Preuss School Teacher Anne Artz Receives Fulbright Award

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Anne Artz

Anne Artz, a teacher at The Preuss School UCSD, will spend her summer vacation a little differently this year. Approximately one week after she finishes the school year on June 23, Artz will head to Vietnam for a six-week teaching stint as part of the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Short-Term grant. Artz is one of nine U.S. citizens selected to participate in the prestigious program offered by the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential.

During her time in Vietnam, Artz will work at Lao Cai Teacher Training College, the only college in the mountainous Lao Cai province responsible for training and re-training teachers. Artz will be working with current teachers and teachers-in-training to build their capacity to teach science, mathematics and information technology in English.

“I’m looking forward to exploring how other countries teach STEM,” said the science educator, who has taught at Preuss – a charter middle and high school on the UC San Diego campus – since 2005. Artz teaches advanced biology, environmental science and marine science at the school, in addition to serving as STEAM coordinator.

“I’m also interested in working with new and emerging teachers,” she added. “Investing in quality teachers is the best way to ensure students are successful, regardless of which country they are from.”

This is not the first time Artz has traveled to promote and enhance education. As an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow she spent 11 months in Washington, D.C., providing input on legislation, meeting with congressional constituents to discuss education policy, and attending hearings to promote the importance of STEM education. As a Bezos Scholar, she spent a week at the acclaimed Aspen Ideas Festival engaged in dialogue with some of the nation’s top students and engaged educators as well as visionaries from around the world. Through the Teachers for Global Classrooms program, Artz was one of 12 teachers who traveled to Brazil, visiting schools, teachers and administrators as part of a collaboration to examine and evaluate global education practices.

“Anne is an excellent example of the outstanding faculty we have here at The Preuss School UCSD,” said Principal Scott Barton. “We are very proud of her achievements.”

Established 18 years ago, The Preuss School has become known as one of the best high schools in the nation. Newsweek named Preuss the top transformative school in the nation for three consecutive years, citing the school’s ability to lead the way in getting low-income and first-generation students ready for college and beyond. The school also has been consistently ranked as one of America’s best high schools by Newsweek, The Washington Post and U.S. News & World Report, among others.

To learn more about the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Short-Term Program, visit the awards website. To learn more about The Preuss School UCSD, visit the school online.