School Leaders Make Annual Site Visits to Brazil

By Leslie Cranford, section manager

A whirlwind week in late September included two Texas Tech K-12 administrators traveling to Brazil for annual school visits with international partner Liberty Education staff and students. Superintendent Scott Lucas and Director of Recruitment & International Partnerships Jared Lay visited eight schools in five cities throughout three states in just five days.

They were meeting with about 1,000 high school and middle school students from all the schools, both full-time concurrent diploma seekers and K-12 academic students. Lucas and Lay also promoted Texas Tech K-12's international summer camp offered each July.

Whereas full-time students are enrolled in both schools and earn two diplomas, academic students only take supplemental courses to enhance their education. Texas Tech K-12 offers around 25 courses to these part-time students.

Lucas said the recent trip to Brazil not only reaffirmed the strong partnership between Texas Tech K-12 and Liberty Education but also was an opportunity to strengthen relationships with some wonderful schools.

“I left each of the schools we visited impressed by the leaders, teachers and students we spoke with,” Lucas said. “I am proud of the relationships we have there, and I am excited about the opportunities that will emerge for students because of passionate and dedicated educators working together.”

Lucas and Lay’s site visits were at various middle schools and high schools in the cities of Carazinho, Indaiatuba, Passo Fundo, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. They also met with administrators and staff at Liberty Education’s main office and with Liberty’s partner Colégio Notre Dame (a multi-school network).

Gabriela Barros, international education manager for Liberty Education, treasures the time she got to spend with the two American administrators, the coordinators from the partner schools in Brazil and their hundreds of students.

“These moments of interaction with students in schools are among the things I enjoy the most in my daily routine,” Barros said. “It has always been a great joy for me to speak with these young people, who will become our future doctors, engineers, teachers, artists, and so many other professions that are still being invented.”