Former teacher Derek Tully has been elected as a trustee for the Association for Middle Level Education.Dr Tully, who retired last year after 40 years in Bermuda’s public education system, will help develop a strategic plan for middle level education in the United States and member countries as part of his responsibilities on the board.He believes he’s the first non-American to be elected to the board, and will represent North and South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Texas, Georgia and Alabama.“I am elated, and humbled, that educators in all those States voted for me, a non-American,” Dr Tully told The Royal Gazette.“I shall work hard this next three years to justify their faith in me. Bermuda now has a seat at the top table of middle-level education.”The AMLE describes itself as a voice for those committed to the educational and developmental needs of young adolescents, and is America’s only national education association dedicated exclusively to those in the middle grades.It has more than 30,000 members representing principals, teachers, central office personnel, professors, college students, parents, community leaders, and educational consultants across the United States, Canada, and 46 other countries.Dr Tully’s tasks will include liaising with the States he represents, approving and monitoring financing and taking part in the annual conference involving thousands of middle level educators from across the world.He was most recently deputy principal at Clearwater Middle School, and since his retirement, has been helping Francis Patton School develop a learning style programme aimed specifically at boys.He has taught widely on that subject in a host of United States cities, noting boys have different learning styles from girls and should be taught accordingly.His post will run from for three years from this autumn.