JET Program Participants
Please join me in congratulating two recent Liberal Arts alumnae who are participating in the 2015–2016 Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program.
Brettley Ross (BA 2015, School of Languages and Cultures) is serving as a JET assistant language teacher (ALT). ALTs assist Japanese language teachers in teaching English in Japan’s public school system. In addition, they often assist in preparing for and judging speech contests and act as advisors for after-school English clubs. Brettley majored in Japanese and Asian Studies, and was the 2014–2015 Outstanding Senior in Asian Studies. She was one of only 32 U.S. high school students who visited Japan for two weeks in 2011 as part of the JET Memorial Program.
Shannon Smith (BA 2000, Patti and Rusty Rueff School of Visual and Performing Arts) is participating in the JET program for a second time, and is also the former president of the JET Alumni Association Indiana subchapter.
Established in 1987 for the purpose of promoting internationalization and language education at the grassroots level, the JET Program invites college graduates and young professionals from over 40 countries to share their language and culture with Japanese youth. Billed as “one of the largest educational programs in the history of mankind,” more than 50,000 foreigners have visited over 16,000 Japanese public schools since the program began.
Congratulations Brettley and Shannon!
David A. Reingold
Justin S. Morrill Dean
College of Liberal Arts