Dr. Lucien Ellington, UC Foundation Professor in the Teacher Preparation
Academy, with assistance from Dr. Hugh Prevost, Director of Cooperative and
International Education, was recently awarded $205,233 by the U.S. Japan
Foundation for the third year of the Mid-South Japan in the Schools Project
(MSJSP), a professional development program to enhance the knowledge that
regional K-12 teachers have about Japan.

Dr. Ellington is co-director of the MSJSP, and Dr. Prevost is responsible
for the program's administration and financial management; they will
utilize this award to operate MSJSP in 2003.

Dr. Ellington, along with co-director Dr. Walter Nunn of the University of
Arkansas at Little Rock, will conduct the professional development training
for 24 high school and middle school teachers from Arkansas, Missouri, and
Tennessee.  The teachers chosen to participate in MSJSP will complete a
fifty-hour institute over the course of several weekends to enhance their
knowledge
about Japan, and they also will participate in a summer study tour of
Japan.  With this professional development training, the teachers are able
to improve their instruction involving Japanese history and culture.

Congratulations to Drs. Ellington and Prevost!  This training initiative is
a wonderful chance for teachers to enhance their knowledge about Japan and
broaden the horizons of learning for their students.