Embassy Information
Embassy Event
U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION VISITS ARGENTINA
US Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings, visited Mendoza August 16. Accompanied by Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne, Secretary Spellings made a donation to a local school and spoke with a group of young Argentines on the benefits of exchanges. Secretary Spellings is in Argentina as part of a Latin American tour that includes Chile and Brazil and that aims at highlighting the importance of education partnerships between the United States and the countries in the region.
“This trip seeks to promote international education as an opportunity to prepare our next generation of global leaders for success,” said the Secretary.
The Secretary visited the Tomás Godoy Cruz School in the city of Mendoza, where she stopped by a 4th grade class before presenting school authorities with a donation of two computers and a set of books – US children’s classics translated into Spanish. Accompanying the Secretary was US Ambassador to Argentina, Earl Anthony Wayne, Mendoza’s provincial Minister of Education, Emma Cunietti, and school principal Lucia Moreno.
In her remarks, Secretary Spellings underscored the long history of mutually beneficial educational exchanges between the US and Argentina, noting that Sarah Boyd, the first headmistress of the Godoz Cruz School, was a US teacher from New Hampshire. Ms. Boyd one of the 65 teachers Domingo Faustino Sarmiento brought from the US in the late 19th century to help build Argentina’s public education system.
Cultural and educational exchanges between Argentina and the US continue to be strong and fruitful, said the Secretary.
“We continue to send teachers and students in both directions, from Argentina to the U.S., and from the U.S. to Argentina. One of these students is my own daughter, Mary, who is with me today and is studying here in Mendoza. I’m proud that she is part of this tradition of exchanges between our nations,” said the secretary.
The Secretary then visited AMICANA, one of the 16 Argentine-US binational centers in Argentina, where she took part in a round table with nine young people from Mendoza who have gone to the US as part of an Embassy-sponsored exchange program, or have received a scholarship to study English in Argentina. Secretary Spellings congratulated the students on their accomplishments and AMICANA authorities for their efforts to enrich the local community and reinforce bilateral ties.
Secretary Spellings is the first mother of school-aged children to serve as Secretary of Education of the United States. One of her major achievements has been to partner with states to implement and enforce the No Child Left Behind Act, which commits US schools to bringing all students up to grade level or better in reading and math by 2014.