Fund for Teachers encourages a holistic approach to designing a fellowship by asking teachers to consider:

• what is missing from their classrooms and school communities
• why this grant specifically will address those gaps, and
• how they and their students will benefit going forward.

For Jillian Swinford and Piotr Wojciaczyk (Pulaski International School of Chicago), COVID influenced all three answers.

“International Baccalaureate was the guiding philosophy at our school and our cohesive curriculum allowed students to apply their knowledge across all subjects for real-world learning and the transfer of their knowledge in creative and expressive ways,” wrote the teachers in their grant proposal. “Unfortunately, the pandemic forced a shift away from these principles to focus more strictly on reading and math instruction to make up for ‘learning loss.’ The negative effects of these changes can be seen in student achievement and the lack of collaboration among teachers.”

An additional COVID casualty was connections that celebrated learning, resulting in isolation from the community, their peers and even themselves. Piotr and Jillian chose to design a fellowship that would reintegrate the school’s IB focus, reunite students, and elevate a global culture within the school community undergoing a demographic shift.

With a $10,000 Fund for Teachers grant, the teaching duo learned the techniques of traditional block printing, eco-friendly dyeing techniques, and about the sustainable fashion industry in India to create a cross-disciplinary unity between art and design that teaches students about sustainability and creating clothing that expresses their identity.

Jillian and Piotr wanted to empower their students to model change, not fast fashion that comprises 10% of total global carbon emissions annually. In addition to learning about Indian culture in Jaipur and New Delhi, they also apprenticed with artisans to learning art of traditional block printing on fabric, ecofriendly dyeing techniques, and the country’s emerging sustainable clothing companies.

“Getting a chance to meet the artisans & see how the village of Bagru — where more 400 families live and work to create the majority of the hand printed fabric in India — worked together was inspirational,” said Jill. “I also learned to take things slowly & be flexible. There were times that our plans had to change & instead of getting stressed, we took things in stride & maintained a positive attitude. The fellowship also re-inspired my teaching and provided me with so many unique learning experiences that I couldn’t wait to share with my students!”

Seventh graders in Jillian’s art class and Piotr’s design class wholeheartedly dove into a new hands-on unit this spring. In addition to learning about the fast fashion industry, students carved blocks with a symbol that represented their identity, used it to print their fabric, and then created a hand-sewn outfit with the fabric in their Design class.

The culminating project took place in March — a community wide style show, complete with runway, lights and models of change sporting clothes they made that represent who they are. Watch their premiere here.

Established in 1854, Norwich Free Academy includes in its mission: “[to] study all that is beautiful in nature and art, and [be] prepared for the highest usefulness and the purest happiness.” Fund for Teachers Fellow Sarah Lefrancois fulfilled that mission and more with her 2022 fellowship.

After retracing the footsteps/work of Ansel Adams in and around Yosemite Park to learn about landscape photography and advocacy, she planned on inspiring a student art show documenting their local landscapes. But her community and colleagues envisioned greater vistas.

See Sarah’s post-fellowship report and photos here.

Sarah writes:

After completing my fellowship to Yosemite, I sat down with the head of the Norwich Free Academy Foundation, Kathy McCarthy, who is an amazing support of our students and teachers. She mentioned that the Class of 1968 donated money to establish a small gallery called “The Cube” in the Atrium located near the entrance of our on-campus museum and that my project fit well into their original vision for that space.

I began to think about what to put in there – because 2D work just isn’t shown well in the space – and started to reach out to local museums and agencies to see if they had any taxidermy that they could share. I started thinking about the Museum of Natural History dioramas but realized that creating something that looked realistic would be time consuming and stressful.

In talking with my can-do colleagues at lunch one day, we started to throw around the idea of how we could work together to produce such a display. They jumped right in, excited to be part of such a project. These women are amazing, and it felt so good to include three other people in with my fellowship project.

My photo of our local park was printed and attached to the wall in the background. The unified clay class, in partner with my photography class, worked to make pinch pot mushrooms and giant mushrooms, rocks, and a stump out of plaster of paris. The unified arts class worked on making blades of grass out of cardboard and birds.

