How did Meredith Howell spend her summer vacation?
For part of it, she was in South Korea.
Howell, as the Stanly County Schools 2023-24 District Teacher of the Year, traveled with Go Global NC with 36 other educators from the state.
“I learned about the Korean education system and culture through visits to multiple schools, museums, the Sudokwon Landfill Site, palaces and a national park, as well as immersive experiences of native hanbok dress, a Korean cooking class and a K-pop dance class,” Howell said.
Howell, who will teach grades 10-12 English and Holocaust Literature at South Stanly High this year, said she plans to use her “knowledge and networking system to implement new and creative lesson plans in my classroom and share my knowledge with other teachers and students.
“To my students, I’d like to convey that young adults who engage in their studies, who work hard and are grateful for their opportunities grow up to reach their goals,” she said.
“I have created a synthesis lesson on comparative waste management practices between South Korea and America,” she added. “Ultimately, students will create STEAM projects which repurpose or upcycle things we often deem as trash.”

South Stanly teacher Meredith Howell celebrates arriving at the summit of Bukhansan Mountain, the highest mountain in Seoul, South Korea, with Lindsay Martin of Wake County Public Schools. (Contributed)

Howell said her visit to South Korea was a positive one.
“Ultimately, I am more aware of the cordiality and friendliness of the Korean culture — and ardently wish Americans were nicer,” she said. “While I understand that the country benefited from our tourism, even those who didn’t benefit were kind. Additionally, I admire the work ethic and sustainability practices of their culture and want to incorporate more of that into my own mindset.”
She said she enjoyed seeing the “possbility of positive social change.”
“To know that South Korea has changed its trajectory in the past 50 years because of its innovative education practices makes me hopeful that the U.S. could likewise improve its own trajectory,” she said. “To see educators respected, passionate, treated as professionals and to see citizens who yearn to be better as a whole country is inspiring.”
To her fellow teachers, Howell said Korean educators are much likes ones in North Carolina — “dedicated and excited to teach, excited to learn.”
“The difference seems to be the way in which they are revered, wholeheartedly, in their culture,” she said.
“We interacted with so many different people in different contexts and professions — and they were all a product of an educational system which prepared them to be successful because their teachers are respected professionals,” she added.
Howell said she would also recommend Go Global NC to her colleagues “because it took me out of my comfort zone and inspired me to incorporate the knowledge of another culture into my classroom.”
“It allowed me to connect with a part of the world from which many of my own students have ancestry,” she said. “This opportunity will allow me a unique opportunity to forge relationships with many students who have connections to Asian cultures.”
She said her trip not only allowed her to learn at the school. She also learned from being immersed in the culture.
“The variety of activities we participated in were multi-faceted, targeted to improve our knowledge of the host country and ultimately garnered an appreciation for South Korea,” she said.
This was not the first time Howell has used a trip to help with her teaching. Last summer, Howell went to Poland and near the Ukranian border to enhance studies of the Holocaust.

B.J. Drye is general manager/editor of The Stanly News & Press. Call 704-982-2123.