South Portland High School teacher Julie York has won a Fulbright Teacher Exchange Award from the U.S. Department of State and Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

The honor enables York, who is a career preparation and technology teacher and department chair, to teach, study or conduct research abroad through the Fulbright program. She plans to use the opportunity as a way to connect with her students at home.

“My whole desire for all of this is I wanted to see where some of my multilingual students have been coming from,” York said. “I wanted to experience their culture because, clearly, they’re experiencing South Portland culture right now.”

Program participants are asked to prioritize a list of five regions, and York chose South America and Sub-Saharan Africa as her top two.

“We have a lot of students that come from Angola and they go up through South America,” York said. “I’ve heard a lot of students that will come through Brazil and go up the coast before they get to us.”

She should find out which location she will visit in November and plans to travel at some point in this academic school year.

According to York’s colleagues in the South Portland school district, the award is well deserved.

“Julie is an innovative teacher who has introduced countless students to new, cutting-edge opportunities. It is no surprise that the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program has also recognized her outstanding efforts,” said Superintendent Tim Matheney. “Julie’s participation in the program will undoubtedly continue to elevate her work and that of her peers at SPHS. We are so pleased that she has been recognized by the Fulbright program.”

Andy Wallace, director of technology at South Portland schools, said the opportunity allows York to share her own “innovative projects and initiatives with a broader, global audience.”

“It’s also exciting that Julie will return to the district with different perspectives from other countries and fellow Fulbright award winners,” Wallace said.

York participated in the Fulbright Program in 2004 when she went to Japan for three weeks. However, as a technology educator, she believes this opportunity will be even more exciting for her.

“I learned so much, it was insane, but that was before there was a lot of technology access and the ability to do as much as we can do today,” York explained. “The Japan Fulbright that I did was about fostering relationships between American and Japanese classrooms. This Fulbright program is about how to grow the global competence of our students, so I’m getting a lot more resources and opportunities for my students.”

While the Fulbright Program was established in 1946, York noted the program has grown by leaps and bounds in the past 20 years. Much of that is thanks to developments in technology that make it easier for educators and students to connect across borders.

Even before the trip abroad, the Fulbright program has enabled York to provide unique opportunities for her students.

“I’ve already brought back a ton of curriculum,” she said. “My students this week are talking with kids in Hawaii and they picked Italy as a culture they’re interested in, so I’ve connected with a couple of teachers in Italy.”

While she’s looking forward to the opportunity to immerse herself in the classrooms of other cultures, York said any teacher can gain great insight by visiting someone else’s classroom in just another state, within Maine, or even next door.

“I’ve had the opportunity to go to different classrooms within our state and to go to different classrooms within my building,” York said. “I think any time you go into another classroom or school, you get something from it that benefits everybody and I really am looking forward to the opportunity to bring some of that back to the students I teach.”