Team of two

Stephanie Selvick: Project Lead

Stephanie is an English Ph.D. student / lecturer at the University of Miami focusing on Gender Studies & African Literature. She earned an undergraduate degree in African Studies and Literature from the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh. In compliance with her African Studies degree, Stephanie studied one semester at the University of Cape Town through CIEE and was issued a “Certificate of Advanced International Achievement” for her constant dedication to cross-cultural learning. This certificate was awarded in part for Stephanie’s work teaching African Literature to high school students at Langa High in Langa township.

Other past experiences include teaching ESL to 6-15 year olds in Fukuoka, Japan through U.S.A. Summer Camp [1]. Stephanie has also served as a GEM volunteer [2] in Ccachopata village, Peru while researching and promoting environmental sustainability. While living in Boston, MA she helped mentor Junior age high school girls from Cambridge Ringe & Latin School to succeed personally and academically after high school. She did this in conjunction with Girls Prepare to Succeed [3], a female volunteer / mentoring program started by Julia Reynolds at Simmons College. Lastly, Stephanie has familiarity with the art of grant writing, and has written grants and helped fundraise for several Rotary Youth Exchange projects in District 6220.

Justin Burnett: Multi-Tasker Extraordinaire

Justin is a third-year undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota – Twin-Cities and will be graduating in May of 2010 with a degree in Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature and a minor in Teaching English as a Second Language. Recently, Justin has also received a Cambridge Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) while studying in Prague, Czech Republic.

Prior to University, Justin studied in the Czech Republic from 2004 - 2005 as a Rotary Youth Exchange student from District 6220. Justin is still highly involved in Rotary and was recently elected as President of Rotex, a group which promotes Rotary Youth Exchange, facilitates student exchanges, and raises money and support for work being done in the community and abroad. While studying in the Twin-Cities, Justin has also worked with the East African population living in Minneapolis through tutoring residents of certain housing projects in English, and running a "Job Search" program which helps residents use computers to find employment and develop resumes.