Two SECD groups depart for study abroad experiences in Costa Rica May 12



Two SECD groups depart for study abroad experiences in Costa Rica May 12

11 May 2018     By Kelcey Buck

A total of 17 students and four faculty members from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders are set to begin their two-week study abroad experiences in Costa Rica May 12-26. 

Associate professor of practice Sue Kemp and professor John Maag will lead 11 students to the Monteverde Institute, where they will spend time working in both public and private schools in Monteverde, a mountain town about 100 miles northwest of San José. Sarah Thomas, an assistant professor of practice in the Department of Teaching, Learning & Teacher Education, will be joining Kemp and Maag this year with the hope of expanding the study abroad experience to more students next year. 

Meanwhile, Alicia Davis and Diane Farrand, both lecturers and supervisors at the Barkley Speech Language and Hearing clinic, will accompany six speech-language pathology graduate students on a separate trip to provide accent modification services in Heredia and Cartago, suburbs of San José. 

Kemp and Maag’s group will spend a majority of its time in Monteverde, providing reading and literacy assessments for English acquisition at two private schools. Prior to traveling to Monteverde, they will meet with the Ministry of Education and visit a special education center in San José. This year, the group will also visit a new, inclusive school in San José. 

For Madisyn Garcia, a speech-language pathology student from McCook, Nebraska, a visit to Costa Rica is personal because her grandparents used to call the country home. 

“I have been talking to my grandparents quite a bit about the culture in Costa Rica and what to expect with the living conditions,” Garcia said. “My mother was born in San José, so I am also thrilled that we will be spending a few days there.” 

While at the Monteverde Institute, the students will have the opportunity to learn about sustainability and ecotourism. In addition, each of the 11 students will be living with a host family throughout their stay in Monteverde. 

Danika Lang, a special education master’s student, and Jackie Peterson, an elementary education and early childhood education major, said they have been brushing up on their Spanish-speaking skills in preparation for the trip. The two Omaha natives also described their eagerness for the opportunity to grow as teachers while learning about another country’s education system. 

“It is an exhilarating thought for me to consider the variety of new people I will meet, experiences I will have, and skills I will build as I continue to grow as a teacher in a once-in-a-lifetime environment,” Lang said. 

“I wanted the opportunity to see another country’s way of education,” Peterson said. “Getting to see how they run their schools and also getting to see how beautiful Costa Rica is really sealed the deal.”

Garcia is hopeful the experience will help diversify her professional experience, particularly in working with children whose first language is not English. 

Speech-language pathology master's students provide accent modification services at Fiserv in Costa Rica in 2016.The trip that Davis and Farrand will lead began six years ago as a partnership with Fiserv, a financial services technology company headquartered in Brookfield, Wisconsin, that also has an office in Lincoln. Students from Nebraska’s speech-language pathology master’s program provide accent modification services to Fiserv associates in India via telepractice on a weekly basis. 

In 2015, Davis and Farrand implemented the first study abroad experience to the Fiserv offices in Heredia, Costa Rica, to provide the same accent modification assistance to more than 70 associates in person. 

Regan Crane, a Pineville, Louisiana, native, said her experience providing the accent modification services through telepractice sparked her initial interest in traveling to Costa Rica for the study abroad trip. 

“When I learned that I could provide similar services in person to a different patient population from a unique cultural background, I immediately wanted to soak that up,” Crane said. “The fact that we can also earn class credit and clinical hours as a part of the experience is what sealed the deal for me.” 

Omaha native Sydney Rhoades said the opportunity to gain clinical hours and gain experience in a different clinical area were also reasons she decided to go on the trip. 

“I was also drawn to the trip because I minored in Spanish as an undergrad and it will give me the opportunity to potentially practice my Spanish.” 

During the two-week span, the group will spend eight days in Heredia and Cartago working with Fiserv associates to provide accent modification and English language enrichment services. The primary goal is for students to improve their abilities to provide high-quality speech sound and language-based services to the associates within a corporate setting. 

Crane and Hanna Ringsdorf, a Glenwood, Iowa, native, both said they hoped they return to Nebraska with improved skills of thinking on their feet while providing treatment. 

“I hope to become more aware and knowledgeable of a different culture, which is very important when working with clients from all populations,” Ringsdorf said. “I also hope to better myself as a clinician and improve my ‘thinking on my feet’ skills.” 

“I am hoping this experience builds my confidence as a clinician,” Crane added. “I have the knowledge and skills, so I want to be more confident in my ability to utilize them. I also hope that I can positively impact the lives of people I would have never met otherwise.” 

Rhoades and fellow Omaha native Rachel Feuker both mentioned their excitement to learn more about the Costa Rican culture and how to apply that understanding to their future practices as speech-language pathologists. 

“I am also hoping to gain confidence in my abilities to work with individuals who are learning English as a second language and to do accent modification therapy,” Rhoades said. 

Students will also have the opportunity to spend three days in Monteverde. During that time, they will meet with a local speech-language pathologist to compare strategies and activities for intervention between cultures. They will also spend time at the Monteverde Institute learning about sustainability and ecotourism. 

Feuker said she is excited to learn at the Monteverde Institute. 

“Because Costa Rica values environmental preservation so highly, I’m hoping to learn about and have a greater appreciation for sustainability and how to live and travel in a more eco-friendly manner.” 

It is the fourth straight year Kemp and Maag have taken students to Costa Rica, while Davis and Farrand will make their third trip in the last four years. Follow along with both groups through Facebook at the following links:
            Kemp & Maag’s group – https://go.unl.edu/bso5  
            Davis & Farrand’s group – https://go.unl.edu/yofc


Special Education and Communication Disorders