Ms. Adams' Wiki Page!
(CHECK OUT MY "MINI-BLOGS" BELOW OUTLINING MY DAYS FROM THE PROGRAM)
(AlSO CHECK OUT SOME OF MY PICS TOO: http://www.flickr.com/photos/senora_adams/)
LaTricea Adams is a native of Memphis, TN. She received a Bachelors of Arts in Foreign Languages with a concentration in Spanish from The University of Memphis. During her time at The University of Memphis, she was very involved on campus. She was a finalist for Miss University of Memphis 2006-2007, Recipient of the NAACP Community Service Award, Our Future Alumni Award, Russell Weiner Philanthropy Award and Who’s Who Among Colleges and Universities. One of her largest accomplishments is founding an organization entitled African American Educators of Tomorrow. The organization has been running strong for 4 years. She just completed a Masters of Arts in Teaching at Belmont University in 2009 where she was initiated into Kappa Delta Pi Education Honor Society. In January 2010, she was recognized as Kappa Delta Pi’s Teacher of Honor (a national recognition of honor for outstanding teachers). She is currently working on her Doctorate in Educational Administration and Supervision at Tennessee State University where she plans to graduate in spring 2012. She was initiated into the Golden Key National Honor Society during her time at TSU.
Her teaching experience began at Maplewood High School in Nashville, TN where she engaged students with the love of diversity and passion for Spanish. She served as the National Beta Club sponsor where she encouraged students to uphold service and leadership within their school and community. She was also an active member of the Freshman Academy in conjunction with Maplewood’s Smaller Learning Communities site. She currently teaches at Cane Ridge High School (a new school which opened in June 2008) also in Nashville where she serves as Foreign Language/ELD department chair (2 years), Faculty Advisory Committee Member, Varsity Cheerleading Coach (2 years) and District Formative Assessment Trainer. Within just 2 years, LaTricea added on Levels 3 and 4 in Spanish and Level 3 in French within the World Languages Department. She will assume the position of AVID Coordinator for the 2010-2011 school year as well as continue teaching advanced Spanish courses.
LaTricea is an active member of the Tennessee Foreign Language Teacher Association (TFLTA) and was a recipient of the Dale Sievers Fund for the Future in 2007. She was chosen to present to fellow teachers throughout the State of TN at the TFLTA conference in November 2008. This particular presentation was chosen as Best of Tennessee, and she presented on behalf of her home state at the SCOLT regional conference in Winston Salem in April 2010. At the SCOLT conference, based on a rank 1-5 with 5 being outstanding, LaTricea scored a 4.5. She will also be presenting at the ACTFL conference in November 2010. LaTricea Adams is a current participant of the Southern Institute for Language Learning. She also was a representative for Vanderbilt University’s Center for Latin American and Iberian Studies Curriculum Research in The Dominican Republic in the summer of 2008. Her most recent honor was being selected to participate in the 2010 Toyota International Teaching Program to Costa Rica. She will be able to create authentic curriculum from this abroad experience.
Welcome to Ms. Adams' Comment Page!
10 July 2010
Today we said our farewells! All of the curriculum groups did a PHENOMENAL job! I was so impressed with everyones' presentations. I gained some much from each one.
Dinner at Verbana was excellent as usual! All of the food served came directly from their farm:-) AMAZING!
It was so hard to say goodbye, but we all missed our families and friends. This opportunity was truly a blessing and one that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I am amazed that at 25 with 3 years of teaching (going into the 4th!), I was granted such a once-in-a-lifetime chance to visit a place that many people can only dream of. Thank you so much!!!!!
Today was mostly a travel day...but when we arrived to Kioro!!!! OMG! This was the nicest hotel I have ever had the pleasure of staying in! There was a perfect view of the volcano from all rooms. There was a wonderful Hot Springs pool area...nice;-) We got to see the volcano erupt twice during our 1st dinner there! There was a jacuzzi in our room...WOW! This was like a dream!
Last day @ EARTH!
Today we visited the on-campus farms at EARTH. First stop was the "pig pens". LOL! Surprisingly, it didn't smell really bad! Our guide informed us that the swine (pigs) had a very healthy diet that consists of left over food items from the cafeteria.
