Timbercrest Junior High science teacher Amy Leslie was chosen to participate in the Japan-U.S. Teacher Exchange program for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The Japan-U.S. Teacher Exchange Program for ESD is administered by Fullbright Japan and jointly funded by the Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau of the U.S. Department of State and the Japanese Government’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

Twenty-four teachers from Japan will travel to the U.S. in late April and 24 U.S. teachers will travel to Japan in late June. At the end of the program in each county, all participating teachers will gather for a few days of joint collaboration. The program in each country will include an orientation to the country’s culture and education, workshops and presentations with experts in ESD, visits to ESD–focused schools, cultural sites and other ESD resources sites.

The Japan-U.S. Teacher Exchange Program for ESD is designed to raise awareness of ESD-oriented school programs, enhance ESD-related curricula in both countries, and deepen a sense of global interconnectedness between teachers in Japan and the United States in four vital areas of ESD focus: food and sustainable nutrition; environment; energy and resources; and international understanding and cooperation.