Joining the Peace Corp to be a better teacher

AUBURN — Jonathan Delorme, 23, graduated from Edward Little High School in 2011 and from the University of Maine at Farmington in 2015.

After college he was hired as a social studies and world history teacher at Edward Little High School. After one year as a teacher, he’s quitting and joining the Peace Corps. This fall he’ll leave for two years in Morocco.

Why choose the Peace Corps now? The Peace Corps has been in the back of my mind since college. The time was never right. I was torn between staying in an area that I absolutely love or travel and explore something new. When I started my job at Edward Little . . . I felt at home, but also a little too comfortable. The longer I stayed at my job the more I wouldn’t want to leave. It was an incredibly hard choice, but ultimately I knew that serving in the Peace Corps will make me a better teacher. . . . Also I see a lot of diversity in the faces of my students, but that diversity has yet to transfer over to the (people) teaching. After the Peace Corps I will hopefully be conversational in Arabic, maybe other languages. Having a classroom teacher that can speak Arabic would be huge.

Why Morocco? When you apply to the Peace Corps you can apply by general region. I applied under “Anywhere in the World.” They assigned me to the country that best fit their needs and my skill sets. That just so happened to be Morocco.

What will your job be there? I will be working as a youth developer. It will be less of a classroom English teacher, more like a summer camp counselor who focuses on community involvement. I will be teaching English and teaching about American culture.

What are you doing this summer to get ready? I will have around three months of training in Morocco through the Peace Corps that they call “Boot Camp.” Apparently it is rather intense. To prepare I am slowly teaching myself some Moroccan Arabic, which is called Darija.

You’re young; what do your parents say about this, and what about those student loan payments? My parents are supportive but are also worried for my safety, like any good parent. It’s incredibly safe and a great opportunity for me, so they are much more comfortable with the idea now that they have learned more about the Peace Corps and Morocco. Both my mom and dad have supported my decision to join the Peace Corps.

(As to the second question), the answer is that the Peace Corps is a public service, which means I will qualify as a public servant (just like a teacher does). I also will get set up with the Income Driven Repayment Plan. This ties the amount you pay (toward the college loan) to the amount you get for income. Because my income is $0 I (should) make a payment of $0. Now, if I am a public servant for 10 years, I get my loans forgiven. Therefore, I will get two years out of those 10 where I qualify as paying yet I’m not paying anything. Interest still accrues though.

What foods or part of the lifestyle here will you miss the most? I will definitely miss my friends and family. I don’t know if I fully know what I will miss until I get there. . .  .I am worried about missing big life events. My friends are of the age where we are getting engaged, married, having kids, buying homes and those other huge “adult” life-changing things.

What kind of teacher do you hope to be after two years in Morocco? I hope to give my students an example of someone who appreciates diversity. I hope students see someone who cares about the world and its people. It’s not enough to just tell someone something. They need to see and believe. I teach history, and this last year I taught world history. I hope that my service in Morocco will provide a bridge for students to see how the social sciences can directly apply to real life.

When the final bell rings on the last day of school, what will go through your head? I will be thinking about how much Edward Little has given me. I have walked those halls both as a student and now as a teacher. Edward Little has taught me so much. A big motivator for me to join the Peace Corps is so that I may come back and teach again in this area.

I will be thinking about how I will miss my students (and) my co-workers. . . . My students have taught me just as much as I taught them, probably more! I partly feel like I am abandoning them and letting them down. But I think they understand my desire and my students have been some of my biggest supporters! . . . That final day of school will be an emotional one.