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! 

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 an approach to education that recognizes, respects, and uses students’ backgrounds as meaningful sources for learning,” said Diane. “Culturally responsive teaching fosters a sense of belonging, strengthens confidence, and honors different perspectives. I believe it is essential for creating equitable and effective classrooms and ensuring that every student has the opportunity to thrive.” 

Diane serves as the Gifted Resource Coordinator for school with 270 students – six percent of whom are from North African or Middle Eastern countries. Because one of her responsibilities is enhancing the mandated curriculum with multi-disciplinary content, Diane seized the opportunity to design a fellowship that helped students affirm and appreciate their culture of origin while also developing fluency in other cultures. 

“This fellowship has helped me develop a deeper understanding of how art and architecture are not just aesthetic choices, but also powerful expressions of identity, religion, and social values,” Diane said. “Understanding this shared history of cultural synthesis has been transformative, helping me appreciate the importance of cross-cultural collaboration and the ways in which traditions can enrich one another. I’ve learned to think more critically about cultural appropriation and heritage conservation.” 

So have her students. 

Diane is using Islamic patterns she studied in Spain and Morocco to teach symmetry and tessellations to fifth graders during a geometry unit. Students are analyzing Diane’s photographs of the intricate designs of historic sites such as the Alhambra in Granada to identify lines of symmetry, rotational symmetry, and repeating shapes that form tessellations. They are using rulers, compasses, and grid paper to design their own tessellating geometric tiles. By connecting geometry to real-world art rooted in Islamic tradition, she’s striving to make abstract concepts more concrete and visual, while honoring the mathematical contributions of diverse cultures. 

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 about their experiences and how students are learning differently as a result… 

You saw/experienced/internalized so much history on your fellowship. Is there one moment that stands out above the others? 

One of the most profound moments of the fellowship was standing inside the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, at the exact site where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his life. The emotional weight of being in that space was unexpectedly similar to what I felt days later in Mississippi—standing in the courthouse where Emmett Till’s killers were acquitted and near the river where his body was found. 

In both places, I felt the same question pressing in on me: 
How do we teach students not only what happened, but how people responded—and what those responses demand of us today? 

That question is at the heart of what I was trying to solve through writing and receiving this fellowship. 

And what were you trying to solve? 

Before the fellowship, my students could name incidents of racial violence—Martin Luther King, Jr., George Floyd, Breonna Taylor—but they struggled to articulate: 

• How people responded in those moments; 

• Why those responses mattered; and, 

• What choices they themselves are inheriting today 

A pre-survey I administered at the start of my Emmett Till unit confirmed this gap: 

• While students expressed strong emotional reactions to racial violence, many lacked confidence in explaining historical responses beyond protests or anger. 

• More than 80% of students indicated that primary sources, real locations, and personal narratives helped them understand people’s choices more than textbooks alone. 

• Nearly all students said they believe their responsibility today is to speak up when we see injustice, but many were unsure how to do so meaningfully. 

The fellowship helped me realize that place-based learning—standing where history happened—is essential to bridging that gap. 

How is your fellowship’s place-based learning informing students in the various classes you teach? 

I am currently teaching a mini-unit on Emmett Till grounded directly in the fellowship experience, which specifically features high school curriculum activities and resources I received from the Emmett Till Interpretive Center and Facing History & Ourselves. Students are engaging with: 

• Photos and videos I captured at the Emmett Till Interpretive Center, courthouse, barn, and river as primary sources; 

• Documentary clips and insights shared by scholar Ben Saulsberry; 

• Comparative inquiry connecting Emmett Till’s murder to Dr. King’s assassination and contemporary racial violence; and, 

• Structured discussions centered on the essential question: 
  As we pursue racial justice today, what can be learned from the choices people have made in response to racial violence in the past? 

“Seeing the real places where Emmett Till’s story happened made it feel real in a way textbooks never did. It made me think about what I would have done then—and what I should do now.” — Dunbar High School Law & Public Policy student 

Alongside this unit, I am developing: 

• A student-created video project modeled after the National Civil Rights Museum introductory film, highlighting the legacy of our Law & Public Policy Academy 

• Podcast episodes that weave together fellowship sites, including an on-location sound bite recorded outside Dooky Chase’s Restaurant—a historic civil rights strategy space 

• A classroom Matter of Law panel series inspired by the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, where students examine court cases and consider legal vs. moral justice 

With two decades of teaching and a Ph.D. in Urban Leadership, is there anything new that you learned on this fellowship? 

Visiting Dr. King’s childhood home, final resting place, and the King Center in Atlanta helped me more fully understand the arc of his life—not just his death. Seeing where he was raised, where his ideas were nurtured, and where his legacy is preserved allowed me to teach him not only as a martyr, but as a strategist, organizer, and human being. 

