This spotlight is part of a series celebrating the 2020 International Award recipients. Learn more about each of this year’s awardees on the International Awards page.

Lansing teacher and coach Robert Lurie has spent his career as an educator helping to make global education an essential part of K-12 curriculum.

Lurie is this year’s recipient of the Glen L. Taggart Award for Community Contributions to International Understanding. Named in honor of International Studies and Programs’ first dean, the Glen Taggart Award is given to a citizen of the State of Michigan who has made a distinct, sustained contribution to international understanding in their respective communities or in the state at large.

Lurie is a social studies teacher and department chair at Waverly High School, where he has been teaching since 1988. His focus is teaching his students to find solutions to big issues through critical thinking, communication, conflict resolution, and collaboration.

“These kids are no longer just citizens of Lansing or Michigan; they’re global citizens, and they’re going to be working on global problems,” said Lurie in the MEA Voice. “They’re going to be our leaders, running our communities, and they need to be well-prepared for that.”

He provides opportunities for his students to directly engage with the global community through field trips to local religious institutions in Lansing, study abroad trips and guest speakers. Among others, Lurie has welcomed to his classroom the grandson of Mohandas Gandhi, Carl Wilkens who bore witness to the Genocide in Rwanda and, through the PeaceJam organization, his students have met and dialogued with the likes of Nobel Peace Prize winners Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama. 

Lurie also participated in a pilot program with Youth for Understanding which linked students in Michigan, Iowa, Indonesia, Tunisia and the Philippines in international problem solving.

“We are so fortunate to have Robert in the Lansing area,” said Mary Hennesey, coordinator of the Volunteer English Tutoring Program at MSU and Lurie’s nominator. The two connected through Lurie’s role as a session director for LATTICE (Linking All Types of Teachers to International, Cross-Cultural Education), a learning community and international network that cultivates and supports a global perspective in K-12 classrooms through personal and professional development opportunities.

Lurie’s work with MSU on various collaborative projects allows his high school students to take advantage of MSU’s internationally-focused programming. 

“I was meeting MSU MasterCard Scholars on a regular basis from more than ten countries, meeting refugees with Ph.D.s, migrant workers-turned-doctors and Peace Corps representatives,” wrote Reilly Farr, a 2019 Waverly High School graduate who now attends MSU. “Mr. Lurie taught me to [...] build relationships on the basis of growth, curiosity and a mindset free of limitations.”

Lurie continues to internationalize his curriculum and foster a deeper understanding of global issues with his students. 

“This year alone, our students have solved world problems through a virtual exchange with students in Morocco and Egypt, have compared their educational experiences with visiting scholars from China, have met with Rwandan genocide experts and survivors,  as well as discussed food security with fellows from Tanzania and Kenya,” he said. “Through these powerful experiences in collaboration with MSU, our students are empowered to be globally competent citizens and effective 21st century leaders who will lead our world to a bright future.”