The American Professional Partnership for Lithuanian Education (A.P.P.L.E.) is a volunteer international non-profit educational organization. With the support of the Lithuanian Ministry of Education and Science, A.P.P.L.E. partners with Lithuanian educators to foster the implementation of innovative educational approaches that contribute to the development of a democratic society.

• To share American educational philosophy, information, techniques, and skills with Lithuanian colleagues
• To develop long-term relationships between American and Lithuanian individuals and educational institutions
• To encourage the development of experience and self-confidence for Lithuanian teachers
• To bring together diverse groups of educators and teachers in Lithuania.

2010 - 16 projects were funded. Click here to see list of project winners and read (In Lithuanian) about the projects. Photos show project activities.

2012 - 19 projects were funded. Click here to see list of project winners and read (In Lithuanian) about the projects. Photos show project activities. This year, two of these projects were funded by a business in Klaipėda.

1991 summer program consisted of 2 two-week seminars which took place in one city.
1992 summer program consisted of 4 two-week seminars which took place in 3 cities.
1993 summer program consisted of 4 two-week seminars which  took place in 4 cities.
1994 summer program consisted of 6 two-week seminars and one one-week seminar for returnees which took place in 7 cities. 
1995 summer program took place in 7 cities.  A 5th aniversary conference took place to determine the future focus of A.P.P.L.E. Participants included Ministry representatives, co-oworkers from Lithuania and American lecturers.
1996 summer program took place in 5 cities.
1997 summer program took place in ten cities.  Main seminars in four cities and 6 regional seminars.
1998 summer program took place in thirteen cities.  Main seminars in three cities and regional seminars in 10 cities.
1999 summer program took place in 15 cities.  Main seminars in three cities and 12 regional seminars.  A Special Education camp and an English language camp were conducted in which students, as well as  teachers, participated.  A one day conference - Children at Risk, was organized to plan next year's week long seminar.
2000 summer program took place in 16 cities.  Main seminars in two cities and 14 regional seminars.  A Special Education camp at Giruliai was conducted for teachers, special ed. students and their families.
2001 summer program took place in 14 cities.  Main seminar in Vilnius, a special education camp at Giruliai, Special Education seminars in 6 cities, computer science seminars in two cities, religion and ethics seminars in two cities, and an administration and psychology seminar in one city, Successfull School Survey seminar in one city
2002 summer program took place in 13 cities.  Main seminar in Vilnius, a special education camp at Šventoji, Special Education seminars in 3 cities, computer science seminars in 1 city, religion and ethics seminars in 2 cities, ESL seminar in one city, administration and psychology seminars in 3 cities, Conclusion of Successfull School Survey in one city.
2003 summer program took place in 18 cities.  Main seminar in Vilnius, a special education camp "Viltis" at Šventoji, special education seminars in 5 cities, computer science seminars in 3 cities, religion education seminars in 2 cities, agriculture seminars in 2 cities, and one each of elementary education, history, pupil support and social work.
2004 summer program took place in 20 cities. Main seminar in Vilnius. 19 Regional seminars: special education seminars in 6 cities, computer science seminars in 3 cities, religion education seminars in 2 cities, and social work programs in 5 cities, "Viltis" camp  and one of each: administration, ESL and elementary.
2005 summer program took place in 12 cities. Main seminars were conducted in Vilnius and Klaipėda, special education seminars in 4 cities, "Viltis" camp at Giruliai and six regional seminars. At the 15 year celebration President of Lithuanian Republic, Valdas Adamkus was the main speaker.
2006 summer program took place in 5 cities. The main seminar was in Vilnius, special education seminars took place in 3 cities, "Viltis" camp at Giruliai , and there was a regional in Panevėžys.
2007 summer program took place in 9 cities. The main seminars were in Vilnius. This year we had two one-week seminars instead of one two-week seminar. Dr. Grigonis Special Education seminars took place in: Šiauliai, Linkuva, Kaunas, Panevėžys, Klaipėda and Venta. "Viltis" camp  for families with children with disabilities, special education teachers and assistants was held in Giruliai and an Elementary Science seminar took place in Akmenė.
2008 summer program took place in 9 cities. The main seminars were in Vilnius. As last year, we had two one-week seminars. Dr. Grigonis Special Education seminars took place in: Šiauliai, Skuodas, Kaunas, Skaudvilė and Venta. Social work seminars were held in Šiauliai University, Vytautas Magnus University and Klaipėda college. Religion and Ethics seminars were held in Vilnius and Kaunas. "Viltis" camp  for families with children with disabilities, special education teachers and assistants was held in Giruliai.
2009 summer programs took place in 9 cities. The main seminars were again in Vilnius. As last year, we had two one-week seminars. Dr. Grigonis Special Education seminars took place in: Kaunas, Skuodas, Skaudvilė, Simnas, Plungė, Kėdainiai and Venta. "Viltis" camp was again held in Giruliai.
2010 summer program took place  in 7 cities. Two one-week seminars were in Klaipėda. Dr. Grigonis Special Education seminars took place in Kaunas, Skuodas, Skaudvile, Simnas, Panevėžys,....., "Viltis" camp was again held in Giruliai.
2011 summer programs took place in 4 cities. The main seminars were again in Klaipėda. As last year, we had two one-week seminars. Dr. Grigonis Special Education seminars took place in: Kaunas, Taurage, Skaudvile and Klaipėda.
2012 summer program took place in 3 cities. The main seminars were in Palanga. The university strands took place in Šiauliai University and Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas. Other special education seminars took place in several pre-school facilities in Kaunas.
2013 summer program took place in 3 cities. The main seminrs were in Prienai. The university strands took place in Šiauliai University and Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas. Other special education seminars took place in several pre-school facilities in Kaunas.
2014 summer took place only in Kaunas.
2015 summer took place only in Vilnius. This was our last seminar in Lithuania. A.P.P.L.E. is closing its doors after 25 years.

