New Young Learners Resource Center Opens in Szczecin

12 February 2009

 

New Young Learners Resource Center Opens in Szczecin

Poland’s newest Young Learners Resource Center opened in Szczecin on February 3. The inauguration ceremony, celebrated with an official ribbon cutting, took place at the recently renovated Youth Palace where the center is located. The ceremony was conducted by Andrew Schilling, Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, Candace Faber, Assistant Cultural Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, Elzbieta Masojc, Deputy Mayor of Szczecin, and Malgorzata Pokorska, Director of Szczecin's Youth Palace. The center in Szczecin is the eighth YLRC in Poland. 

Young Learners Resource Centers are a cornerstone of Mission Poland’s English teaching program. In the three years since the first YLRC opened in Warsaw, the program proved to be an invaluable resource for Polish teachers of English, who draw on the materials and methodologies supported by the centers, located in several cities throughout Poland. The YLRCs fulfill a critical need for qualified English teachers in Poland and promote knowledge of the United States’ history and culture through American teaching materials. The centers introduce books from U.S. publishers that are unknown or unavailable in the local teaching market. Each Resource Center has a “processing corner” where teachers can use a unique die-cut machine to prepare their own materials. The YLRCs provide a venue for teachers to share their syllabi with other teachers, thus creating an opportunity to exchange ideas and establish networks.