The Advanced Jewelry and Metals class worked on making whatever their hearts desired when they saw the display put together! One student donated a pin tailed duck mount to be hung, and my boyfriend, who is a graduate of NFA and a Environmental Conservation Officer with the State of Connecticut loaned us his coyote mount to be the central focus. I worked on the birch trees and vines as well as collecting leaves and brush 🙂

The display in The Cube is bright, eye catching, and engaging. Students ask so many questions about what is inside of it and who made everything. It is a wonderful welcome to our gymnasiums and the museum. It helps guide people to view the series of photographs on display in the upper level of the building!

Thank you so much. This opportunity afforded to me [through Fund for Teachers] has been not only transformative to my teaching practice, but also the lives of my students as we learned together about the importance of publicly held lands for our wellbeing and our civic duty to protect them!

This month, social media feeds will be flooded with memes for teacher appreciation and posts about how vital teachers are to our society. At the same time, Fund for Teachers will hand $1.7 million in checks to 396 teachers for summer fellowships they designed. The contrast between memes & money puts into sharp relief America’s attitude toward those with whom we entrust our children: teacher appreciation not validation.

Meet our new grant recipients and learn about their summer itineraries here.

The Latin word part “val” means strength and worth. Consider other words with that root: value, valor, valiant. Even the sound of these words evokes fortitude. Validation carries that same weight. When one validates something or someone, there’s an active acknowledgement associated with seeing, hearing, and knowing. In this light, appreciating something is tantamount to a thumb’s up emoji.

Fund for Teachers validates teachers by trusting them to design their own professional development in the form of summer fellowships. We put no limits on what or where teachers learn. We simply support their pursuit of new knowledge, insight and experiences – with $36 million in grants since 2001. In doing so, we communicate that teachers are professionals worthy of investment.

What does Teacher Validation Look Like?

For our grant recipients last summer, it ranged from documenting the Six Essential Elements of Geography throughout Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to examining across Alabama various methods of civic engagement utilized in the Civil Rights Movement. It also looks like relying on our Educator Advisory Council for programmatic design to amplify our impact on teachers. And funding Innovation Circles led by Fellows and composed of Fellows to deepen learning around topics in teaching while building community.

But validation doesn’t have to be synonymous with funding. (Our Fellows regularly report simply knowing their ideas merited recognition means as much as the grants.) Validating teachers as professionals can also look like:

• Acknowledging their dedication to assessing and responding to students’ needs, and not just
  the academic ones.
• Affirming their commitment to addressing learning goals in ways that leverage students’
  heritage and lived experiences.
• Applauding their courage to be bodyguards who protect students from bullets. And, yes,
• Advocating for pay increases with your local districts.

And how can we do these things? You’d be amazed at how far an old-fashioned, analog, personalized note can go. Beats a social media meme any day.

On the salt marshes of Salins-de-Giraud in the Camargue.

The conservation of France’s Camargue wetlands represents the opposite of rags to riches: It’s millionaire to marshlands manager. In 1948, a young heir to the Roche pharmaceutical fortune spent a bit of it to buy an estate in a mosquito-infested, briny marshland. The region also was the second-largest delta draining into the Mediterranean Sea, behind the Nile. Twenty-five-year-old Luc Hoffmann saw the value in preserving the Camargue. And seventy-five years later, FFT Fellow Frederic Allamel saw the value in teaching about it.

“I designed this fellowship to allow learners to better grasp the fate of coastal communities facing ocean-level rise and their attempt to preserve their cultural identity in the context of climate change,” Frederic explained. “Furthermore, the aim of this inclusive approach is to generate empathy towards ethnic minorities striving to preserve their cultural heritage, including nomadic Gypsies and the iconic gardian (the cowboy of the marshes).”

The Fellowship

For seven weeks, Frederic conducted research from the Provencal town of Arles to accomplish three goals:

1. Establish a glossary of the most prominent markers (i.e., ’Provençal’ dialect, vernacular architecture, symbolic bestiary) along with their significance in ‘Camarguaise’ culture.
2. Focus on the articulation of these markers and the fabric of a unique blend of cultures — ‘gardians’, ‘gitans’ (Gypsies), ‘cueilleurs de sel’ (salt gatherers), etc. — through the recording of life histories.
3. Develop a partnership between my students and their peers in Camargue through the creation of visual archives mapping distinctive landscapes and human activities in this threatened region, as well as strategies to cope with climate change.

