Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you’re up to today.

A:  My family and I just returned to Nebraska where I'm an Associate Professor of Teacher Education. This past spring semester I was a visiting professor at the Universidad de Monterrey (UdeM) in Nuevo León Mexico.  During Semana Santa we made it to Michoacán and stayed at a hostel in Santa Fe de la Laguna, on Lake Patzcuaro, that is part of new Purhepecha women's cooperative called Uarhi.  The hostel was amazing and showing my kids Patzcuaro, Uruapán, Tzintzuntzan, and Parícutin provided a constant sense of deja vu.

 

Q: What are you proud to have accomplished or to be currently working on?

A:  While at UdeM I was able to continue my seventh year of  participating in a study of students in Mexican schools with previous experience in U.S. schools.  This photo is my colleague and me interviewing a student in rural Puebla who had previously attended middle school in Colorado.  In 2009, Mexico's Secretaria of Educación Pública published our book "Alumnos Transnacionales: Las escuelas mexicanas frente a la globalización", which is available for free download.

 

Q: How has AMIGOS affected your life, or enabled you get to where you are today?

A:  As my recent biography confirms, AMIGOS continues to loom large in what I know and am interested in doing.  Fifteen years after I last volunteered with the Kansas City Chapter and 25 years since my first Amigos stint on the edge of the jungle in Darien Panama, I still feel a gran agradecimiento to the Amigos organization and love the occasional updates assuring that you're continuing your great work.