Nov. 13, 2020 — Mountain Brook Junior High Latin teacher Micheal Posey has been selected for the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms program, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. 

Posey is one of 71 U.S. citizens who will travel abroad through the program and was selected based on his academic and professional achievements, record of service, and demonstrated leadership potential. 

“To serve as an educational ambassador and to be selected for this highly prestigious fellowship is a distinct honor,” he said. “This will give me the necessary skills to incorporate more global competency goals in my classes. My aim is to open up the world to my students.”

The Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms program is a year-long professional development opportunity for elementary, middle, and high school teachers to develop skills for preparing students to compete in a global economy. It equips educators to bring an international perspective to their schools through targeted training, experience abroad, and global collaboration. 

Posey learned of his selection in mid-August and is waiting to discover where he will travel. He will be overseas for two to three weeks, likely in summer 2021, and listed Asia as his preferred destination. Already, Posey has traveled throughout the Americas and Western Europe.

“All around it’s going to be a synergistic educational opportunity because I get to mesh the travel part, which I do greatly enjoy, with the professional component, which is teaching and academic learning, so it’s the best of both worlds,” he said. 

Posey is currently enrolled in a semester-long online course with other Fulbright teachers focused on best practices in global education. He is learning about such topics as sustainable development, global competency, digital literacy, and how to infuse global rich content into his classes. As part of his coursework, he is also co-creating a global lesson plan with another Fulbright honoree from New York. Recently, both classes met virtually to explore a lesson centered on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.   

While traveling abroad, Fulbright participants will visit schools and engage in cultural exchanges. Posey will have the opportunity to observe classes, interact with administrators, and teach or co-teach his own lessons with international peers. 

“As I understand from previous fellows, it’s very programmatic,” he said. "During our travel, fellows will experience the countryʻs history, education system, and culture."

Posey, meanwhile, is still adjusting to life as a newly minted Spartan at MBJH. He joined the junior high faculty about a month into the 2020-2021 school year after spending the past five years teaching in the Upper School at the Episcopal School of Baton Rouge in Louisiana.  

Posey, a Gadsden native, holds bachelor’s degrees from Dartmouth College in Romance Languages: Spanish and French, and Classics: Latin and Ancient Greek. He also earned a master’s degree in Spanish Language and Literature from Middlebury College. 

Additionally, Posey is a Writing and Steering Committee member of the National Latin Exam and Chair of the National Mythology Exam. He has taught Spanish, French, and Latin at private schools throughout his career before coming to Mountain Brook. 

“Micheal Posey has brought so much to MBJH in just the short time he’s been with us,” MBJH Principal Donald Clayton said. “I’m not sure I’ve ever met anyone with such expertise in so many world languages. Beyond that, his pedagogy is solid and he is a great person to have on a faculty.”