Hundreds of teachers will be coming to Waterloo early next month in hopes of getting a job that might take them to an exotic location somewhere on the other side of the planet. Tracey Godon is director of the University of Northern Iowa’s Overseas Recruiting Fair, slated for February 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
Godon says they usually host up to 130 American international schools to interview and hire teachers and staff. UNI works with about 600 elementary and secondary teachers who come from mostly Iowa and the Midwest but several are from spots all over the U.S. and around the world. She says the schools that are recruiting are located in about 70 different nations.
Godon says the schools are American international schools that are K-12, privately-run schools around the globe, many of which are serving the children of people who work in U.S. embassies and various U.S.-based businesses abroad. She says this is the 32nd annual Overseas Recruiting Fair at UNI.
Godon says over the past three decades, 23-thousand educators have gone through the program, along with hundreds of schools. She says, "The university is certainly quite proud to connect with and serve and assist in the educational process all around the globe and serve the schools that are really out there to help our kids worldwide." She says this fair is the oldest international recruitment event in existence and will be held at the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center in Waterloo.
Registration is full, but plans are already in the works for the 2009 event.