At the National Civil Rights Museum, I also learned the origins of the phrase Speaking Truth to Power through Bayard Rustin’s work. That learning reshaped how I frame activism for students—helping them see that justice requires both legal change and personal transformation. 

One quote from Studio BE in New Orleans captured this tension perfectly: 
“How do you look terror in the face and still muster the courage to love?” 

That question now anchors my classroom. Love, I tell my students, is not passive—it is a deliberate act of resistance, one Dr. King embodied fully. 

I’m extending our fellowship’s beyond my students and me through: 

• Podcast episodes shared with families and the community 

• Ongoing conversations with colleagues about replicating place-based learning locally 

• An upcoming Humanities Circle presentation where I will share my Emmett Till unit and fellowship-based strategies 

The recent CBS Sunday Morning update about preserving the Emmett Till barn—and Shonda Rhimes’ continued support—only reaffirmed why access to these sites matters. Memory is fragile. Place helps protect it. 

At the heart of this fellowship is the belief that guides my work: So that others may learn. This experience strengthened my commitment to teaching truthfully, lovingly, and courageously, and to helping students understand that their responses to injustice matter. 

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 learn from a community (and state) that’s made great strides to reclaim their own indigenous heritage – Hawaii. 

The Fellow team wrote in their 2025 grant proposal: “Late in the 20th Century, Hawaii began a ‘Cultural Renaissance’ with a focus on preserving what had been lost. This Hawaiian story parallels the history of Oklahoma…By using the stories of others, students will be able to make connections and draw comparisons that will allow them to make decisions that will impact their own community. As Tulsa tries to reconnect to its roots in Native culture, students can use the examples from Hawaii to deepen their understanding of what it means to preserve culture without losing its authenticity.” 

What that meant for Rachel and Jesse was researching Hawaiian traditions and history while experiencing that unique ecosystem to create interdisciplinary projects exploring cultural preservation of Oklahoma’s Native American communities. 

“Convincing our selection committee of a teacher’s need to learn in tropical sites like Hawaii is a tough sell,” said Karen Eckhoff, Fund for Teachers executive director. “These teachers made it clear that, for them, Hawaii wasn’t a vacation, but a necessary destination to deepen students’ cultural competency, awareness and appreciation.” 

Rachel felt this, both in the writing and pursuit of their fellowship. 

“Planning an educational experience to a tourist destination is difficult,” she said. “Even with the research we did prior to our adventure, we found that many itinerary spots had been westernized. (One person used the term “Disney-d.”) I soon discovered that my best experiences came from the people I met along the way. Once we explained that we were teachers looking at what it means to reclaim indigenous culture, people were more than willing to share their history, struggles, and stories.” 

Instead of staying at a resort, Jesse and Rachel stayed in private residences. They avoided tourist sites in favor of learning led by Indigenous Hawaiian and Pacific Islander people. Exploring Hawaii’s Plantation Village offered insight into the lives of diverse Indigenous groups who contributed to Hawaii’s sugar industry from 1850–1950 and provided a lens for discussing themes like cultural adaptation, labor history, and social equity. Service learning came in the form of volunteering at the He’eia Fishpond, a cultural site lost to large corporate farming practices for sugar and pineapple and now being reclaimed as a touchstone of Hawaiian heritage.  

“Volunteering with Paepae o He’eia to restore the ancient He’eia Fishpond was transformative,” said Jesse. “The hands-on work tied to cultural preservation deepened my understanding of ecological and Indigenous restoration. Another powerful moment came from sailing with a Native Hawaiian family, where we prepared food, heard oral legends, and joined a sunset ceremony. Both experiences showed that true learning begins with respect, relationships, and community-rooted knowledge.”

Rachel and Jesse are now intent on translating their experiential learning to students in multiple ways, starting with their 120-acre school campus. Collaborating with an Ohio classroom through the National Air and Space Museum’s Teacher Innovator Institute, students are applying the design cycle to reimagine their own school grounds as spaces for inquiry, collaboration, and cultural storytelling. The school in Ohio is contributing ecological expertise, and our school is sharing Indigenous perspectives on honoring the land. “Through data collection, podcasting, and cross-campus consulting, students are becoming both designers and stewards while discovering that outdoor learning is not just about science. It’s about identity, belonging, and respect for the places we inhabit,” said Jesse. 

“This exchange continues the spirit of our Hawaiian fellowship,” continued Jesse, “connecting young people to the land and to one another through creativity, cultural understanding, and hands-on environmental learning. It also demonstrates how lessons rooted in Indigenous wisdom can shape not just classrooms, but the way future generations imagine and care for their world.” 