“Besides the beauty of its landscape (pink marshes surrounded by white salt domes), I experienced firsthand the harshness of this lifestyle, working under the sun in extreme heat and being blinded by the whiteness of the salt,” he said. “It was a challenging body experience, although the camaraderie felt alongside other workers helped me gain their unique sense of place.”

The “Followship”

Now, his students at the International School of Indiana are engaged in a new Global Politics class using data and images Frederic collected on his fellowship. Supporting students’ acquisition of an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma, they are working toward projects addressing climate change and societal implications. Additionally, an intrinsic aspect of the IB diploma is a service, which Frederic intends to inject through student involvement with local organizations involved in environmental justice work.

“This fellowship reinforced in my belief that gaining firsthand knowledge is a prerequisite for being an engaged educator whose communication skills rely on experiential-based expertise that aim to be inspirational for students,” Frederic said.

Frederic is a two-time FFT Fellow. In 2017, he designed a fellowship to study Aboriginal arts in central/northern Australia with a focus on environmental symbolism to provide a case study for Anthropology of the Environment students.

“I collected numerous artifacts from the Shipibo Indian tribe with the intention of initiating a long-term class project. Consequently, my students became key actors of the Anthropology Club, whose goal was to design a bilingual catalog (English/Spanish) and curate a show that was eventually on display at Indiana University in Bloomington for a whole year. This project allowed students to develop a strong team spirit while applying a vast array of skills (translation, research, photography, logistics, etc.) to in the end deliver a near-professional publication and exhibition.”

Access that exhibit here.

(Top photo courtesy of the MAVA Foundation for Nature.)

The upcoming fellowship of Meghan Slesinski and Emily Mamaclay would make the organizers of the United Nation’s World Oceans Day proud: It will also make their students at Highcrest Elementary School in Wethersfield, CT, more aware of their responsibility to preserve healthy oceans and ecosystems. Here, Meghan outlines how she and Emily plan to explore Alaska’s oceans, geology, and evidence of humanity’s relationship with the environment through a scientific lens to broaden current curricula and help students understand and appreciate the importance of water as a natural resource.

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Happy World Oceans Day! 

For our summer learning experience we chose to travel to Alaska, the only Arctic region in the United States.  We will engage in science education focusing on Alaska’s unique geological and ecological history. Alaska has 94,743 square miles of water and has more than 40% of the nation’s surface water resources including over 12000 rivers and 3 million lakes. Three quarters of Earth’s freshwater comes from glaciers and Alaska is home to over 100,000 glaciers. We will spend 10 days on our summer fellowship exploring and learning about Earth’s water, the integral part it plays in all ecosystems and how to behave as global citizens in our quest to preserve this precious resource.  

Our first stop on our educational adventure will be Anchorage, Alaska.  While in Anchorage we will learn about what Alaska is doing to protect Earth’s resources and environment. We will meet with the museum educator at the Alaska Museum of Science & Nature to learn about efforts to preserve the unique biodiversity of Alaska and about the human activities in industry and everyday life that have had major effects on the ocean. We will also tour the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Lab and learn about the effects of oil on wildlife, bodies of water and shorelines and the efforts employed to clean up after this man-made disaster. We will be able to view an exhibit that has photographic and map comparisons of Anchorage when it was covered first by ice and then drowned in the ocean. We will also learn the story of the last Ice Age in Alaska and the glaciers that remain.  Before departing, we will also meet with educators at the Anchorage Museum, as well as a naturalist at the Alaskan Conservation Center.

Next we will travel to Denali National Park & Preserve to view unspoiled nature and crystal clear lakes. We will take excursions to hear about the ecology, geology, and wildlife of this area. Our guides will share information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect Earth’s resources and environment. 

Our “off the beaten path” guide will share their deep knowledge and help us to experience this rich setting. We will explore glacier-fed, braided rivers, spot cascading ice-falls and the occasional plummeting avalanche, and observe how the ebb and flow of ancient glacial ice shaped the landscape. We will visit and learn about a variety of glaciers. We will be able to witness the calving of glaciers, and learn about sea ice and towering icebergs. Our visit to Denali will include a viewing of Ruth Glacier, a 40-mile-long glacier that flows through the granite-walled Great Gorge – the world’s deepest trench. 

