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St. Paul Teacher Goes To Great Lengths To Relate To Students

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- Suzanne Susens teaches English to those who are learning it for the first time. Many of her students were born in Myanmar, a country in southeast Asia she knew very little about...until this summer.

"I didn't know anything about their lives or their past," she said.

So she planned out a trip, and learned a lot about the country's economy and politics.

St. Paul Teacher Goes To Great Lengths To Relate To Students

"In the past, the government had been repressive of many of the ethnic minorities in that country, and I got a wide sampling of people's opinions and I feel like I have a better idea of what is going on there," she said.

Many of the students coming to the United States have never had formal education. She teaches geography, and uses landmarks in Myanmar the students know about to help them learn.

Susens won a grant from Fund for Teachers, a Twin Cities-based nonprofit. Eight teachers from St. Paul were awarded grants, five in Minneapolis.

Myanmar is also known as Burma.

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