Many teachers are already into their first weeks of school; however, FFT Fellow Prince Johnson (Food and Finance High School – New York, NY) is still being a student on his fellowship in Japan. We caught up with him mid-fellowship to hear about how he is observing Tokyo’s urbanization, Kyoto’s cultural landscapes, and Hiroshima’s history to create lessons connecting Japan’s geography and history and foster students’ global awareness and critical thinking.

Q: You are packing so much into your fellowship traversing Japan. Can you get a sense yet of the biggest takeaway from this experience?

A: My greatest takeaway has been the power of place-based learning to illuminate complex global issues. Standing in Hiroshima during the Peace Ceremony deepened my understanding of resilience, reconciliation, and the human cost of conflict. Experiencing Osaka’s energy, Kyoto’s preservation of tradition, and Tokyo’s blending of innovation and history reinforced the importance of cultural context in teaching global history and human geography. These moments will directly inform how I help students connect historical events to present-day challenges and opportunities.

Q: What inspired you to apply for a Fund for Teachers grant to make this happen?

A: I first applied for a Fund for Teachers fellowship in 2009, when I traveled to Indonesia to explore cultural, historical, and educational connections that I could bring back to my students. That experience profoundly shaped my approach to teaching—showing me the power of immersive, self-designed professional learning. When I applied again, I was drawn to the opportunity to design an experience that was entirely tailored to my students’ needs, my school’s context, and my own professional growth. I sought FFT because it allows teachers to be the architects of their own learning, rooted in purpose and possibility.

Q: This summer, alone, you have completed the Goethe-Institut Deutschland fellowship and the NYU Steinhardt fellowship in Paris – in addition to being asked to join the NYCPS Climate Education Leadership team. Clearly, you strive to grow and enrich your teaching practice. What makes Fund for Teachers unique from all of your other professional development opportunities?

A: While I am deeply honored by the recognition I have received throughout my career, FFT is different because it is not an award for past accomplishments—it is an investment in future impact. Many honors acknowledge what has already been achieved, but FFT asks: What will you do next? It empowers teachers to dream big, to take risks, and to bring back something truly unique to their students and communities. It’s deeply personal, profoundly student-centered, and built on the belief that teachers are innovators, not just implementers.

Prince actively posts on Instagram @mrjonsoncte. And (you heard it here first), he was just named 2025 New York History Teacher of the Year by The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

Students of Washington D.C.’s Dunbar High School walk in the footsteps of trailblazers such as the first Black graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, the first Black U.S. Senator elected by a popular vote, and the head academic researcher on Brown v. The Board of Education. Established in 1870 as the Preparatory High School for Colored Youth and eponymously named in 1916 for the celebrated poet, Paul Laurence Dunbar, the school remains the first and oldest public high school for Black students.

Considering this distinctive history, school officials chose to center student learning around Sankofa, a principle derived from the Akan people of Ghana signifying the primacy of remembering the past to make positive progress in the future. And these students’ future is informed by four teachers who joined together to craft a Fund for Teachers fellowship researching the African American experience across five states in the Deep South.

“Collectively, based on student townhalls, class discussions, and private conversations with students, our students seem disconnected from society in that they feel that, as teenagers, they can’t make a difference in society or that their voice doesn’t matter, which directly connects to our school’s values of activism and pride,” wrote team leader Dr. Shelina Warren in her grant proposal. “More importantly, our students’ lack of historical context helps play a considerable role in this disconnect, as they see the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s as a study of long-ago history, distancing the powerful movement from contemporary struggles. Sadly, many of our African American students, as well as our ELL students, do not know much about African American history.”

The team’s itinerary included stops at historically-relevant sites, such as the home of Medgar Evers, the National Center for Civil & Human Rights in Atlanta, and 16^th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. Less prominent locations holding equal significance were the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in the Mississippi Delta, the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery and TEP Center in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward where they met Dr. Leona Tate, who – with two other six-year-old girls – integrated their elementary school an hour before Ruby Bridges did the same across town.

Their fellowship ran the gamut of emotions, from experiencing the story of slavery at the Whitney Plantation outside of New Orleans to later that day taking a walking tour of Tremé within the city. “Teachers from the first Black high school in the Unites States exploring the first Black neighborhood in the United States – so powerful!” said Dr. Warren.

“Experiential learning opportunities such as those provided by the Fund for Teachers fellowship are so beneficial for students,” said DCPS Chancellor, Dr. Lewis D. Ferebee. “We’re proud of how Dr. Warren and her social studies team at Dunbar make connections for students with a real-life history lesson—imparting knowledge through tours of renowned civil rights landmarks across the South.”

Two quotes seemed to epitomize this fellowship for the team: One explained in a museum and another found in a contemporary painting hanging in a gallery.

“I’ve always used the phrase ‘Speaking Truth to Power.’ but I never knew where it came from until visiting the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis,” said Dr. Warren. “They had an exhibit there on the originator of this phrase, Bayard Rustin, who used these words to explain that justice requires both legal change and personal transformation.”

