ISSUE #2 CZECH REPUBLIC
PRAGUE, STARE MESTO MAIN SQUARE IN THE TWILIGHT
IMPACTING on lives of other people has already begun to pay amazing dividends for our Prague team. The city based Hello Academies, which was established last year, by Shannon Madl and Tomas Richtr, is already proving it is positioned to become an ever strengthening arm of SEG. It is no coincidence that after celebrating its first year of operation in July, the seeds to reap the rewards of future success have well and truly been sown.
USA, and from European countries including UK, Portugal, Austria and Ukraine. However, what is even more amazing is that ALL of our students have been able to secure full-time jobs within three weeks of graduating, while others have even got jobs while still on the course!” Tomas says: “The majority of our students have gone on to work in pre-schools and language schools, while some have even branched into translation and tour guide services.
simple. Tomas adds: “What makes us better than other TEFL schools in Prague is that we offer a personalized experience, enabling participants to have access to 24/7 support, quality course materials and workshops, an active and fun alumni network in the Czech Republic, with jobs and assistance with accommodation.” Shannon believes that what she and the other hardworking members of staff
PRAGUE, INDOOR SHOT OF THE SAINT VITUS CATHEDRAL IN THE CASTLE
And that is even more gratifying when one takes into account the new staff who have come on board since. That is reflected not just in the calibre of international students coming through its doors and graduating from the TEFL course, but the way in which employers have snapped up those former students to fill those prized workplace vacancies. Shannon says: “Since we opened last year the Hello Academies has had 34 students from as far away as Mexico,
Most of them have chosen to stay in the city, but for others they are using their TEFL certificate to help them open up opportunities across the globe.” The reach of the Hello Academies continues to attract new people from far and wide, with current students from Greece and even Mongolia. Given the amount of competition in this area, many might ask how the Hello Academies can succeed, but for Shannon and Tomas the answer is
set out to do is to prepare its students to tackle the world of teaching. “Whilst there are many ‘teachers’ in this world, we at Hello Academies strive to inspire educators who will go on to do extraordinary things with their lives and help transform the lives of others.”
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TOMAS RICHTR COUNTRY DIRECTOR Often the place to start in any walk of life is at the bottom and for Tomas’s first work experience in 2010 at JCC Camp Chi in Wisconsin in 2010 was no exception. Tomas was given the role in general maintenance, which he still rates as one of the best summers of his life. It was there that he got hooked on a love of American culture and lifestyle. One of his favourite pastimes is said to have been be walking through the aisles of a Walmart hypermarket! By 2012, Tomas had not only graduated with a Masters in Public Administration, he had also helped found Smaller Earth Czech Republic. His goal has, and always will be, to provide quality cultural exchange opportunities for the students in the Czech Republic and help build the Smaller Earth brand name. In his leisure time, he enjoys playing floor ball, stocking his work refrigerator with his favourite wines Pivo and Slivovice, biking, and visiting the local pub with his friends.
BARBORA DUBECKA
SHANNON MADL P R O G R A M M A N AG E R
TEFL TRAINER Barbora hails from Slovakia count English as a second language. And having lives in Britain for eight years in the and studied in Oxford for a Bachelor’s degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management, she is pretty proficient. During her time in Oxford, she also completed a TEFL training course and used it to help her move to Colombia for 18 months, where she taught English and helped train teachers for her language school. In her spare time she loves running, hiking, being active, and of course the English language! She is excited about joining the Smaller Earth team and intends to help further improve the Hello Academies brand. Fun fact - Barbora loves to drink coffee so much that she fervently believes her doctor accidentally gave her a caffeine infusion when she was born!
Shannon, from Chicago, first worked at Camp Endeavor in 2009, as a weight loss counsellor. The one thing she enjoyed most about spending the next four years in situ was seeing the progress and confidence grow in each of her campers. Some of her main duties included kickboxing and dance aerobics as well as body image workshops. In 2012, Shannon decided to try something new and moved to Prague to get her TEFL certificate and teach English. After one year of teaching in the city, she joined the Smaller Earth team and started working as program coordinator for Hello Academies. Currently she works on both the Hello Academies and Camp Leaders programs. Prague also enables her to have an active lifestyle, look at beautiful buildings, and enjoy cheap wine. Fun fact - Shannon is an extremely talented dancer with world famous dance moves such as the “Starfish”.
