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FEMA visit could improve Wilkes-Barre’s rating, benefit flood insurance holders

<p>For Pittston native Karim Letwinsky, right now the nights cool down to around 90 degrees. She swears she doesn&#8217;t mind the heat &#8212; &#8220;my husband calls me a solar battery,&#8221; she quipped &#8212; but admits traveling to places like Nigeria, Oman and the United Arab Emirates a dozen or so times a year isn&#8217;t as exotic as it sounds.</p><p>On Tuesday morning at 5 a.m., the Wilkes University assistant professor started a trip that lasted about 24 hours from start to finish, getting to her Dubai hotel in the U.A.E. Wednesday around 5 a.m. our time (noon there). It is, she thinks, her 16th overseas trip in about 10 months.</p><p>This time, she is launching the newest cohort of students enrolled in the Wilkes doctorate of education program conducted overseas. On other trips, she has taught teachers the latest in math education under the auspices of the of the U.S. Department of State Office of Overseas School.</p><p>The travel takes the mother of four away from home so often, she not only makes it a point to periodically take a child with her, the siblings &#8212; ranging from pre-teen to college &#8212; have started to voice preferences.</p><p>&#8220;My daughter has already bid for Vienna next year,&#8221; Letwinsky said.</p><p>It is not leisure travel, she noted. She rarely gets to do any sightseeing or shopping, usually doing little beyond arriving, working and flying back to the states. Along with trips to Middle East countries and Nigeria, Africa, she has been to Austria, Lithuania, Latvia, Croatia, Belgrade and Russia.</p><p>In fact, she was in Russia earlier this year when the St. Petersburg subway bombing occurred, which raises another question: Do things like the threat of terrorism or the politics of &#8220;travel bans&#8221; affect her work?</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s not much impact,&#8221; she replied. She will get a sense of how those around her react when something happens while overseas, how they see the events. But she is working in the world of math &#8212; her fist love as a teacher at Wyoming Area School District &#8212; and her current professional world of academe.</p><p>&#8220;I joined Wilkes four years ago and literally in my job interview they asked &#8216;how do you feel about going to Oman?&#8217; &#8221; she recounted. &#8220;Within my first couple of weeks I flew to teach a class in Oman.&#8221;</p><p>The people she works with are teachers who want to learn how do do their jobs better. While they often arrive from other countries as a far away as Malaysia and China, they are not necessarily from those countries. That&#8217;s where they work as teachers, often at international schools.</p><p>&#8220;They are so grateful to have the opportunity to do better by their schools.&#8221;</p><p>Does the soon-to-be 46-year-old Dallas resident get tired of all the travel? Not so far.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a labor of love,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and I love doing it. I feel like I&#8217;m the luckiest person in the world.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_Letwinsky-Karim.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Letwinsky </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_Letwinsky-Karim.jpg</photo0><caption0>Letwinsky </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_Letwinsky-in-dubai.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">From left, Wilkes University faculty members Blake Mackesy, Karim Letwinsky, Paul Reinert, and Ty Frederickson stand in front of a sign at the Rochester Institute of Technology Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Submitted photo </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_Letwinsky-in-dubai.jpg</photo1><caption1>From left, Wilkes University faculty members Blake Mackesy, Karim Letwinsky, Paul Reinert, and Ty Frederickson stand in front of a sign at the Rochester Institute of Technology Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Submitted photo </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Through Wilkes, Pittston native travels the globe, teaches in Dubai