The second quote, painted on the side of an art studio in New Orleans, captured how Dr. Warren plans to use new insights and experiences going forward in the classroom.

“’How do you look terror in the face and still muster the courage to love’ was a quote featured on a piece of art in a New Orleans’ gallery. It resonated with me because it shows that resistance is a form of power, and love is a tool used by activists before me to fight terror. In my way, I responded to this quote by writing this grant, exposing my students to educational opportunities, and being a lifelong learner. My motto is ‘so that others may learn,’ which shows my passion for education & love for my people.”

“I remember setting foot on my first Boston snow in February 1992,” said FFT Fellow Thu-Hang Tran-Peou describing her arrival from Vietnam as a young girl. “It was my first encounter with tuyết (snow)—a word I had read, wrote, and pondered before but had never known. The coldness, the fragility of the white cluster melting in my hands—it felt like a metaphor for my identity as a Vietnamese immigrant and refugee.”

Beautiful, bracing and ephemeral. Everything about the life she and her family fled in Vietnam now abutted against assimilation.

“I lived in two worlds—ashamed of my Vietnamese at school and never fully confident in my English at home,” she continued. “I was told that success was when I could leave my Vietnamese roots and thrive as an ‘American’ with my new branches. Today, after 17 years as an educator, I find my reflection in the eyes of my students, who also navigate these dual identities.”

Thu-Hang and her FFT Fellow teammate Thuy Nguyen teach at Boston Public School’s Mather Elementary, the oldest public school in North America, where they are charged with implementing the Vietnamese Dual Language (VDL) program for fifth and sixth grades. (EdWeek recently reported on their work). The veteran teachers were inspired by the fellowship of 2024 Fellow Vincent Pham (Brooklyn, NY) after following his fellowship across Southeast Asia last summer and decided to design and submit their own proposal focused on ensuring that their students’ histories, heritages, and home languages are seen as assets to be embraced, not erased.

In a beautiful spirit of collaboration, Thuy and Thu-Hang met up with Vincent in New York this spring to collaborate on fine tuning their upcoming fellowship itinerary. In August, the teaching duo will 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, gain linguistic proficiency in various dialects, and explore community spaces that represent the interplay of language, commerce, and culture in daily life. They will document each experience through oral interviews, videos/digital film, photography, and primary artifacts to bring back to share and teach in the classrooms.

“Over the past five decades, three generations of our Vietnamese families have navigated the complexities of displacement, survival, and identity,” wrote Thuy and Thu-Hang in their grant proposal. “From our parents, who risked their lives on perilous boats to escape conflict and rewrite their histories; our generation, navigating the tension between forgetting and forging a new identity in a foreign land; and our students, who now piece together hope for the future as the first cohort of Vietnamese bilingual learners. By embracing the diverse backgrounds of our students – culturally, linguistically, and even racially – we will create a learning environment that not only celebrates their differences but also unites them in shared pride and purpose in our Vietnamese Dual Language (VDL) Program, the first and only in the school district and Massachusetts”

Students at Life Learning Academy are disconnected – literally and figuratively. Many of the students live on campus, located on Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay. Also, students arrive after experiencing life traumas, often involving the juvenile justice system, and not finding success in traditional school settings.

Kevin Hicks arrived at Life Learning Academy with his own unique trajectory, including growing food at a commune in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, founding a rowing studio gym, and working as laboratory scientist at the United States Department of Agriculture.

The common denominator between students and teacher? According to Kevin, meaningful connections, worldly lived experiences, and adventure — the same components of a Fund for Teachers fellowship.

Last summer with a $5,000 Fund for Teachers grant, Kevin participated in the Marine Conservation program hosted by Global Vision International in Puerto Morelos, Mexico, to support the management and conservation of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. Working alongside national and international non-profits and government organizations, Kevin collected data, participated in coral nursery and management and joined beach clean-ups in the Mexico Caribbean Marine Biosphere Reserve, which is one of the largest ecosystems globally, and the largest national marine biosphere reserve in the Caribbean.

Afterwards, he studied Spanish with a tutor in Quintana Roo, improving fluency to better teach one-third of his students who are Spanish speaking.

“I got to see ‘Science as a human endeavor,’” said Kevin. “As humans, we have limited capacity. It made most sense to train us to be able to identify selected target species [such as sea turtles]. This way we focused on specific species that provide crucial data.”

Kevin relies on a similar targeted approach when teaching his “Earth Optimism in Action” ecology class, focusing on specific issues that provide opportunities for collaboration and change.

“My students choose a local environmental issue for which I supply 1-2 resources for them to contact for more information,” explained Kevin. “As the name of the class implies, they are empowered to take action and reach out to local organizations for more information. Their final project will be an ‘Action Plan’ with the help of the local agency to address the issue at hand. My fellowship will be used as my example for their final project.”

