1. Montgomery Co. Peace Corps Volunteer Installs New
Blackboards in Macedonian School
Washington, D.C., April 24, 2014 - Peace Corps volunteer Zachary Levin-Epstein of North
Potomac, Md., is working with his community in Macedonia to replace 40-year-old deteriorating
blackboards in a local elementary school. A portion of the funds for the project will be raised through
the Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP), a program that helps support Peace Corps volunteer
community projects worldwide.
“Our students are constantly asking [for clarification] in class about what I write on the board as they
are unable to make out the words on the stained blackboards. Putting in new boards will allow the
students and teachers to learn and study without such unnecessary challenges,” said Levin-Epstein,
a graduate of Arizona State University who has been living and working as an English teacher in
Macedonia since September 2012.
While the school has gone through significant infrastructural improvements, the blackboards – which
are the main teaching tool – have been neglected for nearly 40 years.
“It is essential that teachers to have effective teaching tools and equipment, especially those that
they use every day for every class,” said Levin-Epstein, who graduated in 2007 from Thomas S.
Wootton High School (Montgomery County) and worked in AmeriCorps in the Rockville area after
graduating from Arizona State. “Simply put, new blackboards will make a dramatic difference in the
ability of teachers to teach and students to learn.”
Upon completion of this project, Levin-Epstein and people in his community will also be creating a
new English classroom at the school, and the school will be buying a “SMART board,” the first of its
kind to be purchased at the school to be used in a classroom.
Municipal officials have supported the effort and have pledged to work with school officials to replace
the current blackboards. Municipal support will ensure an ongoing relationship between local and
school officials at a critical juncture — the first project of its kind developed and implemented with a
Peace Corps volunteer at the school.
In order to receive funding through the PCPP, a community must make a 25 percent contribution to
the total project cost and outline success indicators for the individual projects. This helps ensure
community ownership and a greater chance of long-term sustainability. One hundred percent of each
tax-deductible PCPP donation goes toward a development project. Those interested in supporting
Levin-Epstein’s project in Macedonia can visit: www.peacecorps.gov/donate. Zachary Levin-
Epstein’s project number is: 14-249-001.
About Peace Corps/Macedonia: There are currently 108 volunteers in Macedonia working in the
areas of English education and community economic development. During their service in
Macedonia, volunteers learn to speak the local languages, including Albanian and Macedonian.
More than 540 Peace Corps volunteers have served in Macedonia since the program was
established in 1996.