The Northern California chapter is the latest to have its pilot proposal for the Fulbright-in-the-Classroom initiative approved. The team leading the pilot includes Joyce Kim, Meg Ramey, and Dawn Barcelona. Kim was a U.S. Student Program participant/research grant awardee in South Korea (2015-2016), Ramey was an English Teaching Assistant in Mexico (2014-15) and is a Lifetime Member of the Fulbright Association, and Barcelona was an ETA in South Korea (2014-16).

The pilot envisions a curriculum workshop for Fulbright alumni where they will develop lesson plans for their interactions with students. The Northern California Chapter has a strong relationship with the World Affairs Council of Northern California and expects to work with the California Council for the Social Studies (CCSS) in preparing Fulbright alumni for the Fulbright-in-the-Classroom experience. CCSS is an affiliate of the National Council for the Social Studies, one of the partners in the Fulbright-in-the-Classroom initiative. Other partners include Sister Cities International and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.

So far, the chapter has confirmed three schools for participation in the pilot, and it is building a strong component of evaluation into the pilot in order to ensure that the results of chapter’s efforts can contribute to the expansion of the Fulbright-in-the-Classroom initiative.

The Fulbright-in-the-Classroom initiative is designed to capture American Fulbright experiences and bring them to the K-12 environment. It responds to a 2016 report from the Council on Foreign Relations and National Geographic that found significant gaps between what young people understand about today’s world and what they need to know to successfully navigate and compete in it. Chapters interested in learning more about Fulbright-in-the-Classroom and how to be involved can contact Fulbright Association Senior Fellow Michael Korff.