NCU Mentor awarded scholarship

Dr. Wendy Lambert awarded Southern Hemisphere Scholarship Will tour New Zealand schools

Prescott, Arizona–May 10, 2006 — Each year since 2000, the English-Speaking Union’s Central Florida Chapter has selected one middle school educator from the region to be awarded the “Southern Hemisphere Scholarship.” Honored this year is Dr. Wendy Ecklund Lambert, of New Smyrna Beach, Fla. In addition to teaching in Florida, Lambert is a Faculty Mentor at Northcentral University.

The English-Speaking Union of the United States is a non-profit, non-political educational organization with the mission of promoting “scholarship and the advancement of knowledge through the effective use of English in an expanding global community.” In furtherance of this goal, the Union’s Central Florida Chapter awards an annual scholarship to send an educator to “engage in two weeks of classroom observation in the intermediate school programs of New Zealand’s North Island” as well as to spend an additional week traveling about New Zealand’s South Island. The amount of the award is sufficient to cover airfare, travels on the islands and most incidental expenses.

“I have traveled to some very interesting places including the Soviet Union (Russia and the Ukraine), Scandinavia, and Spain,” Lambert says, “but I had always hoped to visit New Zealand and Australia one day. Courtesy of the English-Speaking Union, I have an excellent professional opportunity to exchange best practices with colleagues in New Zealand.”

Lambert will be hosted during her visit by school administrators throughout North Island and will speak to at least one gathering of middle school administrators. She looks forward to these glimpses into the day-to-day world of life in the South Seas, an exposure denied mere tourists. “The ‘home-stay’ aspect of the experience will provide a well-rounded picture of life in New Zealand,” Lambert says. “When my official visit is over, among other things, I hope to do some skiing on the South Island and then spend a few days in Sydney before heading back to the States!”

Lambert is an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at NCU. She has been employed at Lawton Chiles Middle School in Seminole County, Florida but will be joining the Florida Virtual School upon her return to the United States. She earned her Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership at Nova Southeastern University. She also earned an M.A. in Library and Information Science at the University of South Florida, an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction at National-Louis University and a B.A. in Political Science from Manhattanville College (NY).

Dr. Lambert resides with her Schnoodle, Molly and her Golden Retriever, Toby in New Smyrna Beach, Fla. where her hobbies include digital photography, reading, and walking on the beach.