Two GSEHD Alumni Named U.S. Department of Education Teaching Ambassador Fellows

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan named two alumni from the Graduate School of Education and Human Development as Teacher Ambassador Fellows for the upcoming school year. Jennifer Bado-Aleman (2011) and Michael Humphreys (2008) are among 12 teachers that were selected out of a pool of 625 applications from schools across the country. The Teacher Ambassador Fellowship program was created to give outstanding teachers an opportunity to learn about national policy issues in education, and to contribute their expertise to those discussions.

The program aims to contribute to a larger understanding of federal initiatives and encourage broader input into policy and programs designed to improve education at all levels of government. 

Bado-Aleman and Humphreys are both graduates of GSEHD’s Professional Teaching Standards Graduate Certificate Program, which is designed to provide professional development to teachers in line with the expectations of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). Bado-Aleman is the English department resource teacher at Gaithersburg High School in Montgomery County, Md. As a Teacher Ambassador Fellow, she will work on middle-school reform full-time in the Office of the Secretary of Education. Humphreys is a physical education instructor at Patrick Henry Elementary School in Arlington, Va., and was selected to participate part-time as a Classroom Fellow.

Humphreys is among the few teachers in the country to hold two National Board Certificates. He holds certificates in Early Adolescence Social Studies-History and Early Adolescence English Language Arts, and is currently working toward a certificate in Middle Childhood Physical Education.