Had my last day of teaching today. Felt good, actually. Also went and bought my first suit 'cause I know I need one and it's cheaper here. Everything's like that now: finishing this, getting that, all preparing to leave. And that includes writing my Description of Service.
What is it? It's the official record of everything we've done. Like a few other volunteers in my group, I've decided to post mine online. Why? To brag of course!
It's just the way such things are. A lot of it is boiler plate: they gave us the exact wording on most of the beginning and end and gave us examples of how the middle should go. Workin' for the government and all.
Thought I'd share.
***
Description of Peace Corps Volunteer Service
Name: Daniel Reynolds
Country of Service: Ukraine
Dates of Service: (December 2004 – December 2006)
After a competitive application process emphasizing professional skills, cultural sensitivity, adaptability and medical fitness, Daniel Reynolds was invited into Peace Corps service as a Teacher Trainer.
On September 29th, 2004, Daniel Reynolds joined the twenty-seventh group of Peace Corps Volunteers to serve in Ukraine. He entered an intensive 12-week Peace Corps Ukraine community-based training program. The training program included 150 hours of technical instruction in TEFL methodologies and teaching practice, 200 hours of Ukrainian language training, and 100 hours of cross-cultural studies (history, economy, cultural norms, etc.). To reinforce language and cross-cultural learning, Daniel Reynolds lived with a Ukrainian family in the town of Obhiev, Kyiv Region throughout training.
In preparation for his Peace Corps service, Daniel Reynolds, while a trainee, taught at Public School #11. While at Public School #11, Daniel Reynolds taught English and Country Studies. As a teacher trainer, he also helped the four other trainees in his cluster plan their and observed their teaching to provide feedback.
U.S. Ambassador John Herbst swore in Daniel Reynolds as a Peace Corps Volunteer on December 23rd, 2004 in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Daniel Reynolds was assigned to Zhytomyr, a city of 300,000 in west-central Ukraine. He worked as a full-time instructor at the Zhytomyrska Oblast Recertification Institute which trains and recertifies 200 teachers a year. He was one of two TEFL Pedagogy teachers and reported directly to the institute’s director Ivan Ivanovich Yakuno, while working closely with his counterpart Irina Borislavina Gumenyuk, the Head of the Foreign Languages Department.
Teacher were recertified at the institute every five years in groups of 25-30, each attending month-long courses. Daniel Reynolds taught more than 300 teachers over his two year service, personally training 40% of the English teachers in the Zhytomyrska Oblast. He taught the following 90-minute seminars:
•Introduction and Terminology of the Recertification Course
•Approaches to Language Teaching
•The Communicative Method
•Teaching Speaking Skills
•Teaching Listening Skills
•Teaching Reading Skills
•Teaching Writing Skills
•Teaching Integrated Skills
•Teaching Vocabulary
•Teaching Grammar
•Teaching Mixed-Ability Classrooms
•Lesson Planning
•Classroom Instruction/Management
•Teaching Young Learners (five different seminars)
•Language Improvement (four different seminars)
•Country Studies (four different seminars)
Daniel Reynolds also developed and taught an advanced English language program for secondary students. His lessons fostered critical, creative thinking through interactive learning. This program prepared students for Ukraine’s highly competitive English competitions (Olympiads). All his students qualified in their regional Olympiads and went on to compete at the oblast level. At the oblast level, one of his students took first place and two took second place in their respective divisions and all three went on to compete nationally.
Daniel Reynolds developed, with Irina Borislavina Gumenyuk, all the tasks used in the Zhytomyrska Oblast English Olympiads for 2005 and 2006. This involved writing numerous writing and speaking prompts, as well as creating multiple-choice and true/false reading and listening tasks for three different grade levels. He also judged at the Zhytomyrska Oblast Spanish Olympiad in 2005 and at the Zhytomyrska Oblast English Olympiads in 2005 and 2006 (in order to prevent a conflict of interest, he did not judge the grade level of the students he was coaching). When the Ukrainian National English Olympiads took place in Zhytomyr in 2006, Daniel Reynolds helped coordinate the ten Peace Corps volunteers who came to Zhytomyr to judge at them.
