Overseas adventure to be unique lesson in learning

At an age when most people are thinking about retirement, Northwest Christian Elementary School teacher Barb Tusant, 61, and her husband, John, are getting ready to depart on a 2 ½-year teaching assignment to Mongolia.

She started at Northwest Christian as a substitute teacher in 1985. She went on to teach fourth and fifth grade and served as the school’s first elementary principal. Now she will soon head to Mongolia to train teachers to teach English.

Her daughter Melissa was among the 12 students she had in class her first year teaching full time. This year, her class included her two granddaughters.

“If I had preference I would probably say I like fifth grade because of the U.S. history you can teach,” she said.

Her love of history motivated Tusant to create a school event called “The Living History Museum,” where fifth-grade students dress up in Revolutionary War costumes and give speeches as their characters. This year’s event was scheduled for Wednesday.

She has mentored younger teachers and guided students and parents with the wisdom of a seasoned educator.

“She has been a wonderful mentor to me over the past years. She never tires. She runs circles around teachers half her age and does it with a smile,” said Northwest Christian fifth-grade teacher Faith Orr.

“She is a woman of substance, strength and character. Her enthusiasm to seek and know Christ above all else is contagious.”

She is one of those teachers that students don’t soon forget.

“Mrs. Tusant made history class very personal. She would always try to relate whatever it was we were learning, be it the conquistadors or Revolutionary War heroes, back to our modern day lives,” said Jennifer Haveman, who is now a sophomore at NWC. “Mrs. Tusant made us look forward to class every day.”

Tusant and her husband will spend the first five months with the English Language Institute/China learning the Mongolian language.

“We’ll learn navigational Mongolian and then we’ll teach teachers that teach English,” she said.

Will she be back teaching in a Northwest Christian classroom someday?

“Nobody knows the future. This is a reassignment; I just don’t like the word retirement. Am I coming back to classroom? This kind of classroom probably not, but we’ll see what God does.”

Paula Salzano has children attending Northwest Christian School.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog