Fulbright Alumna Ashlie Crosson of Pennsylvania was named the 2025 National Teacher of the Year by the Council of Chief State School Officers. The annual award is the most prestigious teacher recognition program in the country.  Crosson, an English teacher at Mifflin County High School in Pennsylvania, was recognized for her dedication to improving students’ lives through innovative courses coupled with powerful experiences out of the classroom. Her work and approach are highlighted in an Education Week article announcing the finalists for the award and in an announcement video naming her the National Teacher of the Year.

As a first-generation college student with a master’s degree in educational leadership from Pennsylvania State University, Crosson credits Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms with informing many of her accomplishments as an educator.

“My growth as a teacher leader and lifelong learner has been permanently influenced by my participation in the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms program. This fellowship transformed my pedagogy, helping me to develop students’ global competencies so they may become informed, culturally responsive citizens… I wanted to find ways to make their educational experience more reflective of the world they live in. Through coursework, collaborative dialogue, and a field experience in Morocco, the fellowship equipped me to redesign my instruction and redefine my role as a teacher leader,” she said.    

Crosson has brought global issues into the center of her classroom, using her experience to reframe curricula and emphasize both global and local connections. She says the approach has strengthened her students’ “ability to utilize community resources in their own lives, value their role as global citizens, and advocate for a better tomorrow for all of us.”  

Crosson teaches courses that strengthen her rural community by increasing students’ college and career readiness, including Advanced Placement language and composition, English 10, and Survival Stories. Survival Stories is a unique, memoir-based class that examines global crises through young adult perspectives, focusing on how these issues specifically impact adolescents. She also revived a journalism course that now publishes the school newspaper, social media posts, a district wide magazine, and contributes young adult perspectives on local issues to the regional newspaper.  

In addition, Crosson leveraged her Fulbright award and convinced her superintendent to support her starting MC [Mifflin County] Goes Global, an overseas experience for students who may never have had the opportunity to go abroad otherwise. Crosson said, “I argued that for many of our students from socio-economically challenged backgrounds this travel opportunity could be their only chance for first-hand global learning. MC Goes Global started as a passion project borne out of my fellowship, but it has evolved into an integral part of our school culture.  It has reaffirmed a vital truth I’ll carry with me for the rest of my career: successful classrooms aren’t only found in schools; some lessons are best learned through living.”

Through Crosson’s MC Goes Global initiative, 67 rural Pennsylvania high school students have visited seven countries, and the program is expanding as students gain valuable international exposure. For example, students who have already visited the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, are preparing to go to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site in Germany.

Beyond the classroom, Crosson has had an impact on her colleagues as well as her students. As part of a statewide committee, Crosson helped add a global framework to Pennsylvania’s Standards Aligned System, the Department of Education’s resource to improve student achievement. She also serves as the communications chair for her union’s negotiation team, assists with the school’s Positive Behavior Interventions and Support programming, leads the district’s international student trips, and cohosts The PL Playbook, a podcast dedicated to teachers’ professional learning.  

As the 2025 National Teacher of the Year, Crosson will spend a year representing educators and serving as an ambassador for the teaching profession. She has been selected to speak at the Fulbright Teachers Global Teaching Dialogue in July 2025.  

The Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program is a yearlong professional learning opportunity and short-term exchange for elementary, middle, and high school educators from the United States to develop skills to prepare students for a competitive global economy. The program equips educators to bring an international perspective to their schools through targeted training, experience abroad, and global collaboration. To find out more about eligibility and the application process, visit Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program | Fulbright Teacher Exchanges