FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Grace Gandy, a senior in the four-year childhood education program in the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas, has earned a Fulbright U.S. Student Assistantship to teach in Greece next year.

“She is going to be an exceptional elementary teacher who will almost certainly change the hearts and minds of the students she is granted the privilege of teaching,” said her teacher, Mike Daugherty, professor of technology and engineering education.

Gandy has specialized in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) classes in the curriculum and instruction department is now doing her student teaching internship at Shaw Elementary School, a STEM-based school in Springdale. She is also an Honors College student.

Gandy will be in Greece for 10 months with other students from schools all around the United States. Whiles she’s there, she will teach English to Greek students in the primary grades, while taking a modern Hellenism class herself. She also plans to have Skype calls between her students in Greece and her students at Shaw Elementary.

“I think this will be the perfect way for my Greek students to practice their English,” Gandy said.

In the beginning, Gandy thought she would want to teach kindergarten, but her student teaching has made her think otherwise. She hopes to teach fourth grade eventually.

“They have a more developed curriculum and understand your jokes,” she said.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio of that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.