Mount Prospect teacher’s setback becomes opportunity of a lifetime

For Mount Prospect native Anne Senn, a professional setback earlier this year became the opportunity of a lifetime.

Senn, an elementary schoolteacher, was laid off in the spring from Mount Prospect Elementary District 57 as part of a budget-cutting measure. Just a few months later, she was on a plane to the Dominican Republic, where she is using her teaching skills for people who need them the most.

“I realized that I suddenly had the chance to teach in an amazing place that had so few resources,” said Senn, 26. “I threw all my heart into it, and here I am.”

Senn arrived in the Dominican town of Jaibon with her friend, Arizona native Christina Ellsworth, in September. They plan to stay at least until the end of the current school year in May.

Both are teaching and trying to motivate students in the local school. Senn is teaching English to the third- and fourth-grade students. She recently started holding some English classes for adults as well. Ellsworth is teaching high school students.

She and Ellsworth are volunteering in the local school on their own, without sponsorship or affiliation from any group.

Senn described Jaibon as a small, impoverished town with little in the way of resources or commerce. It is about an hour northwest of Santiago, the second largest city in the Dominican Republic.

The school is open for just half a day — elementary students use it in the morning, high school students in the afternoon — because government funding for education is extremely limited, Senn said. Teachers have almost no resources at their disposal. Tools like computers, copy machines, printers and overhead projectors are virtually nonexistent. Children often have to pay for their exams because the teachers print them out at an Internet center a quarter-mile from the school.

“It’s tough just getting the basics of education accomplished under those circumstances,” Senn said. “We know we’re not going to change the whole education system while we’re here, but maybe just giving a little of our energy and passion will have some long-term benefits.”

Demand for English instruction in Jaibon is huge, Senn said. A working knowledge of the language is key to advancing one’s education or getting a good job down the road.

“That’s why the adults here have shown so much interest, as well as the children,” she said.

Senn and Ellsworth’s first experience in Jaibon came during a sponsored volunteer trip they took in 2010. They worked at a local orphanage then, and the experience touched them both. They were amazed and inspired by the way the people of Jaibon — especially the children — fiercely held on to hope, despite the challenges they face.

“I was blown away,” Senn said. “I knew I wanted to come back and do more.”

Senn and Ellsworth set a fundraising goal of $10,995 for their current trip — enough to cover living expenses and allow them to provide the school with some needed resources. By the end of September, they had raised roughly half of the goal.

The two friends are documenting their experience on a website, efectodeondo.org. The site includes a section about their fundraising and a way to donate.

While working in Jaibon, Senn stays in contact with her friends and family via email and Skype. Her mother, Jane Senn, said she remains awed by what her daughter is doing.

“She faces a ton of obstacles,” Jane Senn said. “It gets very frustrating, but she is determined to persevere. I could never do what she has decided to do.”

Anne Senn, who recently earned a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Concordia University Chicago, said her experience in Jaibon so far has only strengthened her passion for teaching.

“It’s made me a better teacher, more creative,” she said. “I’ve learned how to make do with less, and at the same time I’ve become so much more appreciative of what we have in the U.S.

“It’s also showed me that kids are kids, no matter where they are in the world. We need to do whatever we can to educate children properly. I feel so lucky to have that chance in such a wonderful place.”