Selma teacher chosen for Fulbright Teacher Exchange

Sherry Jackson teaches sixth grade science at R.B. Hudson Middle School. But now that she has become a Fulbright Scholar, she will soon be teaching overseas.  

Through the Fulbright Teacher Exchange where teachers collaborate with other teachers from all around the world, Jackson will leave on April 1 for Morocco, where she will teach and learn for a month and then move on to Casablanca, Rabat and Marrakesh.   

With 12 years of experience teaching, Jackson said she was at a crossroads with education when she had dinner with a friend and her mother who was a Fulbright Scholar and talked her into applying for the program.  

“She said you are a Fullbright Scholar, but it was a joke,” she said.  

Jackson had most of the qualifications but thought she may be too young and may not have enough experience. But she figured her science background with a heavy emphasis on robotics would offer enough for them “to give me a second look,” Jackson said. “And they did.”  

According to the letter she received notifying her of her selection to Fullbright, Jackson will be working “collaboratively with international partners in educational, political, cultural, economic, and scientific fields.”  

Jackson said she hopes not only to teach but to learn methods and ideas that could be incorporated into the curriculum in Alabama schools to make the schools better. “I hope to gain insights on educational leadership policies and reforms.”  

“If we were to broaden the horizons for the student on a global platform, our students would be more well-rounded and globally prepared, more college career prepared,” Jackson said. She added even just exposing students to other cultures and making the students in Alabama aware of other cultures would “help them be better prepared.”  

Jackson works hard to show students that “education can take you places. That’s why I was so heavy with STEM.” She said she wants the parents to understand how important education is, and “what education is in this day and time.”  

Part of her drive is “wanting to give back to my city.” Jackson explained she saw a need in the education system, so she found a way to fulfill that need.   

The one thing Jackson does not know for sure is where this path will lead. Although she has been offered a number of jobs, she said first she wants to see where the Fullbright leads.  

Jackson is currently working to earn a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership, Policy, and Law at Alabama State University. She credits her mother and father, Nancy and Terry Jackson of Selma, for inspiring and supporting her on her journey. She also thanks her church family at Potter Place Ministry of Selma and Pastor P.E. Bonner.