Professor and student in the COE elected as Fulbright board members

As a Fulbright Scholar in Myanmar, Hollie Hix-Small, an associate professor a PSU, offered a training session and review of the Pilot Early Childhood Intervention Program that she helped create.

By Jillian Daley

Hollie Hix-Small, an associate professor in the Portland State University College of Education (COE), and Eileen Leynteng, a Fulbright scholar attending PSU, have been elected to positions on the Oregon Chapter of the Fulbright Association’s Board of Directors.

A spokesman for the organization announced last week that Hix-Small would serve as vice president and Leynteng would be secretary. Officers work to further the Fulbright Association’s mission of promoting international education.

Hix-Small, coordinator of the Early Intervention Special Education program in the COE, recently was named Fulbright Scholar to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. From June to October 2019, she has been working to support the implementation of the Southeast Asian nation’s 2017–2020 National Strategic Plan for Early Childhood Intervention.

She will continue to support the development of the country’s first higher education curriculum for early childhood intervention services and was featured on a Myanmar news channel for her efforts. During a training session and review of the Pilot Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) Program in Myanmar, Hix-Small met with the country’s union minister of Social Welfare, Relief, and Resettlement. She also connected with director generals, regional managers from throughout the country, and ECI supervisors from the pilot sites.

Eileen Leynteng of Cameroon is a Fulbright Scholar in the College of Education.

Leynteng is from Cameroon, Africa, and she is attending the COE on a Fulbright Scholarship to obtain a master’s in special education. She is currently volunteering as an inclusive storytime assistant in the COE. This summer, she also worked as a camp counselor for Mt. Hood Kiwanis Camp, a nonprofit organization that, in partnership with PSU, provides recreational programming for campers with developmental, intellectual, and physical disabilities.

Leynteng received a bachelor’s in anthropology and a post-graduate diploma in medical anthropology at the University of Yaounde I in Cameroon. She also earned a diploma from the University of Bamenda Higher Teacher’s Training College at the Bambili School in Cameroon.

For stories on the College of Education, email Jillian Daley.