Adjunct Professor of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Karen Jury received the English Language Fellow Alumni Impact Award from the U.S. Department of State in July 2020. 

Jury's award recognizes her contributions to education in the U.S. after returning from her English Language Fellow program in Thailand, 2013-2014. This program enables qualified U.S. educators in the field of TESOL to participate in 10-month-long fellowships at academic institutions throughout the world. The award is designed to celebrate fellows who continue to use their fellowship experiences to positively impact their teaching in the U.S. 

"Receiving [this] award is very humbling and encouraging. It seems to validate the efforts that I make in my little corner of the world," said Jury. "Balancing professional pursuits and family means that there are real limits to what I can accomplish. But this award tells me that doing what I can still matters."

Since her time in Thailand, Jury began teaching at the College of Education and Human Development and volunteering at her local library, the Avon Grove Library, where she helped develop and run a weekly bilingual storytime program for young children and their caretakers.  

"I was inspired to pursue this type of programming because of some previous experience I had working in Temple's Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders studying the home literacy practices of dual language learners. I came to believe deeply in the importance (and the joy!) of early bilingual literacy support," said Jury.

Jury's work in the College of Education and Human Development's TESOL program includes teaching courses for the English as a Second Language graduate certificate program and the TESOL MSEd program, with a focus in foundations of TESOL and literacy development. 

"The most rewarding part of the job is engaging in discussions with students that push everyone's understanding further, including my own," said Jury.