Henley teacher selected for Fulbright global classroom program

A Henley High School teacher has been selected for the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms, a year-long program that teaches U.S. educators how to prepare students for a competitive global economy.

Linnae Salvati, who teaches Spanish, was among 71 educators chosen for the program, which includes travel abroad. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected based on academic and professional achievement as well as record of service and demonstrated leadership potential.

Salvati, who has taught at Henley, Mazama, and Bonanza during her decade with the district, will participate in a fourth-month virtual fellowship program on global competency this fall. This spring or summer, she will be assigned to a country overseas where she will teach for a two- to three-week term. Fulbright scholars do a summative project upon their return. The program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

“I want to increase my own knowledge of global competency and inspire our students to reach their full potential on the global stage,” Salvati said. “I also want to model to them the process of seeking new knowledge, traveling, learning a new language to accomplish a goal, and what global collaboration looks like.”

Global competency is an international movement in education that aims to prepare students with skills that will help them to be successful in the global market, Salvati said. These skills include examining local, global and intercultural issues, understanding and appreciating the perspectives and worldviews of others, engaging in open, appropriate and effective interactions with people from different cultures, and acting for collective well-being and sustainable development.

“I am hoping my participation in the program will increase our local awareness of the international movement of global competency in education,” she said. “I also want to learn about the plethora of opportunities and possibilities our students in Klamath have to participate on larger scale right now. A great quote from the program is, ‘We are not forming the leaders of tomorrow, we are teaching the leaders of today!’ ”

Salvati said many states now offer a global competence certificate that shows students have taken coursework preparing them for the international workforce.

The Fulbright TGC Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Fulbright Program with funding provided by the U.S. government and administered by IREX.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S government and was created to increase mutual understanding and build lasting connections between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Fulbright is active in more than 160 countries worldwide and partners with participating governments, host institutions, corporations, and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States.

For more information, please contact the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at 202-632-6452; ECA-Press@state.gov.