University of Rochester Archives

Sonaleeca Das

Ms. Sonaleeca Das is a science teacher at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Tenughat of Bokaro district in the state of Jharkhand. She has been teaching science to middle-school learners for eighteen years. She has an integrated bachelor’s degree in science and education from Regional Institute of Education, Bhubaneswar.

She is actively involved in planning and organizing science exhibitions, exposure visits to science centres, mentor talks, and workshops on nurturing design thinking among the middle-grade learners for their successful participation in national-level science competitions. In 2016 she received the Navodaya National Incentive Award for her contributions in the field of teaching learning in one of the remote north-eastern regions of India.

During her participation in the Fulbright DAI program, Sonaleeca plans to explore methods to nurture, develop, and scaffold reflection as a skill among the middle-school learners in science. She believes that the skill of reflection should help the current generation of learners to listen to their internal voice, to make meaning of their experiences and develop the ability to receive comments, suggestions, evaluations, and feedback. The learning and findings from her project will guide her to redesign the experiential learning process in her school. She plans to disseminate learnings from this project through research publications and workshops with fellow teachers.

Nilam Thakkar

Ms. Nilam Thakkar is an educator with over 15 years of experience at NGO Manav Sadhna. Through its Prathma remedial education program, she has been teaching 4th and 5th graders while serving as Principal, and training 12 teachers on holistic values-based education. She also developed the Prathma curriculum, which includes workbooks, assessments, and teacher training modules.

She holds a Primary Teacher’s Training diploma (PTC), a B.Ed., and an MA from Gujarat University. She has pursued professional development through programs such as Social Emotional Learning (SEL) facilitation, done pedagogy training with Teach for India, and Waldorf Education training. Her dedication to education has been recognized with the Women of Excellence Award (2023) and the Wonder Woman Award (2019).

Since 2016, she has been a member of the selection committee of the Gujarat State Child Care and Protection Department, selecting members for the Child Welfare Committee and Juvenile Justice Board across 33 districts.

As a Fulbright DAI fellow, Nilam aims to explore innovative educational approaches to address the psychological, social, and emotional challenges faced by children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Her project focuses on creating sustainable interventions to enhance students’ cognitive skills, motivation, and self-confidence. She plans to design a teacher’s guide and training modules to empower teachers and foster supportive learning environments. Her vision is to integrate these strategies into her school system and share her learnings with NGOs and schools, ensuring holistic child development and academic progress for underserved communities.

Alpa Nigam

Ms. Alpa Nigam is head teacher at Primary School Tilauli, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. With 15 years of teaching experience, she has trained approximately 1,25,000 teachers at NCERT and SCERT. She is also a member of the assessment framework team and the tools development team for the State Level Achievement Survey (SLAS). Her contribution to eContent and QR code development at NCERT and SCERT has helped make classroom teaching effective, easy, and accessible for many learners. Ms. Nigam uses art, craft and puppetry as pedagogical tools to make her classroom teaching effective for children with learning disabilities. In recognition of her innovative teaching methods, she received the National ICT Award 2016 from the Indian Ministry of Education and the State Award in 2017.

Through her Fulbright DAI project, Ms. Nigam is working on developing tools and content for early detection of learning difficulties that children face in classrooms. After returning to India, she intends to share these insights and experiences with her learning community of teachers through webinars, orientation meets, and training programs. She also plans to orient parents of children with learning disabilities so that they can cater to the educational as well as personal needs of their children. She hopes these efforts will eventually benefit numerous children enrolled in different schools.

Mohammad Imran Khan Mewati

Mr. Mohammad Imran Khan Mewati, an Indian teacher and mobile app developer, has made significant contributions to the field of education and technology. As a school teacher in the Sanskrit Education Department in Alwar, Mr. Khan’s passion for education and his understanding of the transformative power of technology led him to develop over 100 educational mobile applications. These apps have garnered millions of users, providing free educational content to students from rural and marginalized communities.