We visited the dairy farm as well. The cows were so adorable:-) I was asked to be our guide's "assistant" which included me holding a hand full of fresh cow manure. GROSS! Once again, the manure really had no smell. Very interesting! Just like with the pigs, the cows had a very healthy and strict diet.
Next stop was our homestays...our farm was quite interesting. This was the true test of my speaking abilities and I was completely successful! I felt so proud:-) Our main duty on the farm was to remove a tree called "Chango" and place it in an area on the farmer's land where it could grow better. The wood from these trees will be used for furniture. The farmer expressed that he hoped that these trees could provide money for his sons and their families in the future.
The farm house was very small. The kitchen and eating area was outside. They used the most adorable and neat wood burning stove. Our meals were DELICIOUS! The farmer showed us all how to play dominos and it was immediately our "farm favorite". The family was really nice and truly opened their home up to us. I purchased them a journal book from EARTH and I was so excited that they immediately used it as their new visitor log.
One last thing...I saw a monkey! He was so cute! He was black with a black face and had a white rim around his black little face. I was waiting the entire trip to see a monkey, and the homestay gave me my lucky shot! Yay!
Day 2 at EARTH!
SCHOOL VISITS TODAY!!!! The school visit was a highlight of the trip for me. I had the opportunity of visiting a traditional high school. The high school had a focus on the arts and business (similar to a magnet in the States). We were cordially greeted and given an overview of the school by one the teachers. The principal of the school also gave us a statistical background in regards to the school's progress. The implementation of "Night School" has proven to be a successful alternative for many of the enrolled students. This is a new concept that my district used and it proved to be a conducive alternative as well.
The majority of the students come from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Also, a large percentage of the student population come from families that participate in drug smuggling:-(
About 80% of graduates attend college! WOW! We had the pleasure of being serenaded by a flute player and 2 talented young ladies who sang songs and 1 played a guitar. The most memorable song was the crowd pleaser "Rice and Beans". LOL!
We visited a Spanish Grammar class which was awesome. The students were really engaged and they seemed to have a great rapport with their teacher. I realllly learned a lot in this class. It took me back to my Spanish undergrad classes! These students were really bright. They were diagraming sentences. Don't see that too much in the States any more (I wish we did though!).
All the students were very eager to meet us and ask questions. I was glad I was able to utilize my translation skills;-) LOL! This was truly a wonderful experience!
Later that night was party time! LOL! We went to a beautiful restaurant called Costa Flores. It reminded me of a Costa Rican styled luau. I really enjoyed conversing with some of the Costa Rican teachers. It was interesting to know that we share some of the same issues that we have in the states (i.e. cell phones). The highlight of the evening had to be the Tradtional Costa Rican dance and music performance. SOOOO MUCH FUN! We had a ball!
09 July 2010
Well we bid farewell to fair Osa today. One more flight with Nature Air and it was just as wonderful as the 1st time! We arrived at Earth University...what a beautiful campus! The lanscape is marvelous! I really enjoyed the hot shower we were able to participate in (Osa was nice, but that hot shower at Earth won the prize!).
Earth is one of the most interesting campuses I have ever visited. A complete contrast to typical American universities. The campus is completely sustainable! I was excited to hear about the diversity of the campus from our nice welcome from Earth. We were given some of their very authentic tea as a gift. How sweet!
Today was probably one of the best days for me. WE PLANTED MANGROVES with the assistance of some local fishermen. These fishermen were so knowledgeable and taught us so much! This truly a once in a lifetime experience! The rain didn't stop us from having BLAST! Mardestinee was my partner for planting the trees. I think we made a great team. I really liked digging those holes for the mangrove seeds. The seeds were uniquely shaped...very long with a keen end which was to be placed in the earth. I wish I could come back in 4 years (length of time for maturity) to see if any of the 30 or so mangroves I planted grew:-)
I really enjoyed our Lecture Bernando. He gave some interesting tidbits and facts about the all the different perspectives of the stakeholders involved in sustainability. One thing that stood out to me most was the impact of real estate and sustainability. These huge hotel chains with their plethora of amenities are destroying both the natural environment of Costa Rica and knocking out the "Mom and Pop" places native to CR. I have made a vow that I will do my research before jusy randomly selecting my place of lodging on my next trip:-)
Today was a very rainy day. We took a bus tour in the morning which didn't go exactly as planned due to the rain. It was still AWESOME nonetheless.
