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ANNUAL REPORT ( October 25, 2010 through October 23, 2011 ) Reported below is a summary of the activities of Pennsylvania Partnerships Abroad, Ltd. ( PPA ) for the above period of time. This report was submitted at the annual meeting of the PPA Board of Directors and the Advisory Board, held in Linglestown, PA on October 23, 2011, at the PPA headquarters office. INTERNSHIP PROGRAM - The 25th group of Polish Masters Degree business students, studying at the national University of Economics, in Wroc³aw, has arrived in Penn-sylvania. These six students arrived here in Pennsylvania on September 23, 2011. They will complete their internship training on January 20, 2012. These four month ( 17 week ) internships, which involve a working, studying, housing, and cultural experience at no cost to the students, are now being conducted with these south-central Pennsylvania business and organization sponsors : Group # 25 sponsors :
Since the Internship Program began in 1990, 249 Polish students have now participated in this absolutely unique activity for Poland. These Interns continue to become the business leaders of the new Poland. SHIPMENTS OF EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS - Cases of educational and fire service materials continue to be collected and processed here, and then shipped to 92 locations in Poland, and also one location each in Ukraine and Moldova. During the period of this report, five shipments, totaling 126 cases of materials, were shipped. The cost of shipping these cases was $ 4,291.53. Since the legal incorporation of PPA in 1992, a grand total of 89 shipments, totaling 1,986 cases of materials, weighing 71,106 pounds, have been sent to Poland, Ukraine, and Moldova at a cost of $ 56,880.88 Currently, materials are being collected and sent to 94 schools, colleges, universities, and city libraries; and 13 fire organizations. To the educational Institutions, 166 different magazine titles are being gathered here and sent, as donated by many persons and organizations in central Pennsylvania, together with other materials, such as flags of four “English”-speaking countries, “English” grammar textbooks, maps, library books, dictionaries, sets of encyclopedias, books on tape, and videos In 1996, a “sponsor” program was created to attract contributors of donations, each donation in amounts of $ 25.00 ( or multiples ), to assist in paying the shipping cost of cases of materials being sent to Poland, Ukraine, and Moldova. To date, 139 persons and organizations have given 1,479 donations of $ 25.00 ( or multiples ), totaling at least $ 36,975 toward the overall shipping costs listed above. POLAND-USA STUDENT EXCHANGE - After 11 years of planning and proposing, the first PPA-organized 1-semester university student exchange was successfully completed for the 2010-’11 academic year between my Wroc³aw University of Economics ( WUE ) and Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania ( SU ). A Polish WUE business student ( Wojtek Jemio³o ) began a 1-semester business study at SU in August, 2010. He returned to Poland with an SU student ( Laura Holloway ) in January, 2011, for her one semester of business study, in “English,” at the WUE. Currently, two WUE students ( Rafa³ Nowak and Wojtek Latocha ) are studying at SU during the 1st semester, and they will return to Poland in January, 2012 with two SU students for 2nd semester study. Financially, each student pays the normal full-year expenses, half of which pays the expenses for the exchange student’s tuition, fees, and housing. Costs for airfare and local transport, food, books, insurance, and incidentals are extra. In support of this program, SU has created the possibility of a grant to pay for a portion of the airfare of the SU students. For the 2012-’13 academic year, activities are now underway to create a 4-student exchange for each university.INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL CONTACTS - Because of the very positive change in the Polish administrative personnel at my Polish university which began in 2006, I have been able to develop interactive educational contacts within the past six years between the Wroc³aw University of Economics, and these American institutions : Shippensburg University, Juniata College, and Penn State University, all in Pennsylvania; and Washington College, in Maryland. Interactive educational activities, both under development and underway, involve live tele-conferencing; curriculum development; summer class trips to Poland; student-empowerment activities connected to student government, book store creation, alumni affairs, and foundation development for fund-raising; and student, staff, and professor exchanges. TEACHER RECRUITMENT For the 2011-‘12 academic year ( the 20th year of this program ), two persons have been recruited by PPA for and sent to an educational institution in Poland to work as “English” language native speaker professors : Dr. Louis Jillings ( Penn State University ) and Dr. Thomas Verney ( Shippensburg University of PA ). Both professors are teaching during this academic year at my Wroc³aw University of Economics. Dr. Jillings intends to return again for the 2012-’13 academic year, so as to continue his teaching at this university for a third year. Since the T.O.P.P.S. ( “Teaching Opportunities from Pennsylvania in Polish Schools” ) Program’s inception in 1992, a total of 48 teachers from the USA and Canada have been recruited to fill 66 teaching positions in 20 educational institutions within Poland’s secondary high school and university systems. This program continues to operate with the assistance of many Pennsylvania college and university placement offices. The “TOPPS Program” is also advertised on the world-wide Internet on PPA’s website, at this address - www.ppa-ltd.org . “ POLAND”PROGRAMS - During the period of this report, two slide, display, and discussion programs, on topics dealing with Poland, were presented to central Pennsylvania groups and organizations. The Polish Intern students are involved with these programs, and monetary and material contributions for PPA expenses and projects are always requested from the groups. These contributions are one of the sources of PPA income, almost all of which are used for shipment costs of educational materials sent to Poland, Ukraine, and Moldova. In addition to the requesting of monetary and material contributions, requests are made for educational material donations, and business sponsors and housing hosts are solicited for future Internship Program students. To date, 265 “Poland” programs have been presented since 1987. FINANCING - As reported each year in the past, financial concerns continue to be a major challenge for this organization, and are its largest inhibitor of further progress. Funding also continues to be provided from my private funds, together with the con- tributions arising from various PPA activities. The recent increase in the minimum wage has helped to ease this financial con-dition. During the period of this report, funds were spent, with receipts on file, in the listed categories shown below. The listed assets are now currently available. 1. Postage ……………………………………………… $ 281.89 2. Phone and internet ………..……………………….. $ 1,003.89 3. PPA travel expenses ………………………………. $ 3,072.09 4. Student Internship Program ………………………. $ 18,507.36 6. Poland programs $ 8.48 6. Materials shipments to Polish/Ukrainian/Moldovan schools $ 4,440.98 7. Office supplies and equipment …………………… $ 842.07 8. PPA organization items …………………………… $ 920.87 9. Film and photo developing ……………………….. $ 97.51 10. PPA organization program items ………………… $ 2,733.19 $31,908.33
Additional anticipated expenditures to those items above within the next three months connected especially to the Intern- ship Program, the Materials Shipments Program, and Travel Expenses are expected to reach an estimated $ 7,500.00. On January 20, 2012, I again eagerly and excitedly return to Poland for the 38th time, to teach during the second semester for the 22nd time in Wroc³aw at the University of Economics. My plans call for the continuation of these activities for a minimum of an additional 8 years. As I say in this closing each year, I am very grateful for the continuing support of the members of the Board of Directors, of the Advisory Board, and from individuals and organizations in the central Pennsylvania community for their willingness to remain a part of all of this !!
William E. Minsker President |
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Last Update: February 19, 2012 |
