Illinois School for the Deaf students, faculty and staff gathered Friday to extend well wishes to a veteran ISD teacher who will go abroad to hone her educational skills.
Sherry Humphries of Jacksonville has been awarded a Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching Fellowship and will fly to New Zealand on Saturday to begin five months of research on project-based learning and its uses.
In project-based learning “students do a project of their interest, and that’s how they can incorporate a variety of academic skills at the same time” said Humphries, who teaches science and history at ISD’s high school. “I definitely want to bring back experiential learning techniques to use with my students.”
Humphries said one example of project-based learning that she plans to implement is to give students the problem of building an earthquake-proof structure and then test various ideas to protect the building from earthquakes.
Humphries has been a teacher for 27 years, 22 of which have been at ISD.
“Sherry is an outstanding teacher,” ISD co-high school principal Sheila Stephens said. “This is not her first award. She has had other awards in her teaching career. She is a teacher of the highest caliber, with students’ best interests as her highest priority.”
Humphries said her fellowship gives her some educational freedom.
“The other teaching fellowships I’ve participated in have been more structured than this fellowship will be,” she said. “In other words, I will get to do what is important for my teaching situation. And the fellowship brings recognition to ISD, not only statewide, but nationally.” Humphries is believed to be the first ISD teacher to ever receive a Fulbright fellowship.
Humphries has been placed at Victoria University’s school of education in Wellington, New Zealand, where she will take education courses, share her expertise and collaborate with other teachers and other Fulbright scholars.
While in New Zealand, Humphries said she is looking forward to experiencing life in Wellington, the capital city of about 380,000 people, and visiting deaf schools in Auckland and Christ Church.
The fourth time applying for the Fulbright fellowship proved to be a charm for Humphries. She was one of 48 Fulbright fellowship winners chosen from about 3,000 applicants and the only teacher of the deaf chosen this year. The other 47 Fulbright winners are all teachers and will do educational research in 11 countries this year.
“While she will be missed, we know that the knowledge that she gains will benefit ISD and its students for years to come,” Stephens said.
Humphries will resume teaching at ISD in the fall.
