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 the winners! Congratulations to Becky and Matt, recipients of the 2026 Robert E. Yager Excellence in Teaching Award for excellence and innovation in the field of science education. We are also thrilled for Melissa Kowalski, recipient of the Shell Science Teaching Award which recognizes one outstanding classroom science teacher (K–12) who has had a positive impact on his or her students, school, and community through exemplary classroom science teaching.

 “On our fellowship to Kenya, Matt and I decided to present at NSTA about our collaboration, then we applied for this award and we both got it!” said Becky. “Fund for Teachers does amazing things for educators.” Melissa added, “I’m certain that my experience as a FFT Fellow greatly improved my application for the NSTA award!!”

We are so proud of these FFT Fellows and equally as grateful that they chose to use this platform to tell others about Fund for Teachers!

Becky Maynard (Framingham High School, MA) and Matt Holden (Fayetteville High School, AR) used their Fund for Teachers fellowship grant to participate in the Global Exploration for Educators Organization Kenya 2025 Expedition, which includes wildlife safaris and immersive cultural experiences with indigenous communities, to create authentic student experiences focused on the cultural significance of environmental conservation.

Melissa Kowalksi (Put-in-Bay Schools, OH) used her Fund for Teachers fellowship grant to document the diverse geological features of Iceland’s untouched wilderness to enhance climate and earth science instruction that excites and engages elementary through high school students.

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 had to consider our own level of knowledge on these topics and how it may act as a barrier to our students’ success—not only on state exams but also in understanding the major economic and political revolutions that shaped the 20th century and continue to influence interactions between world powers today,” wrote Lamb and Freed in their Fund for Teachers grant proposal. “Upon reflection, we noted our limited knowledge on the topic, each revolution learned through the relationship with the United States and their foreign policy objectives of containment. This can also be reflected in the current curriculum we use which is dominated by documents with an American lens, discussions on stopping the spread of communism, and the role of the United States military within the region to promote this foreign policy.”

Last summer, they used a $10,000 Fund for Teachers grant to examine through the lens of art and culture the multifaceted perspectives of political and economic revolutions in China, Vietnam, and Cambodia to develop a culturally responsive curriculum that fosters critical thinking and an appreciation of multiple perspectives.

For two weeks, these FFT Fellows deepened their knowledge by interacting with people and experiencing sites integral to each country’s past (and future): learning about the legacy of Chairman Mao in mausoleums and museums; squeezing into underground tunnels dug by the Vietcong; and walking in Pol Pot’s Cambodian Killing Fields. They also experienced the spirituality of Angor Thom, calligraphy classes in Beijing and resistance at the Hanoi Hilton.

“I was changed by the opportunity to view history from the perspective of citizens of their country, understanding how viewpoints and perspectives vary greatly,” said Lamb. “I also benefitted from learning art practices from artists practicing in their country.”

Now their students at Bronx Bridges High School are benefitting from the fellowship, as well.

Recently, the teachers took students on a walking tour of Chinatown, where students learned about immigration and history and experienced new foods, with field trips to Vietnamese and Cambodian cafes and restaurants in the works. In Studio Art class, 9–12th grade students were introduced to the traditional calligraphy techniques we studied in Beijing, working with rice paper and natural-hair brushes. To provide authentic and direct instruction, students viewed videos Lamb filmed of their instructor in Beijing. This unit will culminate in the creation and presentation of a mini-museum display, with students from both Lamb and Freed’s classes incorporating artifacts, images, artwork, and propaganda collected throughout the fellowship to analyze how history is shaped by bias and perspective—learning to interpret history not as fixed, but as evolving and contested.

“Using photos from my experience has gotten history students very excited to learn not only about my experience, but to use my images to ground their learning,” added Freed. “I am seeing student interest and engagement grow in this topic as compared with previous years and am excited to see how the museum display projects turn out.”

“As educators, we must recognize that our understanding of history is influenced by dominant narratives, often reflecting the perspectives of those in power,” said Lamb. “By engaging with and interviewing locals, we gained insight into how these events are viewed by governments, historians, those in power, as well as those on the ground. And now this fellowship will continue to open doors for students and us to explore new perspectives and continually push back on biased or silenced narratives.”

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. 

“Ultimately, my experiences in Spain and Morocco transformed cultural responsiveness from an abstract educational concept into a lived commitment, said Diane. “By immersing myself in different cultural contexts, I developed greater empathy, curiosity, and humility. My classroom is stronger because I have seen the world more broadly, and I strive each day to ensure that my students feel seen, valued, and understood.” 

In the Ramadan presentation to their peers, a student explained, “One of the things I love most about being Muslim is that God says in the Quran, I honor all children of Adam. That makes all humans my brothers and sisters who deserve respect, love, and kindness. That makes me want to be the kindest friend to everyone.”  

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.” 

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.”

Dr. Shelina Warren served as the team leader for this fellowship, alongside Akinyele Emory, Adrienne Glasgow and Jermaine Robinson. She is the Law and Public Policy Academy director at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, where she teaches courses including Constitutional Law and Youth Justice. She is an Arkansas native, Army veteran, and national board-certified social studies teacher/leader, finishing her 21st year in education. Shelina earned an undergraduate degree in Social Science Education, two Masters degrees, an additional certification and, most recently, a doctorate in Urban Educational Leadership from Johns Hopkins University, which focused on civic empowerment for African American students.

“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”

^{Thuy and Thu-Hang are the inaugural recipients of Fund for Teachers’ Dottie Engler Follow the Learning Fellowship. Dottie served as the director of special projects at Boston Plan for Excellence and the director of external relations and development at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. However, we are most proud of her role as Fund for Teachers as a board member.}