I began my career in education 25 years ago as a student teacher at North Eugene High School. My cooperating teacher left me a textbook, a few ideas for assignments, and contact information for ICSP at the University of Oregon. I was so inspired by the idea of literally bringing the world into my classroom, I designed a unit fo rmy global studies curriculum aroun dthe ICSP students. A quarter of a century later, thousands of students from North Eugene High School have spent part of their freshman year learning about the world through the eyes of ICSP students. We have recently held an alumni event to mark the end of our campus at 200 Silver Lane (we now have a new campus at 250 Silver Lane). As former students strolled the halls, hey all poked their heads into my classroom and demanded to know if I still did "the cool project with the international students" because it had inspired in them a profound curiosity about the world.

My students begin the unit sifting through sources, working to understand the geography, culture, and history of their assigned country. They dutifully complete assignments and occasionally call me over to share some interesting idea or picture, but they remain relatively uninspired until... The day the ICSP students arrive and they get to ask their thousands of questions, see artifacts from the country, laugh at shared stories, and understand the shared human experience of this world. I can't imagine trying to teach my students about the world without ICSP. Thank you!