Where are They Now? A Reflection of the Alpha Delta Kappa International Teacher Education Program (2024)

Sixty Years of Being the Family Away From Home

Alpha Delta Kappa was about 14 years old when the Grand Chapter, now the International Chapter, wanted to tie Educational Excellence, Altruism and World Understanding together and launch a project that addressed the entirety of its mission statement. The result was the International Teacher Education (ITE) Program. The first three selected scholars arrived in the US in 1963. These young women from Switzerland, Germany and Argentina were undergraduates. Now, only graduate students are offered scholarships to attend a university in pursuit of their master’s degree, and their ages range from their mid-twenties to mid-thirties.

A∆K now offers seven scholarships to applicants from around the globe. Each receives $10,000 to help pay tuition and other expenses; most are also Fulbright Scholars. The A∆K-ITE Board is tasked with choosing the students pursuing degrees in an area related to education. The current scholars are from Thailand, India, Estonia, Azerbaijan, and Austria, with two from Indonesia.

Reflecting societal changes around the world, many applicants now plan to seek university faculty positions and posts in their nations’ ministries of education as well as teaching at the elementary and secondary levels. Some, when their master’s is completed, go on to pursue a Ph.D. Scholars may apply for a second year of study in the US and, if selected, receive an additional $10,000 from A∆K. A∆K members of chapters in close proximity to the universities where the scholars will study may be invited to be cosponsors. Sisters are asked to greet the students when they arrive and help them maneuver any difficulties. They become the “family away from home,” providing support, sharing their homes and families, connecting them to the local education community, inviting them to A∆K events, and including them in holidays, vacations, or day trips.

A∆K has continued to learn what former ITE scholars have done since they received their degrees. Here is a small sampling of those experiences from a few of the 260 ITE scholars.

In 1977, Pia Furuskog arrived from Stockholm, Sweden to attend her first two years of college, majoring in Education, at Hood College in Frederick, MD. She was the daughter and granddaughter of teachers, and her goal was to teach Modern Languages, English and German, at the senior high level in Sweden. Her cosponsors were Dr. Patricia Leonard (MD Sigma) and Sylvia Massie (MD Upsilon, now a VA Beta Lambda Sister). Pia attended many MD Sigma meetings, was the guest speaker at the new MD District 5 Founders’ Day Luncheon, and accompanied her cosponsors to the 1978 MD Convention. When she returned home, she and Dr. Leonard stayed in close contact for over 20 years.

Gabriela Garcia, from Mexico, attended the University of Indiana in PA from 1988-1989. She obtained a degree in economics and finance, later receiving a master’s in psychology from the University of Colorado, Denver. At the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Querétaro City, Mexico, she obtained her MBA. She was introduced to and married the Mexican-born nephew of Grand President Ruth Walsh. The wedding, held in Mexico, was attended by Ruth and Gabriela’s cosponsor, Beth Vinton. Gabriela and her husband have two children.

Ellen Roderick (MD Beta) and Evelyn Weicker (MD Alpha) cosponsored Elisabeth (Eli) Arevalo-Guerrero when she arrived from Marbella, Spain, in 2001. Eli was awarded a master’s degree in Linguistics in 2002, and Ellen had the privilege of attending her graduation ceremony. Eli was renewed for another year and acquired her Ph.D. in Linguistics in 2009. At that time, she married David Rosen of Glen Burnie, MD, and was initiated into MD Beta in 2010. Sponsored by Ellen Roderick and following the immigration laws, Eli returned to Spain. In 2015, she came “home” to the US with her one-year-old son Liam.

MD Beta and MD Epsilon held a shower for her, her husband and her son. She is now a professor at UMBC (the University of MD Baltimore County) and is an active member of MD Beta. A Violet Sister, she is the only ITE Scholar to become a chapter member.

Arriving from Spain in 2002, Alicia Jimenez attended the University of MD Baltimore County as had her good friend, Eli. She applied for a second year and was selected to remain in the US from 2003-2004. She received her master’s in Linguistics and returned to Spain. Alicia’s co-sponsors included Millie Gardner (MD Kappa) and Marti English and Tracey Witthaus (MD Epsilon). Millie, Marti and Tracey attended Alicia’s wedding in Spain in 2005. Alicia has taught English to Catholic high school girls for many years and is the mother of 3 children, ages 14, 11 and 6.

Asli Filyet Ersoz, from Turkey, was an ITE Scholar at the University of Wisconsin from 2003-2005, then moved to Athens, GA, to work on her doctoral degree in Mathematics Education. In 2008, she returned home to be married. Back in the US after her wedding, Asli returned to Athens. In 2011, she was back in Turkey, fulfilling the requirements of her Fulbright Scholarship. Traveling across the Atlantic again in 2013, Asli planted her family in the Atlanta area and is currently an Adjunct Professor at Kennesaw State University. She shared, “I am teaching general education mathematics courses, foundations of math courses for early childhood education majors and supervising student teachers in the middle and secondary levels.”

A∆K and Northern Arizona University welcomed Mahishi Ranaweera from Sri Lanka in 2005. When she returned home in 2007, she was a lecturer at the English Language Teaching Unit (ELTU) at the University of Kelaniya. She was quickly promoted to Senior Lecturer and, in 2014, was made head of the unit. Mahishi still had a thirst for knowledge and refocused on her studies and, in 2019, was accepted to University College, London, UK as a Ph.D. student. She shared, “I am in my final year of studies on pragmatic markers of Sri Lankan English.”

In 2006, Hidayah Amin, from Singapore, came to study at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA and Eve Magi arrived from Tartu, Estonia, to study at George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Hidayah interned at the UN after graduation and later moved back to Singapore to work at the Ministry of Education. Two years later, she attended the University of Cambridge in the UK. She is home in Singapore, caring for her ill father and running a consultancy business. She is the author of eight nonfiction and eight children’s books. Since there were no A∆K chapters in Washington, DC, VA and MD decided to share the support for Eve. MD Beta sister Ellen Roderick and VA Beta Gamma sister Ann Brown served as cosponsors. Eve completed a second year and earned her master’s degree in Linguistics. Ellen and Ann were thrilled to attend her graduation in 2008. Eve married her Dutch boyfriend, and they live in the Netherlands with their son.

Augustina Kustulasari from Indonesia completed her master’s degree at Ohio State University in 2009 and returned to Indonesia. There, she became a university lecturer, later teaching in an Elementary Teacher Training Department at a private university. She moved to work as a faculty member in the Department of Public Policy and Management at Universitas Gadjah Mada, a flagship public university. Augustina shared, “I am back in the US with my husband and daughter and am pursuing my doctoral degree at the State University of New York (SUNY) in Educational Policy and Leadership.”