Sippican School special education teacher Kate Raffile will soon be taking a look at literacy down under.

In April, Raffile was one of 41 U.S. educators to receive the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching, garnering her a four-month stay in New Zealand. She was the only special education teacher chosen.

“I love to study and I love to research and I love to travel. It enabled me to use all my passions,” said Raffile.

She will begin her trip at the end of January. While based in the city of Wellington, Raffile will take a graduate course in education and spend two to three days a week observing the literacy intervention practices in schools across the country.

Raffile has worked as a special education teacher for 11 years and helps kids with a variety of disabilities, from those who struggle with reading and writing to those with behavioral challenges. New Zealand was a draw for her because of its high literacy rate.

A native of Portsmouth, Rhode Island and graduate of Providence College, Raffile is already trained in Reading Recovery, an intervention program for first graders that started in New Zealand.

“They are just extremely innovated in literacy,” she said. “They have close to a one hundred percent literacy rate.”

Raffile will take what she learns and put it together into a capstone project, required of each Fulbright winner, for the purpose of sharing her research.

“The big emphasis for Fulbright is to share ideas internationally and to also come back and share,” said Raffile.

She has been traveling internationally since she was a teenager and is excited for the opportunity to explore a new country and culture.

“I definitely am ready to have a different adventure,” Raffile said.

While abroad, Raffile plans to blog about her experiences. Keep up with her at kateraffilenewzealand.blogspot.com.