Vesna Dimitrieska, Director of Global Education Initiatives at the IU School of Education, was recently honored with two major awards in her field.

The 2020 AACTE Award for Global/International Initiatives, an annual award for exemplary educator preparation in the intercultural, global, cross-cultural and international arenas, was given to Dimitrieska as recognition for the uniqueness of K-16 Global Education Initiatives Across Indiana, jointly organized by the School of Education and the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. The initiative just wrapped up an institute on sustainable development for teachers last October.

She was also honored with the 2020 NNELL Award for Outstanding Support of Early Language Learning, an award reserved for individuals who have demonstrated outstanding support of early second language learning of languages other than English. Dimitrieska will give the keynote address at NNELL’s annual meeting on December 12.

“Receiving national recognition from both of these entities has shown me that the work that I do with and for K-12 teachers across Indiana is meaningful and makes a difference for those teachers and their students. I am very honored to be acknowledged in this way,” Dimitrieska said.

“Being globally ready is no longer a matter of choice but an immediate need,” she added. “As educators, we have the ultimate responsibility to prepare our students for the realities and challenges that affect our local communities while at the same time raise their awareness about how those are connected to the rest of the world. As Shari Becker Albright stated, ‘What we call global education, the rest of the world calls education.’ This is why there is an urgent need for incorporating intentional global learning experiences across the content areas and grade levels.”