Two groups of students were recognized by the Mayor at The Wichita City Council meeting this morning.
Students from Friends University received an official send-off from City of Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer, and will act as student ambassadors to the city of Cancun, Mexico as they prepare to leave for programs abroad. One group’s focus is on cultural research and Spanish language immersion, while the other will focus on service and health care.
“El Puente” is a group of students who will take part in a Spanish language immersion and Mayan research program through La Salle University in Cancun, Mexico. The program is called “El Puente” which translates as “The Bridge.”
“This is a pilot program to bring local schools in Wichita together to act as a bridge to our sister city, and sister university,” said Dr. Jerry Smartt, program director and professor of Spanish at Friends University. “These students will not only study at La Salle University and do research on the Mayan culture of the Yucatan Peninsula, but they will live with local families to truly experience cultural immersion.”
Students in this program come not only from Friends University, but Wichita State University, Wichita East High School, The Northfield School of Liberal Arts, Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic High School, and a homeschool student.
While in Cancun the students of El Puente will not only perform historical research on the area in which they are living, but they will experience a true Spanish language immersion program. Their experience level will be benchmarked before their trip, and the program goal is to have all students perform proficiently as bilingual on their return, said Dr. Smartt.
“Thank you to our mayor, Carl Brewer, and the city council who have supported us for all these years through Wichita Area Sister Cities,” said Dr. Smartt. “The programs these students experience, and the work done through the Sister Cities organization wouldn’t be possible without this leadership.”
Mayor Brewer recognized Dr. Karyn Turla, Dr. Jerry Smartt, and David Shelly, Spanish teacher from East High, for years of service and cultural work performed through their individual programs as well as through the Wichita Area Sister Cities.
“They not only have students here, but we are students of the culture they continue to teach us,” said Brewer.
These students, as well as the second group, are given the opportunity to serve the underserved in Cancun, and act as ambassadors of Wichita to La Salle University as they study and become leaders in our community, said Brewer.
The second group of students from Friends University will travel to an underdeveloped part of Cancun, Mexico for the third year to serve the most disenfranchised by providing health screenings for youths who otherwise wouldn’t have base assessments; service to low-income seniors; and other community projects – as a part of the University’s Health Science program.
The Health Science program at Friends University is a competitive undergraduate program that prepares students to apply and succeed in a health science-related graduate programs. Ninety percent of Friends Health Science graduates apply for graduate programs, and of that, 92 percent are accepted to their program of choice.
“Not only do these students receive a once in a lifetime opportunity to serve their world community, but they work throughout the year in various service projects in the local community,” said Dr. Karyn Turla, Service Abroad program director and associate professor of biology at Friends University. “They learn compassion and care in a way that is instrumental in becoming successful health care professionals.”
Freshman at Friends University beginning the Health Sciences program in the fall of 2015 will be the first class for which service-based learning will be a required part of their course curriculum.
Students from the Friends University Health Sciences program who are accepted into graduate programs compete and win prestigious national and international fellowships and grants throughout the United States. Students who participate in the one-of-a-kind Health Sciences Study Abroad program at Friends University compete academically at a national level with their peers at other institutions who compete for the same positions.
“These students then return to their communities to provide necessary health care services through their professional careers,” said Dr. Turla. “Eighty-five percent of students who participate in this experience list service as a motivating factor for pursuing a career in health care.”
“It is our hope, and an expectation, as we continue to study the results of this program that we will find more students continue service work in their local and global communities through their professional lives,” said Dr. Turla
Friends University, a Christian University of Quaker heritage, equips students to honor God and serve others by integrating their intellectual, spiritual and professional lives.
Wichita Area Sister Cities (WASC) pursues exchanges with its sister cities in the following areas of interest: diplomatic, cultural, educational, professional, tourism and economics.
For more information about this programs, please contact Dr. Karyn Turla at 316-295- 5545 or kturla@friends.edu or Dr. Jerry Smartt at 316-295-5564 or jsmartt@friends.edu.