57 middle school and high school teachers are visiting Turkey this summer on two Teacher Study Tours, organized and sponsored by the Turkish Cultural Foundation in partnership with the World Affairs Councils of America (WACA), 18 WACA chapters and the Birmingham International Center. The teachers hail from Dayton (OH), Montana, Peoria (IL), Hawaii, Birmingham (AL), Santa Fe, Brookings (SD), Riverside (CA), Greater Reading (PA), Harrisburg (VA), Houston, Las Vegas, Maine, Mid Hudson Valley (New York), New Hampshire, Seattle, Saint Louis, Washington DC, and Boston.
Beginning their travels in Istanbul, the teachers will visit such famous landmarks as the Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia, and the Blue Mosque. The tour will take the teachers through Western Turkey, visiting Ephesus, the Basilica of St. John, the site of ancient Troy and Gallipoli, where one of the most famous WW I battles was fought. On the tour, teachers will meet with representatives of civil society organizations, participate in workshops by Turkish artists and get the chance to meet fellow Turkish teachers and students during schools visits. The tour will end in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, where teachers will visit the Mausoleum of Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, as well as the National War of Liberation Museum and the Museum on Anatolian Civilizations.
By the end of this summer, the Turkish Cultural Foundation will have introduced Turkey to 348 teachers. As part of the same collaborative program, to date, over 2,500 teachers across the United States have attended educational workshops on Turkey held by local World Affairs Councils and sponsored by the Turkish Cultural Foundation.
For more about the Turkish Cultural Foundation and its “People to People Cultural Exchanges Programs,” visit www.turkishculturalfoundation.org