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HBD to JKR!

Happy birthday to J.K. Rowling, who brought the magical world of Harry Potter to readers of all ages! Last month, we sent two Fellows off on their Potter Trail journey. We’ve checked in with them to learn more about the author’s inspiration for her beloved books and how the librarians Vilma Martinez and Christina Stark…

Teaching Minority Students Environmental Advocacy

Frank Mangan and Brandon Hubbard-Heitz (The Howard School – Chattanooga, TN) are assessing the past and present effects of people’s interaction with the Alaskan wilderness to empower students to embark upon future conservation work in their contexts. You can follow their learning on Twitter and read more about their adventure below… “Late in life, noted…

Get on the Bus, Gus

Think The Magic School Bus meets a bookmobile and you have the classroom on wheels changing students’ lives in Chattanooga, TN. Brittany Harris (2013 FFT Fellow) and her colleague Colleen Ryan re-purposed and “tricked out” a short school bus they now take to students’ homes on the weekends to extend lessons and connect with working…

Erosion of Land & Educational Philosophy

As I think about my teaching practice, I believe it is important to provide my bilingual second grade students with a well-developed and engaging science curriculum. I recently read a study that showed only 10% of workers in science and engineering fields were African-American or Latino. As a teacher of students who are 98% Latinos,…

FFT Fellowship Inspires New Graphic Novel

Congratulations to FFT Fellow Thi Bui, newly published author of The Best We Could Do, which chronicles her family’s escape from Vietnam and resettlement in America during the 1970s. A teacher at Oakland International High School at the time of her grant, Thi had never attempted comics before her fellowship. With books such as Maus…

Teachers Helping Teachers

I teach high school Spanish, serve as chairman of the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY) and am an FFT Fellow. All three of these roles converged in December when I co-led a group of 50 Connecticut FFT Fellows in a one-day workshop asking the post-fellowship question, “What’s Next?” NNSTOY is a…

FFT Fellow Publishes Book on Survivor’s Story

Amy McDonald (Shades Valley High School – Birmingham, AL) recently sat beside Max Steinmetz at Temple Emanu-El, signing books and greeting visitors at an event hosted by Birmingham’s Holocaust Education Center. The two are old friends and partners in educating the next generation about the Holocaust, but on this day, they are author and subject…

Clear Your Mind, And the Rest Will Follow

Today mark’s the third annual Mindfulness Day, but an increasing number of FFT Fellows use their grants to incorporate mindfulness into EVERY school day. Deborah Howard and Judith Fitzgerald (Naubuc Elementary – Glastonbury, CT) spent a week this summer at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Stockbridge, MA. “When we arrived at Kripalu,…

Making Parks & Rec Proud

Leslie Knope would say “yep” to Cassie Pierce (Prairie Vale Elementary – Deer Creek Public Schools, Edmond, OK). Played by Amy Poehler in the television comedy Parks & Recreation, Leslie served as deputy director of the Pawnee City Department of Parks and Recreation, regional director of National Park Service Midwest Region and founded the organization …

The Pilgrimage of Teaching

In June 2014, Washington DC Fellow Ariel Laguilles began his Fund for Teachers fellowship – a 200 mile section of the historic Camino de Santiago pilgrimage from France to Spain. The following three years, he’s returned with his students from Gonzaga College High School. Ariel’s goals for his FFT fellowship were twofold: Become a pilgrim…

A Different Liberty Bell

“It didn’t have to be this way – I didn’t have to get caught. Why didn’t I travel the Railroad from the start? Perhaps our grief numbed our minds and blurred our caution? Perhaps my white skin gave me the illusion of protection? But there is no protection. No one is safe from slavery. It…

Happy Chinese New Year!

I am a Spanish-bilingual second grade teacher in an urban, high needs, public school. Yet, I find that 42% of the school’s student population is not Latino, they are either Chinese American or newcomers from China.The Chinese bilingual families in my school and community speak Cantonese. In addition, the majority of my colleagues, as well…

Teaching Civil Rights Through the Holocaust

by, Natalie Biden & Emilie Jones-McAdams – Bronx, NY “I looked across the border – that invisible line which separated my family’s old life from our new one – and wondered what was in store for us.” This was the opening line in one of my student’s free writes about what it means to be…

Civil Rights for Aborigines and African-Americans

by, Britnie Girigorie & Simone English – Brooklyn, New York When Europeans first began to colonize Australia in the 18th century, the traditionally nomadic culture of the Aborigine people changed drastically. Under British rule, the Aborigines lost much of the land that they lived off of for centuries. They were subjected to removal of their…

Little Rock Nine Still Impacting Education

by, Jessica Mascle, Anthony Riccio, Nate Streicher & Eric Levine – Amherst, NY On an early Sunday morning in July the Tapestry Charter School Civil Rights team traveled to Little Rock, AR for a truly unique experience. We designed our Fund for Teachers fellowship to attend an educators’ Civil Rights Institute to help students make…

MLK Jr, Mandela & Me

2018 Update: Since submitting this story, Diego shared this story: “FFT was transformative, probably the best PD I have done as an educator. My fellowship in South Africa included a visit with Christo Brand, one of Mandela’s former prison wardens who eventually became Mandela’s friend, confidant and served with him when he became president….

Semper Fidelis & Fund for Teachers

During the 2014/15 school year, the Fund for Teachers grant opportunity was presented in Norwalk and, consequently, I created a wonderful learning experience for myself; but I’m here to say that Fund for Teachers doesn’t just just touch students and teachers. It touches so many more people. In my case, Fund for Teachers impacted teachers…

Creating a Craving for “Slow” Food

We live in a paradox, a society of consumption and waste paired with health concerns over rising obesity. The high prevalence of overweight children and unhealthy eaters within our student population highlights the importance of examining factors affecting their food choices. As educators with 27 years of collective experience in elementary education, we’ve witnessed positive…