Our learning adventure will end in Fairbanks, Alaska. We will take a geothermal renewable energy tour at Chena Hot Springs which is where the Aurora Ice Museum is located. The Aurora Ice Museum is the world’s largest year round ice environment! It was created from over 1,000 tons of ice and snow. The museum was completed in January 2005 and stays a cool 25° Fahrenheit (-7° Celsius) inside thanks to the geothermal water machine. During our tour we will learn about this energy saving project as well as others that have been utilized in this location. 

By bringing back authentic examples of individuals who have fought to preserve the environment in Alaska, we believe these climate action role models will strengthen students’ beliefs about their own ability to play a key role in affecting positive change on the environment. Our students will learn about water’s integral part in our survival and the survival of our ecosystems as they “go along” on our journey through our blog and vlogs. A new unit, Earth’s water and how it cycles through Earth’s systems and affects human societies, will include a variety of inquiry based learning tasks, exploring the world’s ecosystems, their reliance on water, and our responsibility as global citizens to preserve the environment. Our plan is to have our students seek out similar experts in their own communities and interview those individuals and create their own vlogs that can be posted on our district website for the community at large.

This fellowship will allow us to meet with locals, naturalists, museum educators, and scientists. We will be able to visit exhibits, take part in environmental tours, conduct science experiments, and immerse ourselves in unique and authentic undertakings. We will have the opportunity to gather a multitude of resources and stories to bring back to our students. The stories, personal experiences, documents and artifacts obtained will provide depth to our science units. The proposed learning gained from our journey will inform our content and in turn provide opportunities for inquiry based learning to occur for our students. This fellowship will enable us to drive our curriculum in a way that only this experience can provide.  

This is the final in a four-part series in which we consider what innovation in the classroom will look like going forward. Thank you to today’s contributor, FFT Fellow Liza Eaton. Liza is also our director of Ramsden Project programming.

Liza on her fellowship biking across Europe investigating renewable energy and alternative energy sources and technology.

In 2017, Fund for Teachers began to envision a new chapter for itself  — doubling down on its commitment to teachers’ professional learning by asking the questions:

What if, in addition to self-designed fellowships, we engaged teachers in the design of additional opportunities to identify, address and solve problems of practice in partnership with other Fellows? 

What if Fund for Teachers were to create programs with teachers, instead of just for them?     

This move would take self-designed professional learning to a whole new level: for teachers by teachers. 

Typically, programs are designed by contractors who observe classrooms to identify needs and dream up new (and sometimes crazy) ideas to implement in schools.  Notable programs have been designed this way, like Khan Academy flipped classrooms, or IDEO’s lunch redesign.  What rarely happens, however, is that designers sit alongside users to design programs.  This approach takes teachers out of the design process. Instead, they are expected to use ready-made curriculum, fit into ready-made schedules and implement ready-made assessments — neglecting important teacher insights. 

However, with Fund for Teachers grants, teachers have stepped up to the plate and created their own, self-designed professional learning experiences for the past twenty years. Time and time again, teachers share how this experience re-charged their batteries and elevated their professionalism.  Beyond that, the relevant and purposeful learning experiences that teachers were inspired to create have increased engagement and ownership in classrooms across the country.     

In 2020 we began to expand our programming beyond the summer fellowship, sitting alongside Fellows to do so.  Of course, we used surveys, focus groups and interviews to understand our Fellows’ most pressing needs.  But beyond that, we engaged a consistent Fellow Design Team to partner with us to glean insights and opportunities.  Following the Design Thinking process, we dreamt up solutions to teachers’ needs:  

• Fellows told us that they needed someone to help them navigate their learning experience and implementation, so we designed a Mentor Program.  
• Fellows identified a handful of topics that they needed support with: so we tested professional learning communities.  These PLCs morphed into a new grant program, Innovation Circles, based on Fellows’ needs for learning opportunities with less travel.   
• Our current design challenge:  How do we spark teachers’ leadership and innovation with all of the rich, first-person resources gathered on fellowships? 

