International Programs

International Classroom Partnerships

Last April, ICEE hosted five Romanian educators as a culmination of the year-long International Classroom Partnership program piloted by ICEE for the National Council on Economic Education. Four Romanian high school teachers worked with teachers from Bloomington, Rockford, Maple Park and Chicago to jointly implement economic education activities in their classrooms. The teachers were accompanied on their visit to the U.S. by Paul Lacatus, Executive Director of the Romanian Center for Economic Education (CREE).

During their time in the U.S. the Romanians visited five high schools - Bloomington, Peoria Central, Harlem (in Machesney Park), Kaneland (Maple Park), and Dunbar Vocational Academy (Chicago) – as well as touring State Farm, Caterpillar, Fermilab, Eli’s Cheesecake Bakery, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. They attended an IASET teacher’s conference at Hamburger University, had an opportunity to “see the sights” in Chicago, and enjoyed a White Sox game. Following their visit in Illinois, the group traveled to Washington, DC with ICEE President Joanne Dempsey to present the classroom exchange program to Congressional leaders and to the Romanian Ambassador to the U.S.

The four partnerships this past year were:
Amanda Van Allen, teacher, Bloomington High School, Bloomington partnered with Maria Lacatus, teacher, Scoala Centrala, Bucharest

Matt King, teacher, Dunbar Vocational Academy, Chicago partnered with Florin Teodorescu, teacher, Grupul Scolar Energetic, Sibiu

Brad Sweet, teacher, Harlem High School, Machesney Park partnered with Dr. Mihai Nazdravan, teacher , Liceul Tudor Vladimirescu, Bucharest

David Travis, teacher , Kaneland High School, Maple Park partnered with Octavian Pop, teacher, Colegiul National Samuel von Brukenthal, Sibiu

For information on these partnerships, including pictures and student work, visit the International Classroom website.

In the coming year, all four of the partnerships will continue, with the same teachers working together on similar activities. In addition, we hope to expand this program in the future by involving more teachers in partnerships (though without the study tours).

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