Two FCPS Middle School Teachers Head Abroad on Fulbright Awards

Shannon Evans (right), French teacher at Thoreau Middle School, and Sulekha Subhash (left), emotional disabilities teacher at Luther Jackson Middle School, received Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program awards. 

The awards were recently announced by the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

As Fulbright recipients, the teachers will share knowledge and foster meaningful connections across communities in the United States and abroad. Fulbrighters engage in cutting-edge research and expand their professional networks, often continuing research collaborations started abroad and laying the groundwork for forging future partnerships between institutions. Upon returning to their classrooms in the United States, they share their stories and often become active supporters of international exchange, inviting foreign scholars and educators to their school or campus and encouraging their colleagues and students to go abroad. 

Shannon leaves for Morocco on March 5. While there, she hopes to learn more about the culture. “ I'll also be presenting, co-teaching, and meeting important people in education,” she says. “I am sure it will be a life-changing opportunity, and I can't wait!”

Shannon hopes to learn more about and better understand the school systems in Morocco and their relationship with the French language. “As a French teacher, it is important that I receive first-hand knowledge of how the language is taught and received in a post-colonial country,” she says.

Sulekha’s international field experience will be traveling to Colombia in July. She says the award has helped her “motivate my students to look beyond their own lives and develop an understanding of other cultures and people,” she says. 

“We strive together to be globally competent and see the connections that exist amongst all people and be able to communicate with each other effectively,” Sulekha adds. “I hope to have an understanding of what the students with special needs are being prepared for in Colombia. With the knowledge that I have from working as a special educator, my goal is to exchange ideas and learn more from the experiences of my Colombian counterparts.”

For over 75 years, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 400,000 participants—chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential—with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. The Fulbright TGC Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and administered by IREX. Learn more about the Fulbright Program .