EU Centers of Excellence Educational Trip: Getting Europe into the Rural School

by Katie McNamara

EU Parliament Meeting

This past summer, I had the tremendous opportunity of participating in the European Union Centers of Excellence trip abroad to Brussels, Belgium.  A student of mine participated in the University of Illinois EU Center’s high school essay competition and came in second place, allowing me the chance to travel with the EUCE to Brussels.  The educational trip allowed me to collaborate with teachers and university students across the nation, create contacts with those at the University of Illinois EU Center, and gave me a hands on experience on the interworking of the EU, NATO, and activist groups in Europe.

EU Commission

As a teacher of a small, rural school in Central Illinois, I find it a challenge to relate the massive amounts of information and critical discussions of the EU to my students who are often isolated from the world. Very often, my students find it difficult to connect with events taking place in Europe.  Many students have never traveled outside of the United States, and some have never traveled outside of Illinois. Often, they do not see how interconnected America and Europe are, and the importance of understanding the impact that European events can have on them.  I soon realized that this opportunity would be such a great way to engage my students in the discovery of Europe and the ever-changing issues being faced both within Europe and globally in the 21st century.

Speak Up! Demonstration in front of the EU Commission

One theme that seemed to run through all of the discussions at the European Parliament, the US Mission to the EU, and the Council of the EU was the future relations between the United States and Europe, particularly related to the present TTIP trade negotiations. A very intriguing moment occurred when Dennis O’Sullivan, lawyer linguist at the Council of the EU, discussed some difficulties faced with negotiating the size of rearview mirrors in tractors. Alas, farming and tractors: territory very familiar with many of my students! If the trade agreement between the EU and America does go through, imagine the possibilities and opportunity for American farmers with the new and extensive market of the EU. My students in French class, in collaboration with the Agriculture department in our school, are planning on creating a unit in which students study the TTIP agreement and what it would mean for farmers in this area, as well as studying other areas that could be impacted, both positively and negatively. Through this unit, I hope that students will become more aware of current events in Europe, and with the omnipotent need to become connected to the world.

View from ENAR

Additionally, the discussion session at the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) was one that I had been looking forward to. Although we are becoming increasingly more tolerant in America, racism and discrimination are still so present, including in small rural communities. Listening to the ENAR director, Michaël Privot, speak on the work ENAR is doing to combat racism in Europe by being an umbrella organization for other anti-racism organizations was very compelling. Among many other roles, ENAR is canvassing throughout Europe to find and support individuals whom have reported being discriminated against so that in turn, ENAR may lobby the EU parliament and commission to increase support and funding for minority and immigrant groups. A unit comparing discrimination and racism in America and abroad can have so much influence on students in a small school, as it can allow them to see what racism looks like elsewhere, and hopefully help change their mindset and actions on racism in their community.

Photo credit: Katie McNamara

Katie McNamara is a French teacher at Oakwood High School in Fithian, IL. This is her second year teaching. She received her B.A. and M.A. in teaching from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. In her spare time, she is also senior class advisor and advisor for International Club. You may reach class page via this link: Ms. McNamara's Class Page.

EU Centers of Excellence Educational Trip: Getting Europe into the Rural School

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EU Centers of Excellence, Education Trip to Brussels, June 17-20, 2013

by Larry Pahl

I was privileged to attend the 2013 European Union Centers of Excellence summer educational trip to the European Union.  I got the right to participate in this intensive whirlwind of meetings and site visits involving all the key components of the Union by being the teacher of the student who won the U of I EU Center’s high school essay competition.  My student Chris Lanza won a cash prize for his essay on cooperation and conflict in the European Union, and I won a spot on the study tour!

Chris recently sent a group email to all his AP teachers, thanking them for their work in helping him achieve successful scores on the many AP tests he took.  I wondered why I was on that list because he was my student in a Civics class that was not an AP course.  So when I congratulated him later saying I could take no credit, he reminded me that he had attended review sessions I gave my AP World students (he was not in that class) and he said those reviews more than anything else helped him on all his AP tests.  I mention this, because that fact was a key to my getting a special personal audience with John C. Sullivan, the Public Affairs Office of the U.S. Mission to the European Union.

Mr. Sullivan was one of the most entertaining speakers we enjoyed on the tour.  He combined his erudition with regular doses of puns and humor.  As he was describing to our group a set of tips he had for being successful on the foreign service exam for the US State Department, I asked him who it is that grades those exams.  I told him that I had helped my students be successful on the AP World exam because I had heavily picked the brains of readers of the AP World test, and so I thought knowing who grades the State Department test would be an added tip for those taking it.  He responded by saying that he wanted to walk out with me after the meeting, because his daughter was going to be taking AP tests soon! 

So indeed, I got to walk out with the ambassador (officially called a Public Affairs Officer because the European Union is not a sovereign nation) and gab about the AP test and other things. I am still in touch with him because of that conversation!

Our study group, made up of teams from 7 of the 10 European Union Centers of Excellence, was a fun and interesting mixture of teachers and students, mostly new college graduates.  A spirit of professional collegiality quickly formed which manifested in discussions, in Q and A with the various speakers we heard, and even in informal social gatherings.  The picturesque and stunning Grand Place, the landmark of the city of Brussels, (along with the Manneken Pis, the famous statue of the little boy urinating) became the nightly dining and socializing grounds for many members of our group, young and old.  It seemed to have endless streets and nooks and shops and districts.

Besides the talk by John Sullivan at the US Mission, another highlight for me was listening to LtCol. Benoit Aumonnier,  a French officer working as a policy advisor to NATO.  He spoke English with difficulty but was very candid in saying that NATO needed to head in a new direction.  He said that the “institutionalized division of labor for crisis management” (requiring each member country to ante up so many soldiers) was “the past.”  For the future, he said, a “pragmatic approach” was needed, one which he felt the US would be a leader because there is no clear leader in Europe.

Below is a brief outline-chart of the various institutions we visited with links to their websites and some associated pictures.

Date, Location	Photos
Sunday June 16 Arrive Euroflat Hotel, Brussels Screensaver I made to have a one-page itinerary for trip	View from the Euroflat Hotel Our U of I EUCE Delegation
Monday June 17             European Commission Headquarters             European Parliament	Commission briefing Commission speaker Parliament briefing
Tuesday June 18         ENAR, European Network Against Racism         EEAS, European External Action Service	Meeting at ENAR Enjoying famous Brussels beer at local pub after EEAS meeting
Wednesday June 19         US Mission to the EU         Bruegel, think tank	Me with John Sullivan, Officer, US Mission to the EU Group Lunch Meeting at Bruegel think tank
Thursday June 20         Council of the EU         NATO headquarters	Meeting at EU Council Waiting near floral shop for bus to NATO NATO's low profile headquarters

Photo credit: Larry Pahl

Larry Pahl has taught at the junior high, high school and college level (West Virginia Northern, Carl Sandburg College, and Rock Valley College). He has taught in the U.S. and abroad (The International School in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic).  He has taught in public, private, and quasi-public settings.  He has taught students at the AP, regular and special education levels.  He is currently a history teacher at Bartlett High School in Bartlett, IL, and also a World History instructor with the Illinois Virtual School. 

Mr. Pahl is dedicated to the art and profession of teaching. 

EU Centers of Excellence, Education Trip to Brussels, June 17-20, 2013

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