Phoenix Sister Cities selected nine highly rated participants for the Teach Abroad program. Chosen through a competitive process with more than 50 applicants, the teach abroad instructors will live and work in Phoenix’s sister city of Himeji, Japan from Sept. 1, 2008, through Aug. 31, 2009.

Certified teachers Carol Allen and Josh Henderson will be paired with Japanese instructors to team teach English in Himeji High Schools while college graduates Audrey Henderson, Patrick Hennigan, Emily Howard, Sianna Padilla, Rachel Rice, Andre Troung, and Ding Ding Zheng will work as assistant language instructors to help Japanese instructors prepare English lesson plans in junior high schools.

Through an established partnership with the Himeji Board of Education, Phoenix Sister Cities selects candidates for the Teach Abroad Program who in turn are contracted through the board of education to teach in Himeji junior and senior high schools. The Phoenix teachers live in a western-style apartment complex in Himeji along with Australian teachers and receive a full teacher’s salary for one year with the option to extend their contract for a second year.

The teachers are contracted as city of Himeji government employees and receive full medical benefits, vacation and airfare to and from Himeji.

Each spring Phoenix Sister Cities conducts an application and interview process to find top candidates for the program. Candidates are required to be a resident of Maricopa County, fluent in English, at least 21 years old and a college graduate.

For more information about this program, visit phoenixsistercities.org or call 602-534-7359.