Through this class (and his fellowship), Kevin models more than environmental stewardship and hands-on science. He exemplifies for his students Life in Action.

“As an educator, it is my responsibility to be a role model, and I would like to be a role model of a global citizen who takes action in the world for the things that I care about,” he said. “I deeply care about our natural environment, and particularly the oceans’ health. I want to show my students, by my actions not just my words, that their actions matter.”

Fund for Teachers, one of the nation’s leading organizations supporting preK-12 educators, is proud to announce its 2025 grant recipients. This summer, 357 teachers will leverage $1.625 million into experiential learning in 79 countries on 6 continents.

These educators comprise Fund for Teachers’ 25^th cohort of FFT Fellows. Since 2001, Fund for Teachers has invested $39 million in 10,225 public, private and charter school teachers from across the United States.

Fund for Teachers annually invites teachers to propose solutions that address learning gaps for themselves and their students. Teachers are trusted with the freedom to determine what and where they want to learn and, after a thorough review process, individual teachers are awarded up to $5,000 and teams of two or more up to $10,000 to pursue customized professional development during the summer.

Fund for Teachers annually invites teachers to propose solutions that address learning gaps for themselves and their students. Teachers are trusted with the freedom to determine what and where they want to learn and, after a thorough review process, individual teachers are awarded up to $5,000 and teams of two or more up to $10,000 to pursue customized professional development during the summer.

“Teachers are at the heart of shaping not only students’ academic trajectories, but often also their social and emotional well-being,” said Karen Eckhoff, Executive Director. “Fund for Teachers believes this high calling merits validation and support, which we provide by funding fellowships that ultimately inspire teachers’ enthusiasm for student engagement and extend their longevity in the profession.”

Once upon a time, an elementary school librarian became a Fund for Teachers Fellow, and her fairy tale dreams became a reality. It really did feel like a whirlwind fairy tale. Back in January of 2023, a friend of mine reached out to me about working together on a FFT grant. I was hesitant at first, because life felt very busy at the time, but after only a little convincing I agreed. However, the application’s due date was around the corner, so we got to work right away!

Hailey Wansick and I are both librarians, but she is a librarian at a high school, and I’m at an elementary school. We decided on fairy tales, because fairy tales and their lessons are for everyone. They have spanned hundreds of years, and they continue to enchant generations as retellings and fractured fairy tales are consistently being published today. After some research, we decided to focus on England, Germany, and France. We wanted to create a deeper understanding of fairy tale origins and their importance, promote excitement for and interest in reading, and enhance our library collections. We wanted to learn more about fairy tale pioneers like Madame d’Aulnoy, Charles Perrault, and the Brothers Grimm. When I got the email that said our proposal had been selected, and I was officially a Fellow, I ran to my principal’s office with tears in my eyes! 

A few months later, Hailey and I flew into France, ready to start our adventure. Over the following two weeks, we traveled from France to Germany and then to England. We walked the streets of Paris and the Gardens of Versailles. We visited towns along the Fairy Tale Route in Germany. One of our favorite stops was GRIMMWELT Kassel in Kassel, Germany. GRIMMWELT Kassel is a Brothers Grimm museum. We learned so much about the Brothers Grimm, their inspirations, and their life works. Our last stop was England. Before the trip, I had been in contact with the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries as well as the British Library. We were able to go through the process of acquiring library cards and gained access to their special collections. Being able to see and touch rare fairy tale books was this librarian’s dream come true!  My fellowship made me realize I have so much more to learn about fairy tales! I still feel this way. There is such a rich and extensive history surrounding fairy tales. 
After I got back home it was time to work on bringing the magic to my students. Fairy Tale Week was born. I collaborated with my specials team on making Fairy Tale Week a reality. Students would have fairy tale-themed lessons in all of their specials classes: music, PE, art, STEM, and library. We would have a dress-up day on the Friday of that week, because who doesn’t want to dress up like a fairy tale character or creature? In November 2023 we had our first Fairy Tale Week, and it was a magical success. Students drew castles, dragons, and king and queen portraits. They played fairy tale games, and created their own fractured fairy tales. They participated in a musical storytelling and a Disney sing-a-long. They also competed in fairy tale STEM-related challenges.

The week had been like a dream, but as I read stories to all of my classes that week, I realized many of my students were unfamiliar with the original fairy tales. To address this gap, this year I spent more time reading classic fairy tales to all of my students in preparation for Fairy Tale Week. Our second annual Fairy Tale Week was in January 2025, and it was once again filled with fairy tale-themed lessons in all of the specials classes. Fairy Tale Friday was especially fun! Classes gathered in the gym for enrichment during specials, where they heard the story of Rumplestiltskin, played a kingdom-defending game, and showed off their wonderful costumes. Both Fairy Tale Weeks wouldn’t have been as magical without my team. With my whole team on board, we were able to create a special week for all of our students! Recently, I have had teachers express a desire to have additional grades collaborate with us in the future. It will be interesting to see how Fairy Tale Week evolves. 

