Ramona Convent STEM Department Co-Chair Receives Fulbright Award

Mrs. Aulikki Pekkala-Flagan

The U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board recently announced that Ramona Convent Science teacher, Mrs. Aulikki Pekkala-Flagan has been awarded a Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching grant to Finland.

Mrs. Pekkala-Flagan is one of only 35 U.S. educators who will travel abroad through the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Program in 2017-2018. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement as well as demonstrated leadership potential.

Mrs. Pekkala-Flagan shared “this has been my dream for years. I look forward to learning how Finland’s teachers use project-based and phenomenon-based learning to put science and technology into a context that is relevant for students and makes learning both exciting and meaningful.”

While in Finland, she will visit universities, teacher education institutions, and innovative schools to research Finland’s unique approach to education and discover how Finland provides resources to teachers to help them become highly motivated, passionate, and successful educators.

Upon her return, Mrs. Pekkala-Flagan plans to continue to inspire her students at Ramona, publish her findings, and present at seminars and teaching conferences in hopes of bringing new ideas to the next generation of educators. “My goal is to investigate the ways that teachers and universities collaborate to enrich high school STEM education. In particular, my project seeks to increase understanding of how to empower female students excel in STEM.”

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to build relations between the people of the United States and the people of other countries that are needed to solve global challenges.

Fulbrighters address critical global challenges – from sustainable energy and climate change to public health and food security – in all areas, while building relationships, knowledge, and leadership in support of the long-term interests of the United States and the world. Fulbright alumni have achieved distinction in many fields, including 57 who have been awarded the Nobel Prize, 82 who have received Pulitzer Prizes, and 37 who have served as a head of state or government.

Ramona is a welcoming Catholic college-prep high school for girls in grades 9-12. Ramona graduates face the future with an extraordinary education, a global vision fueled by Catholic values, an independent spirit, confident leadership skills, the support of their Ramona sisters, and the strength of a legacy of more than 125 years of excellence.

Ramona Convent Secondary School, 1701 W. Ramona Rd., Alhambra, (626) 282-4151 or visit www.ramonaconvent.org.