These programs are new so the results of our endeavors are still to be realized, but we have already identified important benefits to our approach.  Partnering with Fellows helped us understand more clearly teachers’ needs and elevated our insights beyond those gathered from more traditional methods.  For example, early this year, we set out to design an online platform to host Fellow-designed lesson and unit plans, only to find that that was not something that our teachers’ really needed.  In addition, we have been struck by how many fellows are looking for leadership opportunities.  We have been flooded with interest from our fellows – many wanting to be mentors, leaders and designers.  Not only is this trend important to our program design, but it points to a real need in education:  leadership pathways for teachers.  

Time will tell how our programming will grow and develop, but our experience thus far has reinforced our belief in our program mindset: for teachers, by teachers. 

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Liza Eaton (a 2006 FFT Fellow) is the director of Fund for Teachers’ Rasmden Project, an initiative to support and engage grant recipients beyond their initial fellowships. Her expertise lies in educational design and instructional coaching, leveraging her experience as a consultant and teacher with EL Education, Shining Hope Communities in Nairobi, and various schools in the Denver area. Liza holds an undergraduate degree in Environmental Policy & Behavior from the University of Michigan; a master’s of Curriculum and Leadership from the University of Denver; and is pursuing a doctorate in Education Equity from the University of Colorado Denver.

Four years ago, the land behind Daphne High School lay fallow and Betsy Anderton’s kids lay on the sofa looking at their phones. This combination did not sit well with Betsy, who held a Master’s and Ph.D. in Instructional Design but had not been at the head of a classroom for more than 25 years.

“I felt committed to getting kids off their phones and involved in purposeful, outdoor projects that would carry into their lives beyond high school,” said Betsy. “I hadn’t taught before, had no experience in agriculture and didn’t really have a vision for where I would take the program, but I knew that it was an opportunity to teach kids in a different way while also incorporating all of the great things they were learning at school.”

Pivoting from her career developing curriculum content for online platforms, Betsy joined the staff at Daphne High School near the Gulf Coast of Alabama, requisitioned school land and began building an agriculture education program that incorporates aspects of other teachers’ curriculum. She built a “Shakespeare Garden” for English students and had chemistry students demonstrate cationic exchange and pH balance. Storm water issues from the nearby Tiawasee Creek watershed inspired the “history” component of her curriculum, and Fund for Teachers provided the opportunity to research it.

“I became interested in the Mexican chinampas because they seemed to be dealing with so many of the issues we deal with here,” Betsy said. “I also wanted to be able to teach agriculture from a sustainable perspective. So, the fellowship took me further into an area I was already very excited about.”

Elizabeth designed a 2019 Fund for Teachers fellowship to join an EarthWatch team’s study of traditional farming and wetland preservation in the Xochimilco Wetlands of Mexico to enhance current studies of wetland conservation with other professionals who can encourage student learning on these efforts.

Watch several videos Elizabeth made on her fellowship here.

“The experience informed every aspect of my instruction from our studies on integrated pest management to traditional farming and storm water management,” she said. “My students created a  chinampa on our school farm. My greenhouse class now uses the process of soil blocking from the chinampas and agriscience students are using the story of the threatened axolotl salamander to understand environmental threats caused by invasive species as well as the importance of managing the fertilizers we use which, if not used properly, can end up in our waterways and eventually Mobile Bay.”

Currently, Betsy’s students are creating an outdoor classroom for the feeder schools with interpretive signs and various types of gardens and examples of best management practices for the region. Her students also deliver harvests from the gardens to a local food pantry. (Watch media coverage here.) To facilitate the construction of new greenhouses, watershed solutions and supporting structures, Betsy writes grants — and has secured more than $120,000 from local, regional and national organizations, including the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Environmental Protection Agency, Harbor Freight Tools and Future Farmers of America.

“I think as teachers it often feels like we have achieved a goal if we get our lessons to a point where they are stable and we can just go in and teach,” said Betsy. “It’s easy to forget that this minimizes the chance for flexibility and improvement but, most importantly, it may not be keeping us engaged at the level our students need to witness if we are to model life-long learning. It is important that we remain challenged in our teaching, even to the point where we are learning alongside our students, as it is only then that we can understand the questions they are asking as they climb the ladder to expert.”

