Christin Collins & Patricia Emerson - Brielle Elementary

Christin and Patricia developed a three-strand curriculum for their eighth-grade students.  First, their students will read Many Stones by Carolyn Coman, a novel loosely based on the murder of Fulbright Scholar Amy Biehl.  Next, their students will complete independent research projects based on the themes from the novel.  Finally, their students will develop a website and participate in a fundraising effort to support an existing group in South Africa.  Christin and Patricia believe that students will learn that we are all enriched when we participate in social action.

E. Muneerah Higgs: Lawnside Public Schools

After participating in the Fulbright-Hays GPA program, Muneerah designed an instructional unit entitled “The Soweto Uprisings.”  The curriculum unit addresses the emotions derived from the struggle for change and consists of photographs and background materials collected in South Africa, PowerPoint presentations and a Web quest.  In addition, Muneerah’s students are in frequent contact with their pen pals at Amstelhof Primary School.  Muneerah also produced a video about her experiences in South Africa and shared it at a recent Board of Education meeting.

Peggy Campbell-Rush: Kindergarten Teacher, Union Township School

Peggy’s Fulbright-Hays GPA project brings the issue of racial inequality to some of New Jersey’s youngest learners.  After completing the interdisciplinary, hands-on instructional unit, her students will develop a beginning knowledge of difference and the pernicious effects of segregation, apartheid and hatred. 

Mary Hull: Learning Consultant, West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School

Study Tour participant Mary Hull’s project addresses the need for otherness in order to define oneself.  Her experiences with the diverse people of South Africa led Mary to discover that different points of view inform our understanding of situations.  Upon returning to the US, Mary was interviewed by Princeton Packet, and her school district sent news releases to the Trenton Times and the New Jersey School Board’s newsletter.

Ruby Simmons: Hubbard Middle School, Plainfield

Ruby’s students and school district benefited greatly from her participation in the Fulbright-Hays GPA trip to South Africa.  Ruby considers her curriculum project “a work of love.”  Entitled “Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela: A Comparative Study,” the curriculum unit builds on her experiences in South Africa.  In addition to creating a narrative and pictorial timeline of the two men’s lives, Ruby also developed several PowerPoint presentations to share with students and colleagues.  Her students also participated in a letter writing exchange with students from Amstelhof Primary School and received a visit from the principal, Mr.. Claude de Jaeger.

Carla Shalaby:   South Brunswick Public Schools

Carla’s Fulbright-Hays GPA curriculum project, “Forced Removal: Hateful Roots, Harmful Consequences,” deals with the lasting effects of forced relocations throughout history.  As part of an instructional unit on Westward Expansion, Carla’s students compared and contrasted South Africa’s Group Areas Act (1950) with the United States’ Indian Removal Act (1830.)  Moved by the compelling stories of District Six and the Trail of Tears, Carla’s students designed and sold bookmarks to raise funds for the American Indian History Museum in Washington, DC.  Further, Carla encouraged her students to use their “loud mouths” to give voice to the currently displaced people of Rwanda.  Carla’s class also hosted two South African visitors, Mr.. Claude de Jaeger and Ms. Kirsty Trotter.

Julie Comiskey: GSE 5-Year Teacher Education Student, Edison

This fall, Julie completed three weeks of student teaching in Estelle Fortuin’s fifth-grade class at Amstelhof Primary School .  Despite language barriers and the stress of the unfamiliar, Julie adeptly taught letter writing, geography, and map skills using the book Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown.  She also fostered international friendships by developing pen pals between her students in Amstelhof Primary and Edison. 

Valencia Lynch: New Brunswick

Valencia was inspired after a chilly morning visit to the Caregiver-Child Project located deep in the mountains of Kwa-Zulu Natal.  When she saw a group of three-year-olds sitting on the dirt floor of their unheated classroom, she decided to take action.

She developed a geometry unit wherein her students designed and created pillows for the children in Kwa-Zulu Natal.  Valencia’s students will never say “when are we ever going to use this?” after completing this curriculum unit!

Steffany Baptiste: Summit Middle School

Steffany designed an interdisciplinary unit for students from grades 6 – 12 entitled, “Education as a Political Act: A Study of Student Uprisings and Educational Pride.”   Over the course of the unit, her students will analyze international examples of student uprisings.  Steffany also played host to our South African visitors Claude de Jaeger and Kirsty Trotter.  She was interviewed by the Summit Public School’s publicist and recognized at a Summit Board of Education meeting.  As advisor to the school’s drama club, Steffany brought her SA experience to a wider audience in her school. 

JoAnn Garbarini GSE 5-Year Teacher Education Student

JoAnn designed a curriculum unit that addresses racial conflicts through literature.  After reading Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird , her students will compare the period before the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. and the Apartheid era in South Africa.  After completing the unit, JoAnn’s students will be able to relate the moral issues from the text to their own lives.

Indira Bailey: Essex County Vocational/Technical School

Indira found several creative ways to bring what she experienced during the Fulbright-Hays GPA trip to her students.   After viewing photos of anti-apartheid memorabilia, her students designed their own political protest posters in time for the 2004 presidential election.  In addition, several of Indira’s students participated in a logo-design contest sponsored by the GSE South Africa initiative.  A gifted artist in her own right, Indira is currently finishing a series of paintings that highlight memorable moments from her trip to South Africa. 

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