Who is that Masked Man?

I sort of got mentioned in the Bangkok Post today. There's a story about Somprasong Mang-ana, headmaster of a school in a remote rural Thailand village. (From an Alaskan perspective it isn't all that remote, since you can drive to it, but that's a lot of other stories.) Here's the reference:

Somprasong himself knows first-hand of the perils of being poor and lacking in opportunities. While growing up in the northern province of Kamphaeng Phet in the 1960s, he studied English thanks to a Peace Corps volunteer.

I'm the English teacher. I posted about Somprasong when we visited Umphang in 2007. He's done incredible things with this school and is the Northern Thailand teacher of the year. This is the sort of thing that makes teaching so worthwhile.

The story begins this way:

Rare dedication

English in the hills of Tak at the Umphang Wittayakom School

Story by NIKI THONGBORISUTE

It is the daily roll call in one of Thailand's most remote schools. Khaiwan stands in front of her fellow students and announces:

"There are 15 in our dorm, but today there are 14 because Lata has gone home. Thank you. Please sit down."

This is not a translation. The shy 16-year-old has just stood in front of 325 of her classmates and spoken in English.

Yes, that's right. Daily roll call in the remote school is in English, which is not bad considering these are students whose first language isn't even Thai. In fact, 11 dialects are represented at the school, and the students come from all 26 hill tribe communities in the region.

Niki contacted me because she saw my posts on Somprasong - blogging has its rewards too. For the full story go to the Bangkok Post.