Student teaching in Brazil had life-changing impacts

Two lifelong Columbia Falls residents joined three other Flathead Valley Community College students for a four-week paid fellowship program in Brazil this past July.

They taught English at a high school in Belo Horizonte and brought six of their top students back to the Flathead for a nine-day visit as part of the U.S.-Brazil Connect program.

Monica Peterson and Lee Shamp both grew up in Columbia Falls and are “nontraditional” students at FVCC. Peterson said she started out with a health care focus but changed to liberal studies after her return from Brazil.

“It changed my life,” she said. “I want to do more teaching now.”

Shamp served in the Navy from 2004 through 2010. He’ll graduate from FVCC in December and plans to pursue a degree in education at Palm Beach Atlantic University, in Florida.

“I want to teach social studies in high school,” he said.

Peterson and Shamp were joined by fellow FVCC students Taylor Keltner, Elaina Gordon and Brigitte Henkelmann.

Belo Horizonte is a teeming metropolis of 8 million people about six hours from Rio de Janeiro. The economy of the former agricultural area famous for its cheese production is now dominated by metals mining and manufacturing.

All but one of the six visiting Brazilian students plan to attend college in the U.S. Their interests run from design school in New York and biology at the University of Montana-Missoula to engineering and medical schools in California.

The Brazilians arrived just in time to experience snow for the first time. Several of them had visited the National Bison Range, and host families were planning trips to Glacier National Park and Big Mountain.

Like young people around the world, the Brazilian students use social media despite the occasional embarrassing photo on Facebook, and they like American television, movies and music, but they were truly amazed by the amount of food served at American restaurants.

Pizzas and hamburgers here are huge compared to what they get in Brazil, the students said. They were very fond of the Philly steak sandwiches served at the FVCC cafeteria. They also liked the seeing so many restaurants with international menus — the HuHot Mongolian Grill left a lasting impression.

One student noted that Brazilians generally don’t eat hot spicy foods, and Shamp noted that he was surprised by how much sweets and meat Brazilians eat.

Peterson and Shamp arrived in Brazil in time to witness the country in the throes of general unrest, including street protests and work stoppages. The six Brazilian students were united in their belief that their government is corrupt and the popular political candidates who get elected are not good for their country.

The tipping point came when the government offered to host both the Summer Olympics and the World Cup soccer championship. While the two sports events will bring prestige to Brazil, money that should be spent on education, social services and civic infrastructure is going instead to big stadiums and sports venues, they said.

But the young Brazilians are optimistic for the future. Brazil is not a First World country, they say, but change is only several years away. One student even said the people of Brazil would accept higher taxes if they felt confident the money would not be used wisely and not lost to corrupt politicians.

Peterson pointed out the importance of the long-lasting relations formed while she was in Brazil.

“We’re like a family, like brothers and sisters,” she said.