Daniel Reynolds developed a large body of original teaching materials during his service. These included: a twelve lesson integrated skills English Competition training course that included audiovisual materials and used authentic materials; a five lesson Country Studies course on America, each lesson including authentic materials, digital photographs, texts with questions, listening exercises using audio from native speakers and short videos (many filmed and edited by Daniel Reynolds himself); a 40-page booklet, written in conjunction with Irina Borislavina Gumenyuk, on Olympiad training, which was sold by the institute to teachers in the oblast; and a twelve lesson update of the British Councils Recertification Curriculum. All these materials were distributed by the institute, by Peace Corps and by Daniel Reynolds to Ukrainian teachers and Peace Corps Volunteers for use in their classrooms. The update of the British Councils Recertification Curriculum was distributed to all the teacher trainers in Ukraine Group 31.
To increase awareness of the communicative method and show its applicability in the classroom, Daniel Reynolds taught a number of “master lessons” at various schools in the Zhytomyrska oblast. He would visit a classroom (often in a town or village) and teach a TEFL lesson to a classroom of students. These lessons would be observed by the school’s English teachers so that they could learn how communicative teaching techniques could be used in a real-life classroom setting.
These were Daniel Reynolds primary assignments.
In addition to his primary responsibilities, Daniel Reynolds worked to increase the level of English in his community by hosting a 90 minute English Club at School #12 once a week (average attendance of 20 students); teaching “guest classes” at the Zhytomyr Pedagogical University; substituting on numerous occasions for sick teachers at School #12; and hosting a weekly English movie club at the Zhytomyr library. The movie club proved to be especially popular and was sometimes standing room only. The participants came from all walks of life, including retirees, teachers, and university students, and the club became so well-known in the community that it was covered twice by a local newspaper.
Daniel Reynolds served as the oblast manager of the Peace Corps “Practical Project”, a project aimed at increasing the English and pedagogy levels of English teachers in select oblasts in Ukraine. Daniel Reynolds was responsible for the coordination and oversight of ten TEFL Peace Corps Volunteers in his oblast, who in turn conducted monthly or bi-monthly workshops with teachers in their communities. He conducted monthly meetings with the volunteers, distributed teaching materials to them and observed them teaching in their classrooms once a semester to provide feedback on their teaching. Through this project, dozens of young teachers in the oblast saw dramatic improvements in their ability to speak English, improvements which would no doubt carry over into their classrooms.
Interested in both youth sporting and wanting to combat the alarming increase in HIV infection in Ukraine (during Daniel Reynolds’ service, Ukraine had the fastest growing HIV infection rate in the world), Daniel Reynolds, working with a sporting-NGO called Polissya, applied for and was awarded two Small Project Assistance Grants for a total amount of $8,262.
The first SPA grant, for $3,342, was to complete and purchase equipment for a 25-foot high climbing wall. After completion, 93 students were trained in basic climbing techniques on this wall. To be able to climb, the students had to attend a one hour seminar on HIV/AIDS provided by the Ukrainian branch of ACET (AIDS Care Education Training), an international HIV-awareness organization. These students were then allowed to climb for free on the wall on nights and weekends. The wall became fairly well-known. Its opening was covered in two newspapers and it was later visited by Country Director Karl Beck, Country Director Diana Schmidt, two regional managers, SPA project coordinator Anne Silver and Peace Corps Deputy Director Jodi Mitchell.
The second grant SPA grant, also with Polissya and for $4,920, purchased ten bikes and materials to mark bike trails in the Zhytomyr region. A 25-kilometer bike trail was marked with signs in the wooded area south of Zhytomyr and Polissya began conducting biking excursions in the oblast. Orphans were the target group of this project because they were statistically more at risk of being involved in crime and the sex industry. In order to ride the bikes, the 74 orphans who participated in the project had to also attend an HIV/AIDS seminar provided by ACET. Both projects are continuing and Polissya plans to offer bike excursions to local students beginning in spring 2007.
Daniel Reynolds continued to work with Polissya, helping to promote their projects. He brought them business from a Zhytomyr-based Dutch computer company, got them listed in Brandt’s Rough Guide, got them featured on a television show focused on successful Ukrainian organizations, and got donations for them of new climbing ropes from New England Ropes, space heaters from COSing volunteers, and a two year subscription from Rock + Ice.
