Washington, D.C. – Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva today congratulated the University of Arizona for receiving an $87,600 grant to carry out its proposed teacher training summer program in southern Morocco.

The program, designed and administered by the school’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies, will send a mix of K-12 teachers and education students to the remote region of that country for a month to learn about local education methods, study the Moroccan Arabic dialect and research human adaptation in desert environments. The grant allowing the trip to proceed comes from the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program, which funds cultural exchange and education efforts around the country.

“This great program deserves the support it’s received and more,” Grijalva said. “Cultural understanding is a fundamental element of American education, and there’s no better way to share it than by giving teachers this kind of experience.”

The trip’s focus on environmental issues, he said, combined with the establishment of cultural contacts, will help the participants create innovative future courses.

“Education isn’t just numbers on a board or words on a page,” Grijalva said. “It’s the sharing of information in ways that lead to new understandings of the world around us. This grant is a recognition of the value of education in the truest sense, and I congratulate the University for its forward thinking in seeking this money.”