Matt Cottone, a sixth-grade World Studies teacher at Van Hoosen Middle School in Rochester, has been selected as a 2020 NEA Foundation Global Learning Fellow. As a fellow, Cottone will spend a year in a peer learning network of 44 educators from across the country building their comprehension of issues of global significance and their ability to bring that knowledge into the classroom. For Cottone, the experience will not be new; he has been on six sponsored international trips in the last six years. “I can’t stress enough how humbled I’ve been to meet some of the most incredible people on these fellowships,” Cottone said. He calls it his personal mission to bring the world to his students. Over the course of the next year, the NEA Global Learning Fellows will immerse themselves in online coursework, webinars and collegial study, including a two-day professional development workshop this fall and a nine-day international field study next summer in Peru. The program is sponsored by the NEA Foundation.

Read more about global education in this month’s cover story, and learn tips from Cottone for winning grants and fellowships to travel the world as a teacher.