(Posted May 11, 2015)

Mackenzie Coulter-Kern, shown here in the Dominican Republic, will travel to teach in Mexico in the coming academic year.
Mackenzie Coulter-Kern, shown here in the Dominican Republic, will travel to teach in Mexico in the coming academic year.

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Mackenzie Coulter-Kern, of North Manchester, Ind., who earned a 2014 Juniata College bachelor's degree in international studies and Spanish and Hispanic Cultures, has been named a Fulbright Fellow to teach English in Mexico for the upcoming 2015-2016 academic year.

She is a 2010 graduate of Manchester High School in Manchester, Ind.

Coulter-Kern, the daughter of Rusty and Marcie Coulter-Kern, of North Manchester, will teach English at a high school or university in Mexico.

Coulter-Kern has spent the past year working as an English as Second Language teacher in Manchester for grades K-12 and currently works in the Dominican Republic as a kindergarten teacher at a bilingual school.

Coulter-Kern spent a significant portion of her Juniata career studying abroad. She studied in The Gambia, in western Africa, as part of a winter break trip in 2012. She also designed her own study abroad experience at La Universidad Nacional de Cordóba in Cordóba, Argentina. She also spent a month in Argentina taking an immmersion course in spring 2013 at La Universidad Católica.

"The Juniata experience isn't so much that it is a place where one is 'given' opportunities, but more of a place where one is given the support and resources to find their own opportunities and succeed."

Mackenzie Coulter-Kern,

Coulter-Kern served as president of Power Up Gambia, and particpated and performed as a member of the Juniata Concert Choir from 203-2015. Coulter-Kern also was a member of the Juniata Dance Ensemble from 2010 to 2013 and a member of Juniata Kickline in 2012.
Coulter-Kern presented resarch she did in Argentina on income levels and inflation at the 2014 Liberal Arts Symposium.

"The Juniata experience isn't so much that it is a place where one is 'given' opportunities, but more of a place where one is given the support and resources to find their own opportunities and succeed," Coulter-Kern says. "the ability to cultivate experiences based on lessons and values learned at Juniata is one of the most valuable things I gained by studying at Juniata. The faculty and staff and Juniata don't mentor and spend an evening talking about the intersection between work and family over the dinner table because they feel obligated. They engage in these experiences because they love what they do and they genuinely want to connect with students. Those are the types of conversations and lessons I imagine one remembers for years after college."

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program equips future American leaders with the skills they need to thrive in increasingly global environment by providing funding for one academic year of study, language instruction or research abroad, to be conducted after graduation from an accredited university.

Fellows undertake self-designed programs in disciplines ranging from social sciences, business, communication and performing arts to physical sciences, engineering and education.

The U.S. Student Program awards approximately 1,100 grants annually and currently operates in over 140 countries worldwide.â?¨The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Financial support is provided by an annual appropriation from Congress to the Department of State, with significant contributions from participating governments and host institutions in the United States and abroad.

The presidentially appointed J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board formulates policy guidelines and makes the final selection of all grantees.â?¨The Institute of International Education administers and coordinates the activities relevant to the U.S. Student Program, including an annual competition for the scholarships. The Fulbright Program also awards grants to American teachers and faculty to do research, lecture and teach overseas. In addition, some 2,200 foreign Fulbright students and scholars come to the United States annually to study, carry out research and lecture at U.S. universities, colleges and secondary schools.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.