Sisters couple is heading for Kazakhstan on two-year odyssey

Excitement is rampant at the Rob and Marsha Phelps residence as the couple, residents of Sisters for the last 13 years, prepare to leave August 4 for a two-year odyssey to Kazakhstan.

They will teach school for International School Services at the Dostyk American International School in Atyrau, located at the north end of the Caspian Sea on the Ural River.

Rob, a Social Studies teacher and former basketball and football coach at Sisters High School, will be teaching middle school Social Studies and Language Arts. Marsha, an elementary teacher in Bend, will be teaching a first and second grade blend. Both have arranged a two-year leave of absence.

The Phelps came to Sisters from Camas Valley, Oregon, the first year that the (old) high school opened in 1992. Rob, born and reared in Lompoc, California, attended the University of Arizona on a track scholarship in the intermediate hurdles. Marsha, who calls New Mexico home, admits to moving a lot as a child because her father was a miner. Marsha ultimately majored in education and minored in dance, graduating from Southern Oregon University after the couple moved to Camas Valley.

Kazakhstan isn’t their first unusual teaching assignment.

Both the Phelps spent four years teaching on an Indian reservation in Arizona/New Mexico and loved it. And while they both love living and working in Central Oregon, they are looking forward to their new assignments abroad.

Field trips that the students take are one enticement.

“The upper middle grades study World and European History, so the teachers take the kids to Turkey, Greece and Rome. They also go to the NASA Space Camp to study science,” said Rob. “The younger grades travel the Silk Road out of China. It goes through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.”

And after attending a Teachers Conference in Istanbul, the couple plan to spend next year’s spring break in Thailand.

Both are looking forward to having class sizes of about eight students.

But more than trips and small class sizes, the Phelps are motivated to make this journey to Asia for other opportunities.

“We’d like to experience this change before we get too old,” Rob said, “and I am looking forward to getting some experience in the International Baccalaureate School curriculum. I’d like to bring that experience and knowledge back to Sisters.”

Both acknowledge that there is nothing exotic about the small town and country they will be residing in for the next two years. The school, opened in 1999, was built by Chevron and Texaco for their employees’ children. The Phelps will be provided with a 3,000-square-foot townhouse and transportation to the market when needed.

Neither is overly concerned about the country’s close proximity to Afghanistan and other troubled areas in the Middle East.

“Kazakhstan is the most stable of the ‘stan’ countries. They have the highest income per capita of the surrounding countries, and they are religiously well-balanced, with 47 percent of the people being Muslim and 43 percent Eastern Orthodox,” Rob said. “The village where we’ll be living is largely composed of engineers and geologists and their families.”

“We are really excited about this opportunity,” Marsha said, “and we’ll have a lot of chances to travel in Europe. Our son, T.K., is currently stationed in Germany, and we are looking forward to seeing more of him.”

Rob agreed, saying, “I’m looking forward to a change. And, to be honest, the educational climate in Oregon makes one wonder what’s going to happen here.”