I’m so grateful to have been awarded this grant and to be able to call myself a Fund for Teachers Fellow. This experience has created in me a lifelong interest in fairy tales and a desire to share them with my students. I was able to present, along with Hailey Wansick, about our fellowship at the 2024 Oklahoma Library Association conference as well as during an Oklahoma School Librarians (OKSL) Learning Module over the summer. It was an honor to share with others about this special professional development opportunity and encourage them to apply! People often ask me what my favorite fairy tale is, and I have such a difficult time answering this question, because I know I have so many more fairy tales to read and discover! However, if I have to choose, Little Red Riding Hood is a forever favorite. National Tell a Fairy Tale Day is on February 26th, and I encourage everyone to take this opportunity to share with others a tale as old as time! 

The town of Roseburg, Oregon has a few notable distinctions – the subject of the Johnny Cash song “Lumberjack” and home to a pack of feral angora goats that predicted weather in the 1980s – but a diverse demographic is not among them. The county seat is 91% white and the students at Roseburg High School mirror that statistic. In this homogeneous milieu, social studies teacher (and Roseburg native) Ashley Painter was tasked with crafting Music History and Native American Studies courses, she used Fund for Teachers to orchestrate it. 

“My $5,000 grant funded a road-trip focusing on historic sites in America’s South and Midwest that highlight Civil Rights, Native American, and musical history,” said Ashley. “While my motivation for this fellowship came from a passionate and emotional appreciation for these cultures and historical content areas, there are also several new standards in Oregon that this project helped several courses meet.” 

On the road, she toured the Greenwood Rising Museum & Black Wall Street History Center in Tulsa when documenting country music. She walked around Whitney Plantation and Congo Square while seeking out jazz history in New Orleans.

She crossed the Alabama River on the Edmund Pettus Bridge and toured the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. She stopped at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and Medgar Evers’ home while following the Mississippi Blues Trail and visited the Delta Blues Museum and the legendary Crossroads in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

In Georgia, she sat at a lunch counter sit-in simulator at Atlanta’s Museum for Civil and Human Rights when researching the roots of rock and roll. And in Tennessee, she stood reverently outside the Lorraine Hotel after touring the Blues Hall of Fame and Sun Records (recording studio of such icons as BB King and Elvis Presley) in Memphis before taking the stage at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium and making a pilgrimage to the Woolworth’s on 5th.  

Ashley rounded out the odyssey with visits to The Museum at Bethel Woods and Max Yasgur’s Farm, the site of the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival, Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum; Detroit, the Home of Motown; and Chicago’s DuSable Black History Museum, Ida B. Wells House, Monument to the Great Northern Migration, and Chess Records. 

Artifacts and experiences gathered on her 10,000 mile/six-week journey now inform the majority of her Music History course, which focuses on US history from the mid-1800s through the 1990s and how music reflected and influenced current events of the day. So far this semester, students have been decoding spirituals. Ashley learned about Underground Railroad codes embedded in quilts and spirituals at Slave Haven in Memphis, where she sang “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” with the other visitors, and was led to a small compartment under the house where people seeking their freedom hid more than 150 years ago. 

“I aim for my emotion and experience to be funneled through my teaching to inspire my students to move beyond being knowledgeable, and to work for change in how they treat others and inspire other people to do the same, to travel and move beyond our state that so few of them have left, to find interest in other cultures and histories, and to yearn for knowledge throughout their lives,” said Ashley. “I believe my example of being a life-long learner, an empathetic change-seeker, and a risk-taker through this fellowship encourages my students to do the same throughout their lives, as well.” 

The inspiration behind Fund for Teachers fellowships are as diverse as our Fellows; however, only one (that we know of) stemmed from a subway attack. In November 2021, four Asian-American students were attacked because of their ethnicity by four Black teenagers. Alarmed by subsequent increasing racial tensions at Central High School, members of the school’s Asian Pacific Islander Union (APIU) collaborated with Black peers to brainstorm about ways to unite and support each other. 

One result was the re-institution of an Asian American history course Ken taught 15 years ago, previously cancelled due to budget cuts.  

“I feel that my strength as a teacher lies in my ability to work with students to create spaces where they can learn about issues that are important to them and develop solutions to problems they are currently facing,” said Ken. “My aspiration is to continue refining the course in a way that meets the needs and interests of my students. With this in mind, I designed a fellowship to better understand how the history of Asian Americans is interconnected with that of other BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities – specifically, how my students can reflect on how these interconnected histories have shaped Asian American culture.” 

