{"id":67352,"date":"2022-11-07T09:32:11","date_gmt":"2022-11-07T16:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=67352"},"modified":"2022-11-07T09:32:26","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T16:32:26","slug":"hof-russell-prust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/hof-russell-prust\/","title":{"rendered":"Humans of Flagstaff(ish): Russell Prust"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The beginning of <\/span>Russell Prust\u2019s<\/span><\/b> teaching career was almost serendipitous\u2014while visiting a college friend in northeast Brazil, he ended up working at a school for deaf children. After <\/span> various teaching and research opportunities throughout the Global North and South, <\/span>Prust is now the chair of and associate clinical professor in the Department of Education at NAU Yuma , where he coordinates grant programs to develop teachers in Yuma County. He talked to <\/span>The NAU Review<\/span><\/i> about his bucket list, his love of gardening and a recent opportunity to teach Portuguese again.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"RussellWhat brought you to NAU?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I was the external evaluator for teacher-training federal grant programs in Yuma since 2000. I got to know the community. When I retired from my previous position in 2010, I took a position with NAU Yuma primarily to be closer to family members in Arizona.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tell me about a significant childhood memory and how it has impacted your life today.\u202f<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When I was a child, my mother gave me a little plot of land for my own vegetable garden. My love of gardening has stayed with me for my entire life.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What did you want to be when you grew up?\u202f<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I wanted to be a botanist.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What have you been most proud of this week?\u202f<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Recruiting an excellent new faculty member for the NAU Yuma Education Department.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is your favorite way to spend a day off?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Doing various projects at my recently purchased historical fixer-upper house. I bought one of the older properties in the rural area near Yuma. It was part of a homestead, and the house is made of adobe. I need to get help to research the place. I was told that in 1929 there was a Portuguese family living in it.\u202fThe previous owners didn\u2019t maintain it well, so I am busy making improvements. My current project is the complete replacement and upgrade of the electrical service, making it solar-ready and ready for two tankless water heaters. I am also thinking of getting a generator.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What are three things on your bucket list?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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  • Genealogical research<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Creating an area on my property for rescued feral cats.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Building a greenhouse to enjoy during my retirement.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    What has been the most exciting part of your career up to this point?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Running my own English language schools in Brazil. For a while, at the University of Wisconsin, I was an international relations major specializing in Brazil. There was a Peace Corp training center for Brazil in Milwaukee and a large USAID project serving Brazilian teachers. I learned Portuguese in Milwaukee before going to Brazil. I attended university courses in Rio, then went to the northeast to visit the teacher I met in Milwaukee. I ended up working at a school for deaf children for a year and was later asked to take over an English language school, part of a national franchise, which needed a director. I stayed with it for several years. All my teaching experience in Brazil influenced me to pursue a career in education when I returned to the U.S.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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    Did you know? NAU Yuma participates in a local event run by partner institution Arizona Western College called \u201cI Am Going to College.\u201d <\/span>Fifth graders from local schools attend 25-minute classes given by AWC or NAU faculty. Prust taught a class on Brazilian Portuguese, which has been popular among the students. A local business donates T-shirts for the four groups of students, about 150 in total. Hear from Prust in the video below:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n