Experienced American teachers trained Lithuanian teachers in the following subjects:

• Action Research
• Agricultural education
• Art Education
• Brain Research
• Children at risk programs
• Computer education methods
• Computer uses in education
• Counseling/education psychology
• Development of teacher resource centers
• Educational administration
• Elementary education methods
• Art, music, theater and photography for all subject teachers

• English as a second language (TESL)
• History/Civics/Geography
• Mathematics teaching methods
• Music education
• Physical Education and Health
• Religion and Ethics education
• Science and Ecology methods
• Social Context of Education
• Social work
• Special education
• Structures and methods in Catholic schools

• Special education topics - Dr. Karl Janowitz - every spring since 1992.
• Administration and evaluation topics
• 1995 - Dr. K. Phillip Taylor worked a week each at Marijampole, Kaunas, Panevezys and Vilnius
• Walter Serbent - several one-week winters sessions.
• Action Research - Dr. Barbara Henriques
• Computer Literacy
• 1998 - Computer Literacy program taught by Algirdas and Amanda Muliolis 
• four weeks in Vilnius Užupis school where 42 teachers and administrators participated
• four weeks in Pakruojis region - 62 teachers and administrators from 21 regional schools
• 1999 - Computer Literacy program taught by Algirdas and Amanda Muliolis
• four weeks in Ukmerge Užupis school, where 57 teachers, administrators, parents and school personnell participated in 25 hr. seminars.  One of the four groups was an advanced group.
• four weeks in Prienai region, where 72 teachers and administrators from 22 schools in the region participated in 25 hr. seminars.
• 2000 - Computer programs taught by Algirdas and Amanda Muliolis
• four weeks in Mažeikiai region where 72 teachers and administrators from 20 schools in the region participate in 25 hr. Computer Literacy seminars.
• two days in Vilnius - Internet basics for 7 foreign language professors from Vilnius University.
• four weeks in Kaunas Hard-of-Hearing Boarding school, where 42 teachers and librarians and 7 students participated in Computer Literacy seminars.
• 2001 - Computer programs taught by Algirdas and Amanda Muliolis
• four weeks in Kaunas with 45 special education teachers.
• a three-day seminar with 12 teachers from the Kavarskas region,
• one week each at the Jesuit High Schools in Vilnius and Kaunas
• two weeks at Pranas Masiotas high school in Klaipeda.
• 2002 - Computer programs taught by Algirdas and Amanda Muliolis
• four weeks in Plunge with 60 teachers.
• four weeks in Skuodas with 64 teachers
• 2003 - Computer programs taught by Algirdas and Amanda Muliolis
  • two weeks with 36 teachers in Naujoji Vilna
  • one week with 24 teachers in Šalčininkai
  • two weeks with 24 teachers at Special Boarding School #3 in Vilnius
  • four weeks with 95 teachers in Šilalė.
• 2004 - Computer programs taught by Algirdas and Amanda Muliolis
  • two weeks with 34 teachers in Venta
  • two weeks with 37 teachers in Kėdainiai
  • two weeks with 24 teachers in Jurbarkas
  • two weeks with 39 teachers, parents and community residents in Buožėnai.
  • Distance teaching and learning - continuation for some participants of the strand, who wanted to become consultants on distance learning. This was carried on through the Internet and lasted the whole year. One face-to-face (f2f) session was scheduled in Jan. of 2005 for the 11 participants. 7 participants completed the course and, during the summer seminars in 2005 they participated as student/lecturers.
• 2005 - Computer programs taught by Algirdas and Amanda Muliolis
  • one week with 31 teachers in Simnas
  • one week with 27 teachers in Varėna
  • two weeks with 46 teachers in Alytus
  • two weeks with 48 teachers in Skaudvile
  • two weeks with 46 teachers in Smalininkai
• 2006 - Computer programs taught by Algirdas and Amanda Muliolis
  • four weeks with 100 teachers/members of the Society for Special Education Teachers and Parents of Kaunas
  • two weeks with 25 teachers in Panevėžys
  • two weeks with 47 teachers in Lazdijai
• 2007 - Computer programs taught by Algirdas and Amanda Muliolis
  • two weeks with 48 teachers in Skuodas
  • two weeks with 46 teachers in Viliampolė, Kaunas
  • four weeks with 82 teachers in Pasvalys
• 2008 - Computer programs taught by Algirdas and Amanda Muliolis
  • two weeks with 42 teachers in Jieznas
  • two weeks with 46 teachers in Trakai
  • two weeks with 62 teachers in Biržai
• Scheduling using the computer program Mimosa
• 2000 - two one-week seminars for assistant directors responsible for scheduling inVilnius.
• 2001 - a 2 week Mimosa seminar at Kaunas Technical University
• 2002 - a 1-day Mimosa seminar at Information Technologies Center in Vilnius
• 2002 - a 1-day and a 2-day Mimosa seminars at Information Technologies Center in Vilnius
• 2003 - a 1-day and a 2-day Mimosa seminars at Information Technologies Center in Vilnius
• 2004 - a 1-day Mimosa seminars at Information Technologies Center in Vilnius
• 2005 - February - May: two f2f meetings in the spring with two groups of Mimosa seminar participants. The remaining time, participants worked with this course through the distance learning environment, Moodle. 20 participants completed the course on-line. The course remains on-line for anyone, who wants to refresh their information or contact consultants.
  June - July: two f2f meetings with high school administrators and one meeting with middle school participants. The remaining part of the course completed on-line. 17 participants completed this course.
• 2006 - February - one day f2f meeting for 32 participants.

