This
Teacher Brings the World Into Her Daphne Classroom
Reprinted with permission from the
Mobile Register (first run
Friday, September 02, 2005);
By Brenda G. Anderson, Correspondent
"From the time that Blair Heald
was a high school exchange student in Costa Rica, she has enjoyed
traveling and expanding her understanding of different cultures. In
college, she went to Russia with her history department. After college,
she worked in Mexico. She later took a family trip to Canada, visited
England and then went to France with her new husband, adding to her
knowledge of the world. A high school dream was to become a
photographer for the National Geographic magazine so she could travel.
Instead, she became a teacher, which opened the door for application to
the Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program. "This program was
established by the Japanese in appreciation for participation of
Americans in the Fulbright Scholar Program. Many Japanese have come to
the United States through the scholar program so the Japanese created a
teacher program under that umbrella," Heald said.
"Each year 200 teachers across
the U.S. are selected to visit Japan for three weeks. There are three
sessions a year which are fully funded. In this program, teachers gain
knowledge of Japan which can be used in our classrooms. A plan of how
this will be done is part of the application process. A six month
post-trip plan is also reviewed. I was selected for the October, 2002
session," she said. "It was a life-changing event." Heald has
used her experience in her lessons, and is now president of the Mobile
Ichihara Sister City Association. "After my trip, I got involved in
this exchange program. Every year either 10 students from Japan come
here or 10 local students go there. The mayor of Ichihara is coming in
October. In Japan the competition among the students to come to the
United States is extremely competitive," she said.
Not only is Heald pursuing her
traveling as she plans a trip to Japan and a Christmas Caribbean
cruise, she is pursuing her ongoing education. "For the past few
decades, I've gotten a degree a decade. Now, I hope to work on my
doctorate," she said. After Heald completed the University of South
Alabama with a degree in Spanish, she worked at a resort in Mexico in
childrens' activities. "Every job I've had always ended up working with
children. I finally went to Spring Hill College for my alternative
master's degree which is geared for people who don't have a background
in education but want to teach," she said. When Heald moved to Fairhope
in 1990, she landed a first- grade teaching position at Spanish Fort
Elementary. "I will forever hold Dr. Agnes Smith in the highest esteem.
She was the principal who recommended me for the job," she said.
Heald moved to the gifted
education teacher position at Spanish Fort Elementary which meant she
needed more education. She finished her educational specialist degree
in 2001. Heald transferred to Daphne Elementary School South in 2000
where she now teaches approximately 60 fourth- and fifth-grade students
in the gifted program. "In this program, the students are selected
based on their academics and creativity. I try to accommodate each of
the children's needs. This program is neat because if the subject
matter is one that the students are interested in, we can spend as much
time as we like on it," Heald said."
© 2005 Mobile Register. All rights reserved. Reprinted with
permission (D. English, T. Covington) from the Mobile Register PO
Box 2488, Mobile, AL
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G.Thompson, Brenda Anderson, Mobile Register