The Fulbright Association is excited to share that its Central Virginia (CVA) Chapter is the first to have its pilot proposal for the Fulbright-in-the-Classroom initiative approved. The initiative aims to introduce greater understanding of international affairs into K-12 classrooms, taking advantage of the expertise of Fulbright Association alumni members.
The CVA proposal seeks to combine the presence of international Fulbright students and scholars with FA members working with classroom teachers and will focus on an area of Virginia where there is a wide range of economic backgrounds and a significant rural representation. Using the Staunton City Public Schools as the locus for the pilot, the chapter is seeking to reach out to the Charlottesville Committee on Foreign Relations and the Virginia Council for the Social Studies as partners. Planning for the pilot will begin in October, with implementation starting in the spring of 2018. An initial evaluation of the pilot is planned for June 2018 based on feedback received in a questionnaire that will be administered to students after each Fulbright-in-the-Classroom pilot session.
The CVA proposal was put together by a team of four Fulbright Association members: Charlotte McDaniel, Gerald Pyle, Georgi Tomisato, and Karen Waterman. Dr. McDaniel was founding president of the CVA Chapter and is a retired professor of empirical ethics at Emory University who received multiple Fulbright grants. Dr. Pyle is former present of the Southeast (Blue Ridge) Virginia Chapter and has taught at both the collegiate and secondary school levels. He participated in a teacher exchange to England. Tomisato is a specialist in curriculum development and participated in a Fulbright teacher exchange to Hungary and an exchange to South Korea supported by the Korean government. Waterman is a former elementary school teacher who participated in a Fulbright teacher exchange to the U.K.
The Fulbright Association’s Central Virginia Chapter collaborates with several higher education institutions: Hampden-Sydney College, Longwood University, Mary Baldwin University, University of Virginia, Virginia Military Institute, and Washington and Lee University.
The Fulbright Association has recently confirmed partnerships for the Fulbright-in-the-Classroom initiative with the National Council for the Social Studies, Sister Cities International, and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. We are grateful for the support of these esteemed organizations, who share many of our goals in this initiative. Additional partnerships are currently in motion.
Chapters interested in participating in the Fulbright-in-the-Classroom pilot program should contact Fulbright Association Senior Fellow Michael Korff.