Importing Indian culture to Gold Bar

Published 9:20 pm Monday, May 31, 2010

GOLD BAR — Bill Franklin plans to spend his summer vacation roughly 7,000 miles from home.

The Gold Bar Elementary School teacher and librarian won a grant for a Fulbright-Hays seminar abroad, and will travel to India with 15 other educators from across the United States.

The program, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, ultimately will help Franklin create lesson plans that introduce U.S. students to one of the world’s largest nations.

The internationally minded teacher plans to get a first-hand look at India’s education system.

“We all can get on the Internet and do stuff, but this is a little different,” said Franklin, 57.

The Fulbright-Hays grant was a natural fit for the teacher. He’s been to Europe four times and went to Saudi Arabia in 2007 for an education seminar sponsored by that country.

Those experiences impressed the U.S. Department of Education as they sifted through 500 applications for their eight Fulbright-Hays seminars abroad.

“He has many honors and fellowships and has extensive overseas experience,” its review reads. “His outreach work is excellent as well.”

The program will find Franklin traveling to New Delhi on July 1, where he’ll attend a series of lectures. Then, during the next four weeks, he’ll talk with educators in eight of the country’s largest cities. He’ll learn about Indian culture. He’ll see how the country has become a powerhouse in the fields of mathematics, science and technology.

Franklin’s trip will help make him more of an international ambassador. Fulbright-Hays grant winners are required to perform community outreach upon their return.

“They want us to introduce India in a well-developed way to our kids,” Franklin said.

After returning to Gold Bar, he intends to devise ways to introduce students to India while meeting state and federal education requirements.

“I’ll have a full-blown unit,” he said.

That unit may spread far beyond his own classroom. He has to submit it both to educators in the U.S. and India, making his work available across the globe.

Franklin imagines lesson plans that cover a wide range of topics. Perhaps they’ll show how to use Indian dance during gym classes. Or maybe they’ll highlight differences between India’s residents and Washington’s own American Indian tribes during social studies.

He also wants to establish ties during his trip with Indian classes, so his fourth and fifth graders can correspond with other students.

“We do need to know our neighbors,” he said.

While Franklin is looking forward to his trip, he’s just as eager to return to Snohomish County and share what he’s learned.

“Education is the ultimate,” he said. “Growing minds and selling ideas is the best business.”

Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455; arathbun@heraldnet.com.