JAMAICAN EXCHANGE
IN TEACHING (JET)
PROGRAM
Thrive Ed is committed to providing meaningful partnership opportunities that transform education. With a commitment to amplifying student voice, launching from strengths, and creating meaningful learning environments, we are cultivating international partnerships to provide an incredible opportunity for educators and our student interns.
JET (Jamaican Exchange in Teaching) is a fully funded program that provides an opportunity for elementary school teachers to have a deep, transformative experience in a global context for a week-long immersion in a Jamaican Primary School. This is an opportunity for four elementary school teachers to spend their spring break of 2022 in Jamaica to deepen their own teaching and learning practices and bring back that knowledge to their own classroom.
The Jamaican school, teachers, and students will also benefit by being in community with educators from the U.S. and learning valuable teaching strategies while Minnesota teachers visit their school. In turn, the Jamaican teachers will travel to the MN teachers’ school the following December for a reciprocal experience.
This opportunity provides another pathway for teachers to grow in their practice and see the beauty and value of their career choice and ideally keep wonderful educators in the profession while drawing new teachers in as well as opportunities like this emerge. Our student interns will begin to help facilitate and design these trips and share in the rich learning that will come from collaboration with international partners.
Board members and educators, Amy Pucel and Keitha-Gail Martin-Kerr, lead this program. For more information, please email info@thrive-ed.org.
After the first JET experience, the teachers were asked to provide feedback for the overall experience. Here are their responses:
Anna
“This was the most amazing experience and learning opportunity. Words cannot describe how valuable this trip was to my growth as a teacher and person. Thank you for all the work you put into planning, funding, and executing the best JET trip. It was fun to get to know new people and help with the social media. I know JET will continue to grow and do phenomenal things for teachers and schools.”
Katie
“What an amazing experience we had in Jamaica! It was powerful to say the least. I feel blessed to have been given this opportunity and am so grateful for your planning and time you put into this. I am here for whatever you need going forward.”
Kristan
“Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of JET’s pilot year program. The experience was many things- eye opening, humbling, glorious, confusing, laughter filled, thought provoking, and beautiful. Witnessing the disparities in access to education materials hit me hard and made me uncomfortable, but out of that discomfort, growth happened. I look forward to our peers visiting in October and hope to help you move your mission forward to a new group of teachers. When we immerse ourselves in new cultures, our understanding and compassion for others grows.”
Stephanie
“Traveling to Jamaica with JET was a unique experience that I will not forget. This was my first time traveling to Jamaica and it was so special to learn about the culture and people from the island. I loved that we were more than a tourist. I was able to spend 5 days learning about the Jamaican education system and connecting with Jamaicans on a deeper level. I was able to ask questions, help students and get to know their background. I loved that we visited 4 schools, each was very different and helped me understand the education system better. My favorite part about the whole experience was making a strong connection with Mr. Grant, the grade 6th teacher at Brown’s Town Primary, and his students. It has been a joy to continue letter writing, sending photos, emails and messages through Whats App. I’m looking forward to his visit in October, when he and the team come to MN for the week!
