For several years,  Indiana Area Senior High School has welcomed Fulbright Scholars hosted by the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. On Sept. 10, 2025, this year’s group of educators began their weekly visits to the Senior High, which concluded on Oct. 15. The end of their visit is accompanied by the annual Cultural Fair that showcases the different customs and traditions of the scholars. 

The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program was established by Congress in 1946 “to increase mutual understanding and support friendly and peaceful relations between the people of the United States and the people of other countries,” according to the organization’s website. Educators from the United States, as well as educators from other countries, participate in this exchange to learn from teachers in different areas of the world. IUP has been chosen as a hosting institution for ten years in a row. 

The High Arrow was able to speak with five Fulbright Scholars who have been visiting IHS. Sari Ylipulli teaches English and French to junior and senior high school students in her home country of Finland. In the Philippines, Mary Jane Suarez instructs oral communication and public speaking to twelfth graders. Azziz Boussayer is from Morocco and educates middle and high school pupils in English. Shirley Charles teaches a class called General Paper at a junior college, or pre-university, for 17 and 18 year-olds in Singapore. In India, Joyeeta Banerjee is an educator who instructs English as a second language to fifth through twelfth graders. 

Ms. Suarez learned about the Fulbright Scholars Program from a colleague, but she was motivated to apply after reading about the U.S. Department of Education’s mission of training and fostering students’ global competency. Nominated by her school to apply, Ms. Charles shared, “After leading a department for ten years, sometimes you think that you need more ideas on how to do things better, because you do not have all the answers to all the problems. I think we hit a point where we wanted to do better in certain areas…I thought it was very interesting for us to actually move to another country and be really immersed in what’s different in the cultures and how the students become so confident.”

Ms. Ylipulli has been observing Mrs. Steve’s English classes at IHS. She has also had the opportunity to visit other rooms around the building. There were many new skills and tricks she learned, but she said what stuck with her the most was “the overall energy and enthusiasm of teachers and how well-structured and prepared in advance their lessons are.” In her class in Morocco, Ms. Boussayer expresses that she has always avoided using the students’ first language to instruct them in order to fully immerse them in the English language. She comments, “I was surprised that teachers, when they are teaching another language, use English to instruct their students. And I discovered that there is no harm in using the initial language in classrooms and students will still learn. It’s less hard on both the teachers and the students.”

Ms. Banerjee’s school in India is very exam-focused. She shared, “That’s not helping the students. It’s not making meaningful learning happen in the classrooms. That is something very different from here and how the teachers incorporate exams. It is interesting for me and I want to take it back home.”

The Fulbright Scholars at IHS have fostered a collaborative learning environment between teachers. Their take-aways and new ideas exemplify that learning never stops.