering.
On the recreational side, the children participated in a "wacky Olympics" - including a watermelon-eating contest and a javelin throw featuring Pool Noodles. They also saw a hypnotist and watched the fireworks on the Fourth of July. One student threw the opening pitch of a Cedar Rapids Kernels' game.
"I think the children are having the time of their lives," Warren said. "You don't get to go on a lot of trips by junior high, and because there's just not a lot of opportunity for gifted children in Mexico, this is just 'wow' for them."
Many of the social events are meant to meet the Mexican students' main goal for the trip: get to know Iowa junior-high students.
A number of other junior-high children from Iowa are attending advanced programs at the UI, which gives the Yucatan students the chance to interact with Iowa kids and see what life is like for them.
All Belin-Blank seminar students live in Daum during their stay. This close-quarter living has fostered interaction, said UI sophomore Leif Galstad, a summer resident assistant.
He has been in constant contact with the children for the past week.
"They seem to be having a great time," he said.
E-mail DI reporter Ryan Gresavage at:
ryan-gresavage@uiowa.edu
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