Mrs. Katherine Fairfield Meneses at Iridescent butterfly art installation in Australia, June 2023

It is an honor to have a teacher chosen from District 202 to represent us at the Transatlantic Educators Dialogue (TED) Program, and an even greater privilege to have one selected from Plainfield East High School (PEHS).

Mrs. Fairfield-Meneses, social studies teacher at PEHS, was handpicked by a committee at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), to participate in this event amongst forty-one educators from sixteen European nations and nineteen U.S. States. 

“Shoutout to Mrs. Gruca at JFK for suggesting that I apply. She’s a TED alum, and she suggested that I submit an application. Empowered women empower women,” said Fairfied-Meneses. 

The TED Program presents an opportunity for educators in the United States and Europe to share multicultural experiences, examine the diverse realities of educational systems, and gain support in areas of career development and personal growth. There are ten meetings in total hosted by UIUC, which are all conducted entirely online.

“Throughout my career, I’ve reflected on how I can improve the delivery of my content to meet the changing needs of my students. By networking with a global community of educators, I hope to gain even more inspiration to try new ways of making my content relatable and accessible to all of my students,” said Fairfield-Meneses.

These meetings also provide the perfect opportunity to maintain connections with fellow participants and allow students to engage in online classroom exchanges.

Fairfield-Meneses has partnered with teachers from Oklahoma, Ukraine, and Italy to exchange friendship bracelets with their students. They have also collaborated on new technological resources to implement in their classrooms. These new resources would be utilized district-wide in the near future, to provide for a more diverse learning experience.

Upon successful completion of this program, all participants will receive a Certification of Completion, commemorating their work.

“I just love being exposed to different ideas. Learning has always been about personal growth for me. I was very fortunate to have the best teachers growing up, and the value of education was a foundational principle in my household,” said Fairfield-Meneses.

Fairfield-Meneses’s career is driven by her desire to leave a positive impact on the world, and teaching provides her the platform to do so. 

Her parting words of advice to both her younger self and the newer generations: “Be curious, not judgmental. You have a voice and your voice matters.”