The coolest part of the day was the boat ride. The boats were a little sketchy at 1st, but it worked out really well! Another first for me...I DID IT!!!!! YAY!
Today was the big hike in Osa....WHEW WHAT AN ADVENTURE! This was a huge feat being that this was my first hike...in a rainforest! I must not lie...it was a very difficult task. The first go round was not very successful on my part...I was really scared. On the second go round (the hike to the Water Hole), my very supportive friend (and fellow Toyota program alum, Tim) guided me all the way. I DID IT! YAY! Thanks Tim! YOU'RE AWESOME! Our Costa Rican guide Julio was very supportive as well:-)
Today we flew on the Nature Air plane...words can't describe how wonderful this flight was! The splendor of the views are indescribable!
We visited a very quaint community called "La Gamba". Some of the community women prepared a delicious lunch for us...you can't get more authentic than that! The women sold some gorgeous jewelry (of course I splurged) and other beautiful crafts. What was even more interesting is that they made their own line of natural shampoo products. AWESOME! Looking at their gorgeous locks, I was sold! LOL!
Today we took a visit to the US Embassy. What a wealth of information. Costa Rica has become more than just a great tourist attraction; Costa Rica has become the home of many Americans. Some have gained citizenship while others rotate out of the country every 90 days to maintain their residence.
Costa Rica receives about 1 million American tourists a year(about 50% of the entire Costa Rican tourist population). Unfortunately, there were about 200 deaths of Americans in Costa Rica last year mostly due to "eco-tourism gone wrong". Costa Rica still is deemed as the safest country in Central America. More US Passports are lost in Costa Rica than any other country in the world...WOW!
We learned more about CR's aspiration of becoming substantially more Carbon Neutral by 2012. We also got an"ambiguous" overview of CR's relationship with China via CR's access for fisheries...interesting.
08 July 2010
We are in COSTA RICA BABY! LOL! What a lovely place it is...people too;-)
We were engaged by a wonderful lecture presented by Dr. Pedro Leon. The most engaging point of his presentation was his elaboration on Poverty vs. Environmental Issues...killing endangered species for survival. It really made me look at this issue in a different perspective.
Our city tour of San Jose was the best! There is so much history..very unique history as well. We learned about the huge influx of immigrants from Nicaragua. We also saw a tree bearing ther fruit "cas" which is delicious and used in many juices and other refreshments in Costa Rica. The 2 most interesting things I saw on the tour was the piece of the Berlin Wall and some real life acrobats in action performing an acrobatic piece...AMAZING!
I was also impressed that Costa Rica has recently elected their 1st female president. GIRL POWER!
Today we visited the Everglades. Boy was it HOT! LOL! We didn't get a chance to see very much wildlife due to the change in temperature. We spotted a few birds (Woodstocks) here and there. I did spot a really cool alligator and a HUGE sea turtle...AWESOME! We picked up some algae which was really slimey...WOW! LOL!
The employees at The Everglades were wonderful! They taught us so much! I gained so many wonderful ideas I would like to bring into my classroom. We participated in a "Melodrama" where each of us were given a role (characterized by a really cute "costume") and each time we heard our names in the "Melodrama", we had to act out the role of the character we were assigned.
This would be a wonderful listening and TPR activity in a World Language classroom...I am sooo snagging this idea for my Spanish IV class!
The park rangers also informed us about camping activities was school groups. Initially in the school year at my school of employment, we planned a study abroad trip to Costa Rica believe it or not, but due to the flood, many students' parents could no longer afford it. I had an epiphany and thought that it may be a good idea to do a study abroad "in-country" trip. It could involve Ecology, AP Biology and upper level Spanish Students. Yay! I hope this works out, because I think it would be GREAT!
Today the group was provided with a wonderful introduction of the mission of the Toyota Corporation. It was so enlightening to learn about the principles in which Toyota stands upon and their dedication to environmental stewardship. What a wonderful company! Toyota is definitely a trailblazer in manufacturing environmentally friendly cars.