Ken used a $5,000 grant to cover costs associated with the NEH Summer Institute: Little Tokyo How History Shapes Community Across Generations organized by the Japanese American National Museum (JANM). He was particularly interested in the events leading up to, during and after the Japanese Incarceration in World War II – when Japanese and Black Americans worked together to combat discrimination.  

“Thanks to my FFT grant, I was also able to spend time outside of the NEH Institute to fulfill the goals of my grant,” Ken explained. “Staff from the JANM helped me conduct research on how allies in the Black communities of LA supported Japanese Americans during and after the Japanese Incarceration. I met with an activist who took me on a tour of Little Tokyo and helped me understand the impact of gentrification on its Black and Asian residents. Finally, I was able to visit neighborhoods in LA, such as Crenshaw, where Black and Japanese Americans lived and challenged housing discrimination.” 

In addition to experiencing multiple museums and, ultimately, the Manzanar War Relocation Camp, Ken prioritized making personal connections with individuals who themselves experienced this period of history, including: 

• a docent at the Japanese American History Museum who talked about his efforts to honor Barbara Marshall, a Black American who supported Japanese American families during the Japanese Incarceration; and, 
• June Aochi Berk, the co-chair of the Minoru Yasui Civil Rights Committee, whose family was incarcerated at Camp Rohwer in Arkansas. 

(Exploring Los Angeles’ Crenshaw District; meeting June Aochi Berk, on a tour of Little Tokyo guided by members of the Little Tokyo Historical Society) 

Ken is working with the JANM to have students Zoom with a survivor of the Japanese Incarceration in the coming weeks. His fellowship will also inform their novel study of Buddha in the Attic, part of a curriculum Ken hopes to expand throughout the district through professional development workshops for teachers who wish to teach Asian American Studies using a cross-cultural lens. 

“Many students at my school, including those who define themselves as Asian American, struggle to define what Asian American culture is, especially in light of stereotypes that define Asian Americans as being a foreign culture,” said Ken. “I define culture as being the shared understanding of a group of people and believe that this understanding is shaped by the relationships that people build across cultures. Through my unit, I want students to consider the extent that Asian American culture is not only part of American culture, but is likewise shaped by the shared struggles we have with other communities of color.” 

Three years ago, Ariana Sanders (Cincinnati) used a $5,000 Fund for Teachers grant to participate in the Witness Tree Institute’s immersive educator experience in Ghana, where she explored the impact of colonization, as well as how Africans protect their natural resources. Her goal was to inform the development of learning objectives and course modules for Ethnic Studies to be offered not just at her school, Wyoming High School, but to ALL of Ohio’s high school teachers. 

“I cannot count the ways in which this fellowship was an influential time for me,” said Ariana. “It felt like an inspired experience literally from the second the plane landed — I felt more connected to my roots as a biracial person. The Witness Tree Program really allowed me to go into areas where it is NOT touristy, talk to many professors, participate in cultural activities (food, dancing, games, etc.) It is hard to put into words what that means or how much I see that impacting my soft skills — understanding others, appreciating differences…we all clearly need more of that!” 

_{Caption: Standing in Slave River, where captured men, women and children slaves bathed for the last time before they went to the auction; Ariana’s conference nametag and presentation session.}

That connection and cultural immersion informed learning standards and curriculum for a new official course offering in the Ohio Social Studies program called Religion, Gender, and Ethnic Studies, which Ariana presented at the National Council of Social Studies’ national conference. 

Additionally, Ariana sits on the advisory board for Boston University’s Teaching Africa Teacher (TAT) Certificate Program, which supports pre-service and in-service K-12 teachers and higher education instructors interested in engaging with Africa in their classrooms. As part of this opportunity, Ariana crafted an additional curriculum titled W.E.B. DuBois & Ghana: As told through 3 primary sources – which you can access here. 

“I’ve kept up with colleagues from my fellowship in Ghana, so those relationships, as well as peers through the TAT board, give me a space to advance higher education African studies and be in touch with people who are also working to ensure Africa is represented in more social studies classes. I feel like I am the biggest cheerleader for Fund for Teachers.” 

W.E.B. DuBois said, “It is the trained, living human soul, cultivated and strengthened by long study and thought, that breathes the real breath of life into boys and girls and makes them human, whether they be black or white, Greek, Russian or American.” He would be proud of the impact Ariana is making, as are we. 

At the height of the Los Angeles fires, FFT Fellow Andrea Lofthouse Quesada posted on Instagram that she and her home were safe. With her permission, we shared her post as a small form of encouragement for her and all of the educators providing students some sense of normalcy as fires continued to rage. 

