Winner of Global Education Travel Fellowship gets a trip to India

A teacher at Waimea Country School in Hawaii, Laurel Matsuda is selected for a trip to India by the Teachers for Global Classrooms Program (TGC). Laurel was a part of TGC program which is a year-long development opportunity for professional teachers to become leaders in global education. The aim of TGC Program is to make teachers become world-wide ambassadors to classrooms, schools, and broader communities. The program includes an eight week graduate level online course on globalization, a Symposium inWashington DC, and a three week International Travel Fellowship to one of six countries. The group of 82 teachers was selected from 32 states.

Amy Salling, the head of Waimea Country School, said, “Through Laurel’s inspired teaching we are going to help our students grow to be thoughtful, caring, empathetic, productive, and successful citizens of our country and the world.” Amy continued, “I was grateful to be able to travel with Laurel to Washington DC for the global symposium. It was a terrific, exciting experience. I feel energized by my few days at the symposium. We interacted with so many smart, like-minded folks.”

About going to India, Laurel who teaches the fourth and fifth grade students said; "“I will be travelling first to south central India with a group of 16 other teachers. We’ll spend about a week there and then travel to various parts of the country. We will meet teachers and visit local schools. Then we reconvene in New Delhi.” She continued, “I’m really excited about the opportunity to travel to such an exotic locale. Also, I am motivated to learn how schools operate in another country and bring the lessons back to our school.”

She also added, “The world we live in is increasingly interconnected. As educators we need to prepare our students for jobs that don’t exist yet, in fields that we may not even conceive of, and to be competitive in the globalized future. I am privileged to be part of this awesome network of amazing teachers.”

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Amy and Laurel agree to the fact that this award is not just important for the educational experience but also needed to inspire and develop the skills and knowledge of students to make them the leaders of 21st century. Laurel is excited to share her own professional development with other teachers.

Image Courtesy: canindia.com