Photo courtesy of Vestavia Hills City Schools.
As a child, Linda Rummell dreamed of traveling to interesting places around the world. So when her youngest son left the nest after graduating in May from Vestavia Hills High School, the Gifted Specialist and sixth-grade English Language Arts teacher from Liberty Park Middle School decided it was time for an adventure.
"On a whim, I filled out this application with no idea what would happen," she said.
Her application put her in the running to become a fellow in the U.S. Department of State's Teachers for Global Classrooms Program. In June, Rummell learned she was one of the 82 teachers accepted into the program from around the United States.
"I had almost forgotten about it, then I got this letter in the mail that said I had been accepted. I was shocked," she said.
The State Department program provides yearlong professional development for middle and high school teachers aimed at globalizing American classrooms. She will attend a professional global symposium in Washington D.C. Then in the spring Rummell will travel abroad for a field learning experience. On her return, she will collaborate with other fellows to develop a curriculum focused on global competency, technology integration, and cross-cultural communication.
"I don't know yet where I'm going," she said, "but I'm excited about it. I'm a lifelong learner, and I'm going to love taking what I learn back to my students."
As part of the program Rummell will continue teaching at LPMS, sharing the experiences of her new adventure along the way.
"My hope is, if there are any students interested in traveling and learning abroad, I can show them that they can do it. We're all one big world, we're all human, and we can learn a lot from each other," she said.
Once she becomes a fellow, she will have an opportunity to apply for U.S. State Department grants to help globalize her classroom.
