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Fund for Teachers Welcomes Two New Board Members

In September, the Fund for Teachers Board of Directors gathered in Houston for two days of strategic planning, collaboration, and connection. The meeting provided an opportunity to review progress toward the organization’s strategic goals, welcome two new board members, and strengthen relationships among board members and staff. Under the leadership of Board Chair Jonas Zuckerman,…

Bringing the Origins of American Democracy to Life

With midterm elections approaching, television ads are filling the airwaves with competing politicians proclaiming their visions of democracy and how best to achieve it. The rhetoric can leave adults confused—and fifth graders even more bewildered. This summer, Nkiru Nwadiwe and Valerie Fresh, teachers at CHIME Institute Schwarzenegger Community School in Woodland Hills, California, set out…

Beyond Words: Lessons in Language and Empathy

What happens when an ESL teacher becomes the language learner? For Pony Stacpoole-Gilmartin of Beechwood Knoll School in Quincy, MA, a four-week Fund for Teachers fellowship across the Balkans reinforced that communication requires more courage than perfection. Through unfamiliar languages and unexpected connections, Pony returned with renewed empathy for multilingual students and a commitment to…

Bringing Shakespeare to Life: One Teacher’s Journey from Page to Stage

How does a teacher take Shakespeare from something “removed from lived experience, reduced to passive reading, and disconnected from collaboration or creativity” and transform it into “a living text—meant to be spoken, embodied, and collaboratively interpreted”?

(Imaginary) Kingdom Building in the UK

This summer, Danielle Woodard and Emma Sneed (Chattanooga, TN), embarked on a literary tour across Scotland and England, visiting sites students read about in various fictional works, to promote book to world connections and cultivate young writers who understand how imagination is shaped by place and experience. Upon their return, they shared some of their…

A Journey of Heritage, Resilience, and Belonging

Each summer, during what we affectionately call “Fellow Season,” we have the privilege of following Fund for Teachers Fellows as they immerse themselves in self-designed learning experiences around the world. Their journeys are rooted in a simple belief: when teachers are trusted to pursue the learning they need most, students reap the benefits. This week,…

Finding Her Roots

Last summer, Thuy Nguyen and teammate Thu-Hang Tran-Peou (Mather Elementary School – Dorchester, MA) used a $10,000 Fund for Teachers grant to navigate across Vietnam’s three regions—Ha Noi in the North, Hoi An and Hue in the Central, and Ho Chi Minh City in the South — to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Saigon’s fall….

Reflections on Our Founding

Cassidy Swinney (Jackson Academy – Jackson, MS) is currently on her fellowship studying American Transcendentalism in Concord and Boston–– Walden Pond, Emerson House, Thoreau archives, historical societies. This fall she plans to redesign an American Literature curriculum connecting Thoreau’s civil disobedience and Transcendentalist philosophy to modern social justice activism through primary sources, photographs, and authentic…

Help Shape the Future of FFT: Apply for the Educator Advisory Council

At Fund for Teachers, we believe teachers know best what they—and their students—need to succeed. We also believe that teachers are uniquely positioned to help us build stronger programs, deepen our impact, and better support educators across the country. That’s why we created the Educator Advisory Council (EAC), and why we’re inviting current classroom teachers…

‘Follow the Learning’ Fellows Named

May 28, 2026 — Dottie Engler ‘Follow the Learning Fellowship’ 2026 Recipients NamedJennifer Li and Amanda Savage, Henderson K-12 Inclusion School, Boston Public Schools Each year, Fund for Teachers names its “Follow the Learning” Fellow(s) in honor of longtime Board member and advocate Dottie Engler. Throughout her distinguished career, Dottie served as Director of Special…

Science Super Stars

Earlier this month, the National Science Teachers Association hosted its annual conference in Anaheim, CA. In addition to keynote speakers and breakout sessions (one of which was hosted by FFT Fellows Matt Holden and Becky Maynard about their fellowship), special recognition was given to exemplary educators in several categories. And THREE FFT Fellows were among…

Talk About a Revolution

Here’s a word association game: when you read “revolution,” what comes to mind? For students of Crystal Lamb and Jessica Freed, “Vietnam,” “Cambodia” and “China” didn’t. In fact, scores on their Global History state exam revealed an average of just 34% of students correctly answered questions related to these countries. “In analyzing these results, we…

History in Color

The Fellow team of Rayna Walters, Garrett Griffin and Kurt Zimmerman (New Haven, CT) used a $10,000 Fund for Teachers grant to deepen their scholarship and student conversations about the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. But as they shared in this NPR interview, the slave trade is only a facet of Black history, not its genesis. And…

Celebrating Our Fellows

SPRING 2026 UPDATE Spring ushers in a season of recognition for educators, which gives us the opportunity to do a little humble bragging by saying “We knew them first.” Join us in celebrating these FFT Fellows and, please, let us know about exciting updates in your careers and classrooms!

Ramadan Mubarak

As 1.8 billion people across the globe are celebrating Ramadan, students at Lincoln Elementary in Norman, OK recently learned about the celebration from their fellow students who also are Muslim. Their teacher, Diane Wood, informed and inspired their presentation using experiences from her Fund for Teachers fellowship last summer. “My fellowship to Spain and Morocco helped me to develop…

So That Others May Learn

Last summer with a Fund for Teaches grant, Dr. Shelina Warren and four peers from Dunbar High School in Washington DC embarked on a journey across five states in the Deep South to more effectively teach complex and accurate historical narratives about race, civil rights, and the African American experience. In advance of Martin Luther King Day, we reached out to Shelina to learn more…

Reaching Out to Rural Teachers

After 25 years of investing in educators—totaling $39 million in fellowships—one thing has become clear: Our grant recipients are our strongest ambassadors. When a teacher encourages a fellow teacher to apply, it just hits differently. This holds especially true for our Rural Teacher initiative*. Inspired by our recent work to expand awareness of Fund for…

Commonalities Among Indigenous Cultures

Four Native American tribes once inhabited the territory that now comprises Tulsa, OK, where students of Rachel Langley and Jesse Wren attend school. Additionally, one-third of their students are descendants of Tribal Peoples. But how does one teach elementary students about complex topics such as land rights and Tribal sovereignty? Jesse and Rachel chose to…