News release
Public Information Office   SLU 10880   Hammond, LA 70402   phone: 985-549-2341   fax: 985-549-2061
publicinfo@selu.edu Spring 2004 news releases Public Information home News archive

Contact: Christina Chapple
Date: 11/17/04
 
Heidi Rhea and studentClick on image for publication quality photo 
EDUCATIONAL VISIT TO JAPAN – Southeastern Louisiana University Lab School seventh grade teacher Heidi Rhea and one of her students, Castle Crawford, look over gifts that Lab School students made for students and teachers in Japan. Rhea is one of 200 teachers nationally who have been selected to spend three weeks in Japan Nov. 14-Dec. 3 through the Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program.
LAB SCHOOL TEACHER SELECTED FOR THREE-WEEK EDUCATION VISIT TO JAPAN
     HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana University Laboratory School teacher Heidi Rhea traveled to Japan last Sunday (Nov. 14) bearing gifts from the school to teachers and students in Japan. 
     She is one of 200 teachers from throughout the country selected for a three-week educational visit to the Asian island nation under the auspices of the Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program. The program was established nine years ago by the Japanese government to honor the Fulbright Program, the United State’s venerable international education program. 
     “It is awesome and exciting to have been chosen,” said Rhea, who teaches seventh grade at the lab school. “I am looking forward to learning more about the culture, history and education system and to bringing back what I learn to my classroom and community.”
     “Setting the standard for excellence is our goal,” said Diane Allen, dean of the College of Education and Human Development. “We are honored that the Fulbright program recognizes the excellence of one of our teachers. Sharing her experiences abroad and with another culture will certainly benefit our students as well.”
     After a week’s stay in Tokyo, Rhea and 19 other teachers will travel to Yamatokoriyama, a city about an hour from Osaka in the prefecture, or state, of Nara. There, she will stay with a Japanese family. 
“I particularly asked to be placed with a family that has children, since I’m a grandmother,” she said. “The family I’m staying with has three.” 
     In Yamatokoriyama, Rhea will visit elementary, middle and high schools, along with a university, industries and cultural sites.
     “I will be taking gifts to all of them. I’ve gotten good at asking for freebies,” Rhea said. She has gathered give-aways from the Louisiana Department of Tourism and other sources and is also taking a special gift, “A Penny for Your Thoughts,” from lab school students. Each student has personalized a small cutout of Louisiana with a message and a penny.
     Rhea is also bringing along a small stuffed Southeastern lion named “Louie Z. Anna.” She plans to place Louie front and center in all of her photographs.
     That is just one of the methods she will use to share her adventure with her 26 seventh graders, who have been preparing for the trip along with her by creating bulletin boards and studying about Japan. She will keep in touch with them through a daily e-mail diary online and has scheduled a videoconference for sixth-eighth graders from Tokyo on Nov. 19. In January, she will host a “Jumping into Japanese” family night for students and their parents.