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High school English teacher part of national fellowship that will take her to Morocco
A Bellefonte Area High School teacher has an opportunity that few get – the chance to further the educational platform while on a trip to Morocco.
This comes for English teacher Ashlie Crosson, who was approved last year as one of 76 teachers nationwide selected for the Department of State’s Teachers for Global Classroom yearlong fellowship. She applied to the program in the spring, with a letter of recommendation from Superintendent Michelle Saylor, and was accepted in the summer.
Crosson, who’s been with the district since 2012, said the program required her to take a 10-week intensive online course implemented by the International Research and Exchanges board. The course, Crosson said, was similar to a graduate-level class, and taken among other teachers involved in the program. Its mission was to help provide a foundation for implementing global education initiatives into teacher classrooms.
“The idea of global (education) sounds daunting, and in some ways it is, but going through the course helped us all to realize that this is doable,” she said. “Teaching with a global mindset doesn’t have to mean tear down everything you currently do and start all over again, but it does require being intentional, realistic and ambitious about what your students are doing in your classroom.”
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In February, she heads to Washington D.C. for a two-day symposium, accompanied by high school Principal Mike Fedisson and other fellows, to create research questions and collaborate on ideas with others.
That’s followed by a 16-day field experience in a foreign country, being Morocco for Crosson.
“The Fulbright (Teachers for Global Classroom) program has given me so much knowledge, support and ideas regarding where and how global education fits not just in my classroom, but in my school and my community,” Crosson said. “I think no matter how my role in education could change in the future, ensuring that students are becoming active global citizens -- communicating, problem solving, innovating and creating in ways that build global empathy, progress and change -- will always be at the forefront of my mind.”
One of Crosson’s final tasks is to create a global education guide that will go through program approval and then shared with district faculty and staff through a website that will “serve as a resource bank for everything global ed,” she said.
*By Brit Milazzo, public relations director, BASD
*Crosson gives a firsthand account of her experience, here: Abroad in Morocco