The Smaller Earth Czech team is a group of passionate travellers who have all been affected and positively influenced by cultural exchange. We enjoy working together in a friendly and very positive environment. Our favourite days of the week are ‘Popcorn Thursdays’ and ‘Fancy Fridays’, (thanks to the UK for
this great idea), and any other day in which food can be involved! Our office continuously strives for increased collaboration, and while we often don’t agree on everything, we always try to find a common solution in the end. All opinions matter in our office and no idea, however big or small, is disregarded without thought and consideration first. We love having visitors stop by, so if you are ever in our neck of the woods, you will be greeted with big smiles and Slilovice!
The Czech Republic is often viewed as the heart and crown jewel of Europe! Located in Central Europe.
ELISKA FECENKOVA CUSTOMER SERVICE R E P R E S E N TAT I V E Eliska is born a Capricorn, and best describes herself as purposeful, stubborn, and enjoys intelligent humour. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Management and hopes to pursue a Master’s in the future. Eliska dreams of one day visiting Tibet and mastering the French language. She enjoys good food and good wine! Fun fact - When Eliska was small she was a habitual sleep walker and would often wake up in the kitchen alongside the refrigerator; clearly she enjoyed good food at an early age!
DANIEL VETROVSKY CUSTOMER SERVICE R E P R E S E N TAT I V E Daniel was born and raised in Prague. His passion is baseball and he currently plays for Sabat Prague’s second team. Daniel joined Smaller Earth after he had a life-changing summer at camp and something he hopes to share with others to help them to have as awesome a summer as he had! Daniel worked at Camp Chinqueka as a go-cart counsellor, which he says was the best job ever. His favourite thing about the US was just how friendly everyone was. He also loved the freedom and road tripping across the country. Fun fact - Daniel is an avid racer and is able to master any racetrack after one or two tries on the track!
The Czech Republic is a land-locked country and neighbours Germany, Slovakia, Poland, and Austria.
The Czech Republic has claims to fame for inventing contact lenses, the word ‘robot’, and most importantly, for consuming the most beer per capita in the entire world.
The Czech Republic has the largest ancient castle in the world which has over 70,000 m2.
As of 2013, the Czech Republic had over 10.5 million people living there.
Tourism is a major source of income for the Czech economy. In 2011, the Czech Republic was the sixth most visited city in Europe.
REVIEW
IT is easy to forget that when we are miles apart over different continents that the glue that binds us together is a common understanding of one another. Once again, the annual global conference in Slovakia brought us back together to share the journey for what is always over far too quickly. For some it was their first time, but for others they were just setting on their journey with Smaller Earth. However, I would like to thank everyone for their enthusiasm, commitment and dedication in making this year’s gathering the best ever. As you know, it was a deliberate shift from previous years for us to concentrate even more on why we do what we do and how we do it, rather than focusing on sign ups and largely operational issues. Whilst we may have had some concerns about how this may be received we clearly didn’t need to worry and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. It seems that nearly everyone had their best conference experience yet. Equally, the feedback, post conference, has also been excellent, with different country groups working on the team roles and establishing ways which fit neatly with business goals and broader aspirations of the company. There have also been really positive reports about increases in productivity as a direct result of some of the things that came out of the conference. We will be following up on number key areas of work around culture, team working and measuring success with each of the business units during the season; so watch this space. In conclusion, it looks like there will be another staff conference next year – but where will it be? Dave Robinson
“[Conference was an} awesome opportunity for me to realise & confirm how much of an amazing company I’m part of.”
“Thank you! An awesome opportunity. I am leaving connected, inspired, motivated & aware. Thank you Smaller Earth. I U.”
“A really enjoyable experience and a great tool for new staff.”
“I’m really looking forward to seeing and experiencing, helping, working and being part of this great company/family :) ”
“We want desserts!”
“Personality tests were VERY interesting!!!”
COVER AND SPREAD BY https://www.flickr.com/photos/pikadilly/ P R AG U E P H OTO S BY Moyan Brenn
DESIGNED BY
2014