Mr. Khan’s advocacy for digital learning and equal access to technology gained national attention when the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned him during a speech at Wembley Stadium in 2015, “My India is in Imran Khan of Alwar.” His dedication and impact on education have been recognized through numerous prestigious awards, including the National Teacher Award, National ICT Teacher Award, and the Jamnalal Bajaj Award. He has developed notable apps, such as the PRASHAST app for disability screening in schools for the Indian Ministry of Education and Project Dishari, Geervani, and DevVani for the Government of Rajasthan.

During his Fulbright DAI project, Mr. Khan is developing an advanced educational app that incorporates pedagogical principles and utilizes cutting-edge technology. The app aims to deliver engaging educational content, enabling students to learn easily using smartphones.

Madhura Rajvanshi

Ms. Madhura Rajvanshi has been teaching English to middle school children of Pragat Shikshan Sanstha’s Kamala Nimbkar Balbhavan, Phaltan for the past 15 years. It is a Marathi medium innovative school situated in a semi-urban region of western Maharashtra. She also works as the education coordinator of the school and her work involves administration, planning creative activities in school, and teacher mentoring. She has a master’s degree in elementary education from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

Ms. Rajvanshi uses art, storytelling, and music to make English learning interesting and relevant for her students. She has made a substantial contribution to children’s creative and independent English writing through the production of storybooks. She has delivered talks and written several articles on the same.

Through the Fulbright DAI program, Ms. Rajvanshi hopes to understand how English teaching is approached and learning spaces are organized in American schools. She aims to explore the constructive attitudes towards language teaching in the U.S. and see how they can be adapted to Indian context.

Ms. Rajvanshi will use her Fulbright experience and learning to create a structured program for teachers in her community for teaching English to non-native speakers. After her return to India, she will share it with the teachers through workshops and training programs.

Priya Laxmi

Dr. Priya Laxmi teaches vocal music to grades six to 12 at an girls’ government school run by the Delhi Directorate of Education. She actively engages in all music related endeavors in her department. A graded artist of Aakasvani, Dr. Laxmi received a doctoral degree in vocal music from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi in 2019. She received the JRF-SRF award during her Ph.D. She also qualified for the National Level of All India Civil Services music competition.

Through her Fulbright DAI Project, Dr. Laxmi is finding ways and means to transform perceptions about the scope of music as a subject, providing students with the opportunity to explore and enhance their learning and creativity. She aspires to make music education accessible to every child and emphasize on the aesthetic importance of music education for all.

After her return to India, she will share her Fulbright experience and learning with fellow music teachers by preparing a guideline for music education and through workshops, training programs, and publications.

Sumana Dutta

Ms. Sumana Dutta is an educationist with 21 years of experience. In the last 15 years, she has focused on supporting individuals dealing with autism and intellectual disabilities. She has a master’s degree in special education needs and inclusion from the University of Northampton, UK. She is also a certified autism consultant recognized by the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI).

As the Founder Executive Director of Akshadhaa Foundation, Ms. Dutta spearheads ‘Equip the Special Million’ community outreach project. Her initiatives include sensitization workshops for university students, capacity-building training for parents, mainstream teachers, and community health workers. She orchestrates inclusive education through early screening camps, policy advocacy and arts-based therapy, utilizing multi-sensorial modalities of learning.

Ms. Dutta received the topper award for diploma in special education (autism spectrum disorder) in 2010. Her decade-long service was honoured with the Dr. Amarnath Annual Award, and in 2022, she was recognized with the All India Women Achiever Award for excellence in social service. She has co-authored an article “Journey of Akshadhaa: Supporting Neuro-Developmental Disabilities in Bangalore, India” in Psychosocial Rehabilitation Mental Health Journal by Springer in 2023.

Through the Fulbright DAI project, Ms. Dutta is aiming to enhance her expertise in Universal Design of Learning and structured teaching approaches for special needs children. Upon her return to India, she would like to establish an online learning platform under the Akshadhaa Foundation, providing inclusive education methodologies for teachers and parent-caregivers. Her vision extends to sharing Fulbright experiences, preparing guidelines, and incorporating inclusive education pedagogy in state-run schools in Karnataka, contributing significantly to the education landscape in India.