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Water, Water Everywhere, but…

…not a drop to drink. That’s what Richard Lebowitz discovered on his Fund for Teachers fellowship last summer in Indonesia. For two weeks, he collaborated with Balinese municipalities, scholars, citizens and tourists to research the country’s inability to overcome its water shortage crisis. Richard’s inspiration came from observing water waste at The SEEALL Academy in…

International Women’s Day Through a Fellow’s Eyes

At least 3,000 years before the modern world elected a woman to be a head of state, one woman led a country’s government, judicial system, religious life, and military. Her name was Deborah, and somewhere around 1100 B.C. she was in charge of a collection of tribes known as the nation of Israel. A prophet,…

An Overdue Apology

Today California’s state legislature will officially apologize to Japanese Americans sent to internment camps during World War II. This aspect of World War II is one many students don’t learn about during history classes, but one that many FFT Fellows seek to understand and share. Today, we share the learning of Timothy Nagaoka, whose grandfather fought…

Stories of the South – Civil Rights Then and Now

Last summer, FFT Fellow Brian Forte crossed seven states and the District of Columbia to experience significant cultural and civic landmarks and analyze how “stories of the south” are essential to the larger American narrative. He’s now re-framing approaches to civics and history curricula at Rockville High School in Vernon, CT. We’re grateful for his…

FFT Fellows To Host Webinar on Building Global Communities

They gathered data in national parks, followed the Brothers Grimm through Germany, researched the secret to happiness in Southeast Asia, built an aquaponics system in Africa, and conducted interviews in Northern Ireland. Now they apply those experiences in the classroom and they want to share strategies — and learn your own — for connecting students…

San Francisco Students Ask “Is Chinatown Authentic?”

Abraham Lincoln High School, located on the west side of San Francisco, is far from the traditional ethnic neighborhoods of Chinatown and the Mission District; centers of the city’s Asian and Latinx communities. Eighty percent of Lincoln’s students identify with these ethnic groups so AP Human Geography teacher Leon Sultan decided to utilize his own…

Speaking Out by Teaching

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. In November 2005, the United Nations General Assembly designated this day as International Holocaust Remembrance Day to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism. We choose to do so by sharing the story of Kimberly McCabe, social studies…

Everyone Can Be Great Because Everyone Can Serve

Martin Luther King, Jr, believed “everyone can be great because everyone can serve.” The students, teachers and staff of Morley Elementary in West Hartford, CT, bring this quote to life through their dedication to the children of Deschapelles, Haiti. On successive Fund for Teachers fellowships, two teams of teachers each departed Morley with supplies and a mission…

A Grand Education

Today marks the anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt declaring the Grand Canyon a national monument. Many FFT Fellows share our 26th president’s commitment to environmental stewardship and use their grants to pursue learning related to the 1.7 billion year old formations, albeit each with a different focus. Dory Manfre (Ashford, CT) designed a solo adventure of…

All Pride, No Prejudice

“It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.” Jane Austen wrote it and FFT Fellows embody it. Especially those who research Jane Austen on their fellowships. Kelsey Nichols (Joel Barlow High School – Redding, CT) credits Austen with her decision to become an English teacher. Therefore, it stands to…

Making Space for Learning

Recently a group of sixty Fund for Teachers Fellows gathered in New Haven, CT, to consider how one’s environment impacts learning. Led by Laura Pirie, lecturer at Yale School of Architecture and principal of Pirie Associates Architects, teachers thought expansively and creatively about ideal learning modes and new learning places that could emerge to suit…

The Era That Will Live in Infamy

On Pearl Harbor Day, we remember the 2,403 people killed in the surprise attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service. The “date which will live in infamy” launched America’s entry into World War II; the bombings also resulted in the internment of 7,000 Japanese American citizens in relocation centers by order of President Franklin…

Giving Perspectives, Giving Thanks

Hundreds of families in Zionville, IN, will have a much better Thanksgiving, thanks to FFT Fellow Danielle Wilson and her students at Zionsville Community High School. After she spent two weeks last summer volunteering at a food outreach program in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Danielle inspired her students to undertake a similar service learning…

Paving the Way for Women

On this day in 1911, Suffragettes stormed Parliament in London. All were arrested and chose prison terms. Their leader was Emmeline Pankhurst – the focus of Eric Reid-St. John‘s fellowship. Eric, a theatre teacher at Spain Park High School in Hoover, AL, researched Pankhurst and the suffrage movement they incited. While in London, he found in Trafalgar…

Reflections of an FFT Program Officer

Program officers are Fund for Teachers’ primary point of contact for grant recipients. These individuals field applicants’ questions; support new Fellows throughout the summer; and continue to encourage them once back in the classroom. Other than living vicariously through the Fellows with whom they work, program officers’ favorite part of the job is meeting those…

A Mom/Teacher’s Work is Never Done

Barbara Walters said, “Most of us have trouble juggling. The woman who says she doesn’t is someone whom I admire but have never met.” FFT Fellow Helen Dole, however, seems to be managing fairly well. Helen teaches sixth grade at Lower Manhattan Community Middle School in New York City. With her teammate Molly Goodell, she and…

Reflecting on Education Post-911

America’s teachers were among the first responders on September 11, instantly becoming students’ source of information and calm. In the years following the tragedy, multiple teachers have turned to Fund for Teachers for grants to develop strategies and resources that help students process what happened and also provide context for those not yet born when…

This is Just the Beginning

“The congratulations email we got from Fund for Teachers on April 4 about our grant said “This is just the beginning…” Little did we know how true that sentiment was…” So began the note from 2019 FFT Fellow Kelly Whitaker. She and team mate Sherry Grogan (Monroe Area High School – Monroe, GA) designed their…