PSU alumni take teaching talents to Belize

  Monday, November 7, 2016 2:00 AM
  News

Pittsburg, KS

When Kristan Noack graduated from the Pittsburg State College of Education in May 2014, she took with her more than just knowledge and a degree. 

She left with a purpose.

“I had professors who believed in my dreams and pushed me to my limits,” she said. “The College of Education has an amazing faculty who taught me how to not only be an exceptional teacher, but also an exceptional person.” 

Noack, a 2014 PSU graduate and now an eighth-grade teacher in Coweta, Okla., said she thought back to her time at PSU during a recent life-changing experience. 

Noack and fellow Pitt State alumnus and teacher Madison Bell recently traveled to Punta Gorda, Belize to teach at the Laugh Out Loud (LOL) Children’s Ministry, an international organization that cares for orphans and neglected children.  Noack and Bell spent three weeks at the organization teaching English and math to the children.

“Our focus was on phonics, as the Belizean educators do not teach phonics,” Noack said. “You can tell the difference between an older student who never learned phonics and the younger students who can sound out a word and know each blend, diphthong and digraph.”

Noack said that while the experience was challenging at times, the overall mission was well worth the time and effort.

“We had students who wanted to learn, wanted to make themselves better, and try hard so they wouldn’t struggle as greatly when they began school,” she said.

Experiences like this, she said, also provide a healthy amount of perspective.

“Our first world problems are just that, first world,” she said. “As a teacher there, I had limited resources at my disposal, yet here I get frustrated when I don’t have computer access for my students or technology isn’t working. Teaching at LOL gave me a pep back in my step. Seeing the impact we had on those kids’ lives was a wonderful feeling.”

Noack said her inspiration to make a difference in the world stems from her experience as a PSU student.

“Pittsburg State gave me the foundation, which I have gotten to build on each school year and every day in my personal life,” she said. “Pittsburg State will always be my home and will always be where my adult life began flourishing.”

 For more information on the LOL, visit http://www.lolministry.com.