Two Local Graduates To Teach Abroad

Two Robbinsdale graduates and Plymouth natives have been awarded English Teaching Assistantships with the Fulbright U.S. Student Grant Program.

Lauren Griffin, A 2008 AHS graduate and 2012 Luther College graduate, will travel to Montenegro and teach at the University of Donja Gorica through May 2013. Amy Conner, also a 2008 graduate of Armstrong, and a 2012 graduate of the University of Minnesota, will travel to Karlovac, Croatia, teaching at the Karlovac University of Applied Sciences.

During their grants, Laura and Amy, like all Fulbright assistants, will meet, work, live and learn from the people of their host country. The program facilitates cultural exchange through direct interaction on an individual basis in the classroom, home and in routine daily tasks, allowing the gurantee to gain an appreciation of others’ viewpoints and beliefs. The individual engage with their hosts on a one-to-one basis in an atmosphere of openness, academic integrity, and intellectual freedom.

The program has been in existence for over 70 years. In 1945, Senator J. William Fulbright introduced a bill in Congress that called for the “promotion of international goodwill through the exchange of students in the fields of education, culture and science”. On August 1, 1946, President Truman signed the bill into law, and Congress created the Fulbright Program.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is the largest student exchange program in the United States, offering opportunities for students and young professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and primary and secondary school teaching worldwide. The program currently offers approximately 1,800 grants annually and operates in more than 150 countries.

Editor's Note: The content above was provided by the Robbinsdale School District.