Staff Celebrations
Aki Kurose teacher selected to prestigious Fulbright Classroom Teacher Exchange Program
Congratulations to Aki Kurose Middle School teacher Suzanne Mayer, who has been selected for the prestigious Fulbright Classroom Teacher Exchange Program. She was the only teacher chosen from the state of Washington to participate in the program.
Mayer, who teaches both Spectrum and regular math classes at Aki Kurose, will travel to India in August to teach math, returning in January. In return, Aki Kurose will receive a teacher from India to teach Mayer’s classes during the same time period.
The daughter of two teachers, Mayer is a former corporate tax attorney for General Electric who entered the teaching profession six years ago because she wanted a job “where I can make a difference,” she said.
She spent three years in the Highline School District before coming to Seattle Public Schools.
Teaching math is a natural fit, Mayer said. “I think it’s fun – like working on a puzzle. I want to get my students to think math is fun too.”
The Fulbright Classroom Teacher Exchange Program provides opportunities for teachers to participate in direct exchanges of positions with colleagues from other countries for a semester or academic year. As a result, teachers live and work in the cultures of their host countries and gain an understanding and appreciation of the similarities and differences in national cultures and education systems.
Noting that students in India tend to perform better in math than their American counterparts, Mayer is looking forward to observing “a different curriculum, different instructional strategies, different technology,” then sharing that knowledge with her fellow teachers when she returns.