Fulbright Reality Czech

Eva King is a 2022-2023 Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Alumna who taught at Purkyňovo Gymnázium in Strážnice, Czech Republic. Prior to teaching in the Czech Republic, Eva was a 4th grade public school teacher in Maryland, and upon her return to Maryland she began teaching 3rd grade. Eva King is currently still teaching 3rd grade near Washington D.C. and keeps up with one of her former mentor teachers, Dáša Lovecká, by doing a Pen Pal program. The Pen Pal program is with Eva’s American 3rd graders and Dáša’s Czech students who are in primary school in Hroznová Lhota, where Dáša works now. Eva also keeps up with her primary mentor teacher, Katrin Holubíková Jongepierová, by messaging and video calling, especially to see Katrin’s first baby, Jonáš. While Eva is also in contact with some of her former students, some of the people she keeps up with most are her lifelong friends and fellow 2022-2023 ETA alumni. Photo on the left: Eva at her mentor teacher, Katrin’s, wedding ceremon...

Anna, Maddie, Saemyi and Madison arrived in the Czech Republic in August 2021 to assist with English language education at Czech high schools in Litomyšl, Kolín, Světlá nad Sázavou and Jaroměř as Fulbright grantees. All of them met for the first time at the in-country training that the Fulbright Commission hosted during the last week of August at Castle Liblice, located about 30 miles North of Prague. The training for the 33 English Teaching Assistants who are currently placed at high schools all over the Czech Republic took five days. For the last two days, Czech high school teachers, who serve as mentors of Fulbright ETAs during their whole 10-month stay joined as well. To encourage communication and cooperation among grantees and teachers placed nearby, all American grantees and their Czech hosts were grouped into so-called “nests.” Some nests are nice and tight, with grantees located within 30 minutes away of each other, while other grantees have to travel a bit more. Looking at th...

Last week was full of sudden decisions and twists in the lives of our grantees. Many of them had to pack up at short notice to go back home according to the changing announcements. One of them was our ETA, Alec. Read his moving farewell. text by Alec Travers (Fulbright English Teaching Assistant) As previously mentioned, due to worldly circumstances (see: Pandemic), I’m writing this farewell letter earlier than I was expecting to. My originally planed 10 months in the Czech Republic were cut short a few months, however, I would not like to further dwell on that missing time, but rather share appreciation and gratitude for the incredible 7 months I was so fortunate to have. It’s now been a week since my arrival back home to Roanoke, VA and in that time I have been trying to formulate the best farewells I could extend, to try and encapsulate my thanks to so many people and things that shaped my Fulbright experience. To Tabor: Tabor, you are a beautiful city. Your cobblestone...