For Synthia Woodcock-Dang it’s been a grand adventure through many countries, cultures, and languages since graduating from HFCS in 1962!
While still in college, Synthia went on her first foreign experience as an exchange student to Poland and the USSR; then with a BA in English and drama from the University of Idaho and two years teaching experience in New York, she went off to the first of many years living and teaching in South East Asia. First, at the International School of Bangkok, Thailand, and after getting an MS in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) from SUNY Albany, had the great honor to receive a Fulbright Lecturer/Consultant to a new university in southern Thailand. Then after two more years teaching in the Albany area, it was off to the American School of Vientiane, Laos.
After being evacuated from Laos in May of 1975 Synthia went to teach English to the Shah’s helicopter pilots in Iran, but not wanting to be evacuated again, she left Iran early and returned to the USA! She came back to the Washington, DC area where she has lived since 1976. There she has taught English to adult refugees, been co-director of the Language and Orientation Program at the Center of Applied Linguistics, taught ESL K-12 in Montgomery County Maryland Public Schools, and trained teachers to teach ESL at Montgomery College and as an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Along the way she met and married her husband George Phuoc Dang and their daughter Amy was born in 1983. They are active in their communities promoting mutual understanding among diverse ethnic groups.
Currently in “retirement”, Synthia continues to supervise teachers working on ESL certification in Maryland. It has been a rewarding journey all based on the excellent foundation she received as a student at HFCS.