Big Foot High School history teacher receives fellowship to visit Vietnam
By Anne Trautner
Assistant Editor
For the past four years, Christina Taylor has used books and videos to teach about the Vietnam War to her students at Big Foot High School.
This fall, she will be able to share with her students firsthand knowledge of how the war has impacted the people and culture in Vietnam.
Taylor, 29, received a Rural Trust Global Teacher Fellowship to study in Vietnam this summer. She will leave July 7 for a three-week trip to Vietnam.
“I’m really excited. I’ve never been to Vietnam , so it will be interesting,” Taylor said.
While there, Taylor will research the effects the Vietnam War has had on agriculture. She will stay in different rural communities while there and hopes to discover similarities and differences between Wisconsin and Vietnamese rural life. In addition, she will witness how Vietnamese people have been affected by chemical agents that the United States used during the Vietnam War.
“Agent Orange is a big issue over there. There are a lot of birth defects for people that are born there even today,” Taylor said.
While in Vietnam, Taylor will go through an orphanage that is home to Agent Orange victims. She also hopes to discover how Agent Orange, bombing and booby traps have affected agricultural practices in Vietnam.
Taylor will learn about Vietnamese culture by visiting pagodas, temples and museums. Her itinerary also includes going to see a water puppet performance, an opera house, a cathedral, a place a candy factory and various markets.
Because Taylor does not speak Vietnamese, she will have an English-speaking tour guide at each location she visits. She hopes that the guides will help her meet people to help her with her research.
“When I get back, my students are going to do a project with the contacts that I made,” Taylor said. “The plan is to have them Skype or do some online communication.”
Taylor is one of 31 teachers in the United States who received a Rural Trust Global Teacher Fellowship this year. Funded by an anonymous donor, this nonprofit organization strives to improve rural schools and communities.
“This program enriches the personal and professional growth of rural teachers by recognizing and supporting them as they identify and pursue opportunities around the globe that will have the greatest impact on their practice, the academic lives of their students, their schools and their communities,” said Doris Terry Williams, executive director of the Rural School and Community Trust.
Taylor is the only teacher going to Vietnam through the program. She will travel with her father, Mark Taylor, because he did not want her to travel to the foreign country alone.
“When I wrote the proposal, I picked a historical tour, and I thought it was a group tour. Once I looked more into it, I realized that it was only just me and a tour guide, it’s not a group,” Christina Taylor said. “So I am very blessed that he is able to come with me.”
Christina Taylor grew up in Arizona with her parents, Mark and Debby Taylor, and earned a bachelor of science degree in history education and master of arts degree in history from Northern Arizona University.
Christina Taylor taught at the university for one year and then taught high school in Arizona for one year. She wanted to live in a small town, so she accepted a job at Big Foot High School and moved to Walworth four years ago.
She teaches U.S. History, AP U.S. History and Vietnam War classes at Big Foot. Students in all three classes will benefit from Christina Taylor’s trip.
“It is a great opportunity for her, certainly for our kids, to have firsthand knowledge,” said Big Foot High School District Administrator Dorothy Kaufmann. “It is a wonderful, wonderful opportunity for all involved.”
Christina Taylor camps and backpacks and has traveled fairly extensively throughout the United States. She has visited England and Mexico, but her international experiences and knowledge of southeast Asian culture is limited.
Still, she is not nervous and is looking forward to the adventure.
“I think it is going to be a great experience, so I’m excited,” Christina Taylor said.
For future editions of the Walworth/Fontana/Williams Bay Times and the Sharon Reporter, Taylor will be in correspondence with staff while in Vietnam.