 

To date, over 33,000 Lithuanian teachers, about 50% of the total teacher population have participated in our programs.

Services for educational professionals traveling in Lithuania, facilitating teacher placement.

English teachers from the U.S. were placed in Lithuanian high schools for several academic years. Education professionals also traveled to Lithuania during the winter to conduct short-term seminars at the Pedagogical University, Vilnius University, and other schools.

Arranging travel programs and professional introductions. Created a number of professional programs for specialists from Lithuania as a joint project with Lithuania’s Ministry of Education and the Open Lithuania Fund. As one result, the Svencionys Teacher Center has been established and is participating in forming a network of regional resource centers.

Materials assistance for Lithuanian school systems, including computer hardware and software, as well as textbooks . Individuals, organizations, schools and school districts have donated support materials. We have targeted donations to centers with maximum teacher access and professional expertise in their applications. The newest center is in Šalčininkai.

Mano Žodynas - 156 copies of Richard Scarry's My Word Book translation with Lithuanian and English words was donated to teacher centers and participants of the "Viltis" camp seminar.

Assist American governmental and non-governmental professional groups interested in developing contacts with and programs for their counterparts in Lithuania.

• We assisted the New York State Department of Education in setting up a student and teacher exchange, which will focus on issues of environmental education. The Institute for Sustainable Communities based in Vermont has chosen Lithuania for its principal site for environmental education community program development as a result of joint work with A.P.P.L.E.

• Music teachers from Lithuania attended seminars and visited schools through a grant from the US government. 

 
• Several librarians from Lithuania participated in the International Librarian's Association's annual meeting in San Francisco (2008

• "Report to the Corps" newsletter is published two or three times per year and sent to all members and donors.  You may also download it from this Internet site. (see main index page)
• "Dirbame kartu" published in 1997 - a booklet prepared by the Mathamatics strand on cooperative learning in the Math classroom, with many sample problems, tested and/or written by strand participants.  Main author - Aldona Miskinis.  The booklet has been distributed to all Teacher centers and given to Mathematics strand participants at three seminars.
• "Microsoft Office pamokų ciklas" - a tutorial cycle for learning to use the Microsoft Office programs.   It has undergone 8 revisions and printings since 1997.  Written by Amanda Muliolis.  The booklet is given to all Computer strand participants and Computer literacy students during winter seminars with the right to make copies for teaching purposes.
• "Mimosa" - an instruction manual for using Mimosa software in scheduling was published in 2001. Two revisions and printings since them. Written by Amanda Muliolis
• "Advocating for Children and Families in an Emerging Democracy: The Post Soviet Experience in Lithuania" Published in 2003. Edited by Judy W. Kugelmass, Binghamton Uniersity and Dennis J. Ritchie, George Mason University. This book investigates issues surrounding the creation of social policy and support systems for children and families in this emerging democracy.
• ClarisWorks for Macintosh - a tutorial cycle for learning to use the ClarisWorks and AppleWorks packages and apply them in Lithuania's schools.  Written by Amanda Muliolis in 2003, tested at a seminar then revised and published in 2004.  The booklet has been sent to all schools that received Macintosh computers through the Lithuanian National Foundation (Tautos Fondas).
• DVD Mažiesiems - a two DVD set of 25 Lithuanian songs, games and lessons for pre-schoolers. The DVD's were created with the help of Cleveland Lithuanian scout association's troop "Neringa". Two other DVD's have been created: "Prašom, prašom paklausyti" and "Eglė, Žalčių Karalienė ir kitos pasakos". A fourth DVD: "Anykščių Šilelis" is geared for older students. Proceeds of the DVD's go to A.P.P.L.E.
• e-Zine is published monthly and e-mailed to members, donors, lecturers and friends.