During the summers, Daniel Reynolds continued his work in increasing student interest in sporting, American culture and the English language. In 2005, with 11 other Peace Corps Volunteers, he participated in a summer camp organized by the Sevastopol Recertification Institute, which helped more than 30 students practice their English skills and learn about American culture and civil rights. Also in 2005, Daniel Reynolds was invited to be a master teacher for the staff of YouthCAN, which ran an extremely popular civic education youth camp called Rah-Rah. He conducted a marathon four-hour pedagogy session for YouthCAN’s trainers so that they could better teach the participants of their camp. Later in 2005, Daniel Reynolds was trained by American Councils to teach at their Pre-Departure Orientations (PDO) for Ukrainian students who would be going to America for nine months on the FLEX exchange program. During two four-day sessions he trained 30 students using a Department of State-approved 12-lesson curriculum. In 2006, Daniel Reynolds was invited back by American Councils to be the Master Teacher at their Training of Trainers. He taught teaching skills to 40 trainers from six countries and then observed and gave feedback for their mock-trainings during the four-day session. That summer, Daniel Reynolds taught another 15 FLEX students during a four-day PDO. Later in the summer, he taught 100 teachers about American schools at a week-long “teacher camp” hosted by the Zhytomyr pedagogical university.
In 2006, as the result of five months of planning, 20 students participated in Camp Edelweiss, a climbing/teamwork/healthy lifestyles summer camp that pulled together resources from Polissya, ACET, Peace Corps, American Councils, The Center for Youth Initiatives and donations from both businesses in Zhytomyr and international ones such as Mammut, Black Diamond and Metolius. Daniel Reynolds managed a staff of twelve during the five-day camp, including four Peace Corps Volunteers. At the camp, teams of students climbed Zhytomyr’s cliffs, competed and cooperated while completing team challenges like crossing a river with a rope or navigating obstacle courses, and participated in seminars that covered HIV/AIDS, narcotics, alcohol abuse, civic responsibility and more. Due to the sponsorship, every participant at the free summer camp received tee-shirts, completion certificates, posters and stickers. In order to not limit participants, the camp was conducted entirely in Russian and Ukrainian. Daniel Reynolds worked closely with the local media and the camp was covered by three newspapers, a radio station and a television station. The Ukrainian staff participants also reported that they gained a great deal of project management and public relations knowledge from working at the camp. One staff member said putting the camp on her resume and talking about the experience during her interview was likely what awarded her a placement in the UGRAD exchange program. Now in the program, she is currently studying at St. Lawrence in Canton, New York.
Continuing his interest in sporting and HIV education, Daniel Reynolds was one of two project managers on Run Across Ukraine, a relay race from the Eastern border of Ukraine to the western one to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS. Along with PCV Jon Kendrick, Daniel Reynolds helped organize and grow the run; brought on board other PCVs and organizations (including ACET, American Councils, the All-Ukrainian Network of People Living With HIV/AIDS, Democrats Abroad and the U.S. Embassy); secured the donation of advertising, tents, bikes, a PA system and thousands of HIV information pamphlets; designed a webpage and got the web address http://www.runacrossukraine.org and webmaster services donated; and contracted for a bus that would support the runners on their journey. Although scheduled for September 2006, issues with securing permission for the run from the Ministry of Family, Youth and Sport (who were in turn plagued by constant political upheaval and uncertainty) delayed the run past the Close of Service date of both Jon Kendrick and Daniel Reynolds. Both volunteers transferred their responsibilities to two new, enthusiastic volunteers, introduced them to the leaders of the organizations supporting the run and helped prepare the new team of PCVs who would organize it. Daniel Reynolds hopes to return to Ukraine to help manage the run when it will begin in May 2007.
Near the end of his service, Daniel Reynolds became increasingly interested in working with civic education groups. He helped The Center for Youth Initiatives write their Democracy Grant for “Active Community, Transparent Authorities”, which sought to empower Zhytomyr NGOs by providing them with resources and workshops and to open the avenues of communication between Zhytomyr NGOs and the Zhytomyr Government (which was also going through upheavals, including the recall of the mayor due to election fraud). Daniel Reynolds also advised and did translation work for several grants pursued by the Ukrainian branch of the International Organization for Human Rights, an NGO that conducts human rights monitoring in Ukraine (particularly in prisons) and conducts civic education, leadership and conflict resolution seminars with Zhytomyr’s students. Daniel Reynolds advised on and translated a Democracy Grant for Commercial and Information Center, an NGO which wants to air regular three-minute spots on local television to inform the citizenry of their legal rights. Ukrainians would be able to SMS, call or email the center to ask legal questions which would be answered in the next television spot. These spots would also provide information to help citizens protect themselves against police extortion and human trafficking, both serious problems in Ukraine.
