An Education Foundation in Colorado, STRIVE Prep, granted Rawa’ Abu AlSamh, a Saudi education specialist who graduated from Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, the title of “Ambassador of Education” for being one of the best teachers in Denver.
Rawa’ Abu AlSamh is the first Saudi woman to obtain this title, and she is the first to receive a license to practice public and private education as a profession in American public schools. She teaches special education in addition to educating gifted and talented students at Strive Denver School. She also gives several enrichment courses in which students learn various topics like entrepreneurship, the Arabic language, and multiculturalism.
Rawa Abu AlSamh graduated from the department of Early Childhood at Imam Abdul Rahman Bin Faisal University in Jubail, after which she joined the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Scholarship Program, which gave her the opportunity to study at the University of Colorado Boulder at the United States in 2015. She became the first Saudi woman at CU to graduate with a master’s degree in ‘Educational Equity’ and ‘Cultural and Linguistic Diversity’, in addition to ‘Special Education’.
Rawa Abu AlSamh said, in a call with "Al-Riyadh": “I am honored to hold the title of an "Ambassador of Education" and to represent my country, my Arabic language and my rich culture. I want to break the stereotypes and to show the world the abilities and the successes of Saudi women, and I am very honored to act as a liaison between the students and the other different cultures.”
Abu AlSamh met the former Minister of Education, Dr. Hamad Al-Sheikh, at the celebration of the 92nd Saudi National Day and she also met with Saudi students on scholarship. Abu AlSamh highlighted the importance of entitling all children to a high-quality education. She said:” I am very passionate about education and as an education specialist, I carry this responsibility seriously and I must take additional steps to provide students with a high-quality education.” She also indicated that she is currently studying her Ph.D. at the University of Denver in ‘Educational Leadership and Policy’, hoping to find a way to make the title of " Ambassador of Education " an official position to bridge the gap between teaching and other cultures.
Abu AlSamh worked on enhancing the passion and perseverance among the students through her work and her class activities that encourage students obtaining the best educational results and help boosting their self-confidence such as the enrichment activities that work on creating and selling products; these activities focused mainly on teaching students the importance of entrepreneurship. The students unanimously agreed on her excellent performance in delivering these educational materials. Some students pointed out that they like their teacher (Rawa’ Abu Al-Samh) for being very supportive and for having the ability to deliver her lessons in an exemplary manner through building a successful relationship with the students, and this made her one of the best teachers in Denver.
