Bilkent Erzurum Laboratory School has welcomed eight new teachers for the 2015-2016 academic year. They attended a three-day orientation program in Ankara, where they toured Bilkent University and visited the Doğramacızade Ali Sami Paşa Mosque, Anıtkabir, the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations and other places of interest.
Returning to Erzurum, the new teachers toured the city center and the BELS campus. With BELS Prep students, they also visited Tortum Waterfall, where everyone enjoyed a fresh trout lunch. Some of the teachers are already acquainted with many BELS students, having had the opportunity to teach in the BELS summer school programs.
Serra Ergüven comes from Chicago and will teach primary school students. Özge Can, an experienced ornithologist, will teach biology and middle-school science. Paul Breuer, a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, is a veteran art teacher.
Buket Bekdaş, from Istanbul, will teach English, as will Nalan Kaplan, who just returned from a year in the UK. Jason Saffa, who was teaching in Thailand, will teach middle-school English.
Sandra Çorbacıoğlu, a math teacher, joins BELS from Robert College. Cansu Koçer, a recent graduate of Atatürk University, will teach primary- and middle-school music. Helen Yetiş will join the school next month and teach German.