The NEA Foundation today named Susan Sellers, a health and physical education teacher at Lynnwood Elementary School in Lynnwood, as a 2013 Pearson Foundation Global Learning Fellow.

With this honor, Sellers joins a unique class of 36 award-winning public school educators who will build their global competency skills, or the capacity and disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance.

“In order for students to be prepared for the global age, their educators must be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and disposition to teach in the global age,” said Harriet Sanford, President and CEO of the NEA Foundation. “Our Global Learning Fellows program has an intentional focus on supporting educators as they strengthen their global competencies: investigating the world beyond one’s immediate environment; recognizing multiple perspectives; communicating ideas effectively with diverse audiences; and taking action to improve conditions.”

Sellers will tour Brazil, from June 19-27 and visit schools in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The trip’s goal is to provide educators with structured opportunities to observe classroom instruction and to interact with Brazilian teachers and administrators. It also includes opportunities to investigate Brazil’s rich historical and cultural landmarks.

At the conclusion of the Pearson Foundation Global Learning Fellowship, educators begin working on a final project to create a lesson plan, unit plan, or full curriculum integrated with global competency skills. By creating this plan, and then sharing with educators around the world via an open source platform, Fellows are contributing to an increasing field of knowledge on this topic. Furthermore, the Fellows become positioned to lead the profession by becoming advocates for global learning and global competence within their schools, communities, and districts.