A Pierce City native and Missouri Southern State University graduate who now directs a school in the United Arab Emirates returned to Joplin this week for a visit. Roy Getchell and his wife, Tracy, a teacher, were on campus Monday afternoon to speak informally with a few former classmates, friends and university officials about their experiences abroad, their observations of the UAE people and misconceptions that Americans often have about that part of the world.
Following 18 years in education in the U.S., including a stint in Monett and Colorado Springs, Co., Roy Getchell accepted a position in 2009 as the director of Mohamed Bin Zayed City Campus. It’s one of three campuses in the UAE.
“Any preconceived ideas I had were just shattered,” Tracy Getchell said.
“We didn’t know what to expect, but we came out with a great appreciation,” Roy Getchell added.
He grew up in Pierce City and attended Missouri Southern from 1987 to 1991, graduating with an education degree. He also holds a graduate degree from Missouri State University in guidance counseling and a doctoral degree from the University of Denver.
His most recent position in the states was as a principal in the Academy School District at Colorado Springs, Co., where he worked for seven and a half years.
“It was just an opportunity we weren’t expecting,” said Roy Getchell of their move to the UAE in 2009. A superintendent with whom Getchell had worked had accepted a position as the director general of Emirates National School, which in turn opened a door for the Getchells.
Tracy Getchell will begin her fourth year this fall teaching third grade at the Abu Dhabi city campus. They have two children, Dori, a fifth grader, and Avari, a third grader, who are among just a handful of Americans to attend the schools. The Getchells said they are grateful for the international exposure their children are getting.
“They’re semi-fluent in Arabic, and we’re really proud of that,” Roy Getchell said.
Once a year, the Getchells return home to visit both of their families, who are spread out between Sarcoxie, Pierce City, Joplin and Monett. This visit was an eye-opener to them, they said, because the last time they were home, Joplin still was digging out from tornado debris.
It was “incredibly difficult” to be overseas in the hours following the tornado, watching it unfold on television, Roy Getchell said. His grandfather, Lewis Getchell, lost his home to the tornado near East Middle School, and his father, Leroy Getchell, lost his insurance office on Delaware Avenue.
They were not surprised when the UAE responded to Joplin’s needs with donations to the school district and Mercy Hospital Joplin, which totaled more than $5 million.
“It didn’t surprise me at all that the UAE stepped forward,” he said of the response following the tornado. The UAE has also given to those in need in Africa and Pakistan, as well as the victims of Hurricane Katrina, he added.
“People are so generous. They are so kind. They love Americans. They don’t always agree with our policies. ... But what I tell them is in our country, we don’t always agree with everything we do, that’s why we’re a democracy.” he said. “What you are seeing in generosity in Joplin, we see every day. One of the pillars of Islam is to give.”
His wife enjoys the internationalism of teaching with women from around the globe, including Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon, Australia, the United Kingdom and South Africa. She said the experience has helped her grow professionally and personally.
The couple also has found that there are more similarities than differences among residents of UAE and Midwesterners: They enjoy eating picnics in the parks with their families, and the parents are concerned about the same things American parents are during parent-teacher conferences.
“One misconception is that if you’re not Muslim, you’re not accepted,” Roy Getchell said. “The real truth is, if you have a faith it’s not a problem.”
The couple still owns their home in Colorado Springs, which was not affected by the recent wildfire, they said, and at some point they plan to return home.
“We took a leap of faith going. ... And we will take another leap coming back,” Roy Getchell said.
Enrollment figures
THE EMIRATES NATIONAL SCHOOLS opened in 2002. It consists of three campuses, Mohammed Bin Zayed City Campus, Al Ain City Campus and Abu Dhabi City Campus, with a total enrollment of 5,300 students.
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