As Daniel Reynolds’ Russian abilities improved, he was able to offer volunteer translation services, including helping one teacher with her master’s thesis; translating a press release for Soldiers for Peace, an NGO of retired soldiers that do community work; and translating the menu for the Corsair restaurant so that they could attract more foreign business.
Daniel Reynolds continued to initiate projects even as he was leaving. With less than three weeks before his COS date, Daniel Reynolds took a group of Ukrainian university students to the orphanage with which he had worked on the Bike Project. Seeing that the orphans needed more attention and interaction from adults (a staff of 8 took full-time care of more than 100 orphans), the group, with Daniel Reynolds advising and organizing, decided to create a social club that would visit the orphanage weekly to interact with the orphans, bringing them movies, music and conversation.
Daniel Reynolds was extremely mindful of his short stay in Ukraine and actively worked to make sure his projects were sustainable after he left. For each major project he groomed a Ukrainian or American replacement and made sure he/she had an active part in the planning process. Due to this, the Climbing Wall; the Bike Project; Camp Edelweiss; the Movie Club; Run Across Ukraine; Active Community, Transparent Authorities; the Orphanage Project and the Legal Rights project will all continue after he goes back to America.
Besides his work with host country nationals, Daniel Reynolds was an active volunteer in different Peace Corps projects. In addition to teaching at several in-service trainings, Daniel Reynolds was a member of the Multicultural Awareness Group. With the group, Daniel Reynolds helped to put together a series of lesson plans that taught cultural sensitivity and helped to create a multicultural awareness video. Channeling his former career as a journalist, Daniel Reynolds was also an active contributor to Peace Corps Ukraine’s newsletter, Nu Scho?!, with an article in all but one of the monthly newsletters printed during his service. Daniel Reynolds’ writing also led him to work with Peace Corps Ukraine’s public relations department, writing several articles for them on projects he and other volunteers had done.
Although he was taught Ukrainian during training, Daniel Reynolds was assigned to a Russian-speaking site and so began studying Russian in his spare time. At the end of training, Daniel Reynolds tested in Ukrainian and received a score of Intermediate-Mid on the Language Proficiency Inventory. At the end of his service, Daniel Reynolds tested in Russian and received a score of Advanced-Low on the Language Proficiency Inventory.
Following 750 years as a colony of other Eastern and Central European states, Ukraine decided in 1990 by plebiscite to be an independent country oriented towards Western Europe. Ukraine welcomes change and encourages its people to open their minds to new concepts. Daniel Reynolds’ work as a teacher of English language, as well as his role as a transmitter of western culture and its approaches to problem solving, were part of a nation-wide effort in Ukraine to reorient itself towards the West.
Additionally, Daniel Reynolds fulfilled the goals of Peace Corps service by giving of himself, both professionally and personally, to his site and the local community. His contribution, whether to the teachers of his institute, to the pupils of the local schools or to the members of the local community, provided opportunities for Ukrainians and Americans to create common bonds and to gain understanding and appreciation for one another.
Pursuant to Section 5(f) of the Peace Corps Act, 22 USC 2504(f), as amended, any former Volunteer employed by the United States Government following her/his Peace Corps Volunteer Service is entitled to have any period of satisfactory Peace Corps service credited for purposes of retirement, seniority, reduction in force, leave, and other privileges based on length of Government service. That service shall not be credited toward completion of the probationary or trial period of any service requirement for career appointment.
This is to certify in accordance with Executive Order 11103 of April 10, 1963, that Daniel Reynolds served successfully as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Her/his service ended on November 18, 2006. He is therefore eligible to be appointed as a career-conditional employee in the competitive civil service on a non-competitive basis. This benefit under the Executive Order extends for a period of one year after termination of Volunteer service, except that the employing agency may extend the period for up to three years for a former Volunteer who enters military service, pursues studies at a recognized institution of higher learning, or engages in other activities that, in the view of the appointing agency, warrant extension of the period.