Timothy Derby, a resident of Darien and a senior at Hamilton College, has been awarded a Fulbright Teaching Assistantship to Spain for the 2021-22 academic year. He will teach English under the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government.
Derby, a mathematics major and education and Hispanic studies minor, studied in Madrid in 2019. He was a Colegio FEM English Department intern, where he helped teach English as a second language to five classes and assisted native Spanish primary and secondary students with English grammar and vocabulary. He is currently student-teaching math remotely at Orange Hill School in Hillsborough N.C. At Hamilton, he is a member of the varsity tennis team.
"Participating in the Hamilton College Academic Year in Spain program during my junior year provided me with an opportunity to experience cultural immersion. While in Madrid, as an intern at a local school I witnessed first-hand the delivery of a bilingual education, which has been expanding in Spain," Derby said. "The students and I had many discussions on various aspects of American culture, and the value of language and cultural exchange in the classroom."
Derby said when he returns to Spain, he is eager to create "a similar cross-culture understanding where students not only improve their English-speaking skills but also knowledge of English-speaking countries like the U.S. I will draw upon my knowledge of English, math, and tennis to get involved in an after-school program and build ties within the Spanish community," he said.
Originally founded in 1793 as the Hamilton-Oneida Academy, Hamilton College offers an open curriculum that gives students the freedom to shape their own liberal arts education within a research- and writing-intensive framework. Hamilton enrolls 1,850 students from 49 states and 49 countries. Additional information about the college can be found at www.hamilton.edu.
*Photo by Nancy L. Ford