On the opposite coast in Jersey City, NJ, Emily Litman (also a 2015 Fellow) messaged us, asking if she could send Andrea a gift card. Turns out this isn’t the first time she’s come to the aid of a fellow Fellow. At a 2016 Global Classrooms Symposium orientation in Washington DC, Emily met FFT Fellow Rebecca Robinson (Owasso, OK).  The two stayed in touch and when Becca’s son was studying abroad in Argentina, she stayed with Emily who was there for the summer. The two plan to collaborate on a 2026 grant proposal next year! AND, the following summer when Emily was in Oaxaca, Mexico, she sought out Nancy MacBride (Voluntown, CT) who was pursuing an FFT fellowship there. 

“Even when a fellowship is over, it is never really over. Being part of FFT not only opened the door for me to create my own professional development that was beyond my wildest dreams, it has allowed me to connect with other educators, to encourage them to do the same, and to continue on my own lifelong path of growth and learning.” 

Fund for Teachers awards grants to individuals and teams of teachers, and one of the most common questions we get is, “What constitutes a team?” The easy answer is “two or more teachers.” For the team from Central Ohio, the answer was “one fifth-grade teacher, a special education teacher, two sixth-grade science teachers, and four eighth-grade science teachers from six schools and two school districts.”

Recently team lead Josh Flory shared an update on the team’s “followship,” a term we coined to describe the student impact of our fellowships. His communique made our day and underscores why Fund for Teachers plays a vital role in teacher retention and student engagement:

“In 2022 you funded a team proposal that allowed seven colleagues and me to travel to Olympic National Park in Washington State to participate in a week-long educator workshop focused on using the outdoors as an instructional tool. The purpose of our proposal was to:

• reconnect our students to each other after Covid
• connect them with the natural world around them as a way to enrich their learning experience and improve their mental and physical health, and
• engage them in authentic learning experiences.

After our fellowship, I had the opportunity to transfer schools within my district to be in the same building as another team member. This has allowed us to collaborate and move forward with our initiatives much more efficiently. Specifically, we have almost completed the first phase of our new outdoor classroom and conservation corridor.

During our time in the national park, we had the opportunity to do science fieldwork. We wanted to bring this experience back to our students, so we started looking at our school site in hopes of creating a natural outdoor learning space. We are located in Delaware County, one of the fastest growing counties in the nation. Farmland is rapidly being converted into neighborhoods; however, we are fortunate to have several acres of land surrounding our school. We realized we have natural features that could be the basis of a restored natural ecosystem. I rewrote my biology unit to focus on the possibility of restoring the biodiversity that was once present on the property where my school sits today. The image below shows our school building in the bottom right corner. The stream and pond became focal points of our efforts to create an outdoor learning space.

Last year, my eighth-grade students worked to create a comprehensive site plan for this area. They conducted a BioBlitz where they catalogued all of the plants growing in this area, determined which ones were invasive, and then proposed native species to replace them. This year’s students, shown below, started implementing this planting plan. We secured a donation of 500 native wetland plants from a local nursery, and my students eagerly planted them at the edge of the pond. For many of them, this was the first time planting a plant. They are already looking forward to spring to see how their plants survive the winter.

My students have also made progress on our first outdoor classroom space, partially shown below. We obtained several large glacial erratics (boulders) to serve as teaching tools and a seating area. These rocks were moved to this area by glaciers, so they help us teach students about the history of this place. We have also obtained limestone boulders from a nearby quarry to help students see how Ohio used to be under a warm shallow ocean. This spring they will be able to find fossils in those rocks showing them firsthand evidence of the changes our area has experienced.

In December, my students started working on our second outdoor classroom space (shown below). A small woodland on our property protects a vernal that provides a home for salamanders and frogs in the spring. Most of my students have never seen how these creatures use these temporary pools to reproduce each spring.

My students are proud of the work they have completed thus far. I am most pleased with the changes I have seen in my them. At the end of the school year, I have them complete a reflection assignment to think about their growth as a learner and also to give me feedback and suggestions for my class. Here are just a few of their comments:

• “I liked how comfortable our class was with each other. We felt like we could share without being judged.”
• “Thank you for believing in us and helping us do real work. I feel like I can make a difference in the world.”
• “I loved the questions that we explored, and how we tried to find solutions for the biodiversity problem we face. I feel like I can impact the world.”

Beyond my classroom, my FFT travel group members continue to encourage each other, share resources, and work toward our common goals. Collectively, your support has likely reached 1,500 students in Central Ohio in some way. The experience in Olympic National Park has also connected me with a national cohort of teachers who are passionate about connecting our students with our public lands. Our group is working with our national parks and forests to see how we can support those organizations’ efforts to create the next generation of public land stewards.

In summary – thank you. Thank you for believing in and trusting teachers. When given the resources, teachers can do great things with and for their students. I am excited for what lies ahead.”

Thank YOU, Josh. We’re proud to call you an FFT Fellow.