EAST CALAIS – Alex Stanger, a Lawrence University senior and Hazen Union School alumnus from East Calais, is going abroad as the recipient of a 2025 U.S. Fulbright Program fellowship. Stanger will accept the award and spend the coming academic year teaching in Germany, said a Lawrence University press release.
“Stanger said a wide range of experiences as an undergraduate, including studying abroad and taking part in summer internships, led to the Fulbright,” according to the press release. “I pursued the Fulbright to further develop my skills as an educator and improve my ability to be a community member who can make a positive impact in my local community.”
The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international academic exchange program. Since 1946, it has provided more than 400,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists and professionals with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research abroad. The latest awards bring to 69 the number of Lawrence recipients since the program was first introduced.
“Stanger said it was Lawrence alumna Anja Pfeffer ’02, an eighth-grade teacher for a world languages course [at Hazen Union School] in Vermont, who first piqued my interest in the German language. She also told Stanger about Lawrence,” as quoted by the University in Appleton, Wi. “In this class, we learned about a few different languages and how important languages are to how we interact with each other,” Stanger said. “I got my first taste of German in that class, and along the way learned so much more. Ms. Pfeffer was that teacher for me who made all the difference in the world, and her classrooms are where I was able to start blooming into the person that I would become.”
The seeds of Stanger’s Fulbright application included a summer internship experience last year in Bemidji, Minnesota, with the Concordia Language Village’s Waldsee, an immersive language camp, said Lawrence University of him. “While creating an immersive language learning environment, I got to co-run a two-week film-making program for a group of participants to learn some film-making skills and create a short film,” Stanger said. “I got to combine both my German and film studies skills there, and it was a blast.”
“In addition to being awarded the Fulbright fellowship, Stanger recently received recognition at Lawrence University for producing the best German senior capstone project of the academic year. This acknowledgment further underscores Stanger’s academic excellence and dedication to the study of German language and culture,” said a Hazen Union School press release.
The award letter Stanger received from the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board stated, “Your grant is a reflection of your leadership and contributions to society. As a Fulbright participant and a representative of your country, you will have the opportunity to work collaboratively with international partners in educational, political, cultural, economic and scientific fields,” noted the Hazen release.
“Hazen Union School extends its heartfelt congratulations to Alex Stanger on this incredible achievement,” they added.
For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit us.fulbrightonline.org/
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
