Each year, AFS-USA recognizes an outstanding global educator as a way to highlight and honor the tremendous work that educators across the U.S. are doing to build a more just and peaceful world. The selected educator has shown evidence that they have woven global engagement and intercultural learning into their everyday instruction, and they have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of a globally competent educator. We hope to celebrate an educator every year that will inspire others to weave culture and global thinking into their learning environment and foster active global citizenship among their students each year.
AFS-USA is proud to name Elizabeth Chapman from Bellaire High School in Houston, Texas as the 2024 recipient of the AFS Global Educator of the Year Award. Elizabeth is an English teacher that is able to select readings that provoke discussion and perspective taking so students are challenged to consider the cultural elements that are/were at play during the time the story was written and how those may or not factor into modern day society. Elizabeth operates with the same level of intentionality to build all her units and assignments for students, so the world is easily factored into their everyday learning. Beyond her role as a classroom English teacher, Elizabeth also works with the rest of the English department to replicate that same type of global thinking in their classrooms.
Ms. Chapman was praised by Bellaire High School’s former principal, Michael McDonough, for her strong “resolve toward bringing a worldly view to Bellaire High School.” He also commented about the role Elizabeth plays in challenging the students participating in and leading the school’s numerous extracurricular clubs to focus on service, supporting one another, and contributing to the larger Houston community and its diverse population.
Elizabeth Chapman has embraced the idea of its students going abroad even during the academic year and values those transformative international experiences as she was an exchange student herself in high school. She works hard to connect students with scholarships and funding opportunities, so finances are never a barrier to one of her students having an international exchange experience.
In the letter of support submitted as part of the application process, Jennifer Battle, parent of two Bellaire High School students, stated “I am so grateful for Ms. Chapman’s vision and commitment to expanding the possibilities for our students. She will forever hold a special place in our family’s story and the ripple effects of her impact will be felt across the thousands of lives of the people served by the students she has nurtured to be true global citizens.”
AFS-USA was thrilled to celebrate Ms. Chapman at their annual ECA Workshop in Northern Virginia in March 2024 where she was joined by the AFS-USA President and CEO, Tara Hofmann, along with Chris Miner, the Managing Director for Professional and Cultural Exchange at the U.S. Department of State, to receive the 2024 AFS-USA Global Educator of the Year Award in person.