Friday, January 24, 2020

For the second consecutive year, UNCW is hosting 22 teachers from 20 countries ranging from Azerbaijan to Zambia with funding from a $209,563 grant co-directed by the Office of International Program’s Jennifer Fernandez-Villa and the Watson College of Education’s Donyell Roseboro.

The Fulbright Teaching Excellence Achievement Program is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State and the International Research and Exchanges Board. It enables secondary school teachers from around the world to come to U.S. host universities for six weeks to engage in targeted professional development and growth opportunities.

Fernandez-Villa co-directed a grant last year that brought scholars from 20 different countries to campus. Being awarded the grant for a second year speaks to the quality of the program delivered and she has used that experience and feedback from the initial group of fellows to design this year’s program. 

“We created a Facebook group last year and the fellows still post all the time about how much they miss Wilmington, UNCW and their time teaching in our local public schools,” she said. “Many of the fellows have assumed leadership roles upon their return home and are using the knowledge they gained at UNCW to inform teaching practices in their home countries.”

In 2016, Roseboro co-led a group of 12 teachers from Carolina Forest International Elementary School on a Fulbright-Hays project to study for four weeks in South Africa. This is her first time co-leading a Fulbright project in the U.S.

The fellows, who arrive on Jan. 28, will participate in faculty-led academic and technology workshops, gain field experience at local schools, enjoy a reception at Kenan House and a walking tour of historic downtown before their visit concludes with a trip to Washington, D.C. in mid-March.

The Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement (Fulbright TEA) Program is a program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), with funding provided by the U.S. Government and administered by IREX.

-- Caroline Cropp

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