Thank you to Betsy and her students for filming the video (above) of their garden and farm at Daphne High School in Daphne, AL.

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Betsy Anderton is a high school agriscience teacher born and raised in coastal Baldwin County, AL. She spend many weekends on her family farm in Mississippi and feels passionate about connecting students with both land and water. This commitment is inclusive of using agriculture to create communities, helping students understand the importance of environmentally friendly practices, repurposing items for alternative landscaping and gardening, and agritourism.

…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 Brooklyn, NY, where his students are now implementing sustainability practices as a result of his research.

“An environmental sustainability practice that my school fails to address is our overconsumption of freshwater,” said Richard. “Our sinks and water fountains often break, and excess water pours out of these faucets while they are not in use. They are eventually fixed, but only after wasting potable water. The school’s sinks and toilets are outdated and overconsume freshwater because they lack modern water saving technology, like reduced water volume sinks and toilets.  I am committed to transforming our school culture, first by transforming the way my students view their roles as environmental stewards within our school and community.”

The most effective way to do that, he decided, was to show students what happens when a community fails to advocate for its environment.

Throughout his fellowship, Richard witnessed and documented the implications of a freshwater shortage crisis:

• More than 60% of the country’s waterways have dried up;
• Densely populated areas along the coastline have lowered the water table level, causing saltwater to leach into aquifers;
• Agricultural runoff pollutes bodies of water; and,
• Tourism creates an increased demand for freshwater.

Back at school, Richard introduced students to the topic of Bali’s water crisis through his fellowship pictures, videos and interviews. Then the students got to work, proposing solutions to four primary challenges listed above. The process included creating visual representations of their solutions through a classroom model, as well as science fair tri-folds.

This project sparked further student activism around the school, including elimination of single-use plastics and a new recycling program.

“Before the fellowship, my professional obligation as a science teacher was to inspire students to develop a love for learning while aiding their growth and development,” said Richard. “Now, my job continues to be what it was plus to inspire students to become positive contributors to society, the community, and the world within areas of science such as environment conservation. I have an obligation to share my experiences with others. I am grateful that I was able to have this opportunity to learn.”

We’re proud to share Richard’s story in celebration of World Water Day. Learn more about his fellowship by clicking here.

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Richard is a middle school science teacher, sustainability coordinator, and science department chairperson in Brooklyn, New York. Currently, Richard is leading an effort that would bring recycling into his middle school. He spearheaded the construction of a greenhouse with a roof rainwater collection system. Next year, he plans to bring a reusable water bottle filtered refill station into his school. He is a Math for America Master Teacher and Greentree Foundation member.

Dory navigates Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park.

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 backpacking, backpacking and “canyoneering” in six different parks within the Grand Canyon. Researching  biodiversity of flora and fauna, including areas affected by the Kolob Fire of 2006, added to her biome expertise and now enhances her teaching with fourth graders, which includes video conferencing with Park Rangers she met.

Julie McGowan (Albertville, AL) chose the Grand Canyon as her fellowship destination to show students the relationship between land and water. Her tour included a float down the Colorado River with a guide who incorporated her Navajo Indian heritage into the learning. Her experiences not only enhance new “Land and Water” unit that aligns with the Alabama Course of Study Science Standards, but also enriches teachers she trains as part of the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative.

Rob and Bekah navigate Antelope Canyon.

Husband and wife team of Rob and Bekah Polemeni (Branford, CT) combined empathy with environmentalism in their fellowship to the Grand Canyon. The impact of climate change, specifically on indigenous peoples, now informs their high school students’ creation of a local service project based on water conservation.

“My students have the opportunity to make a difference on the local, national and global level because water scarcity is a global issue that is also happening in our backyard,” said Rob. “They are creating local educational campaigns while researching national and global water-related charities and microfinance opportunities. By posting their campaigns in local schools and businesses, they will see the impact of the learning on their community.”

Bekah added:

“As we explored, I noticed the impact of humans on each park’s level of biodiversity and sustainability. We also interviewed many scientists and park rangers who passionately discussed the impact of climate change on the health of the Arizona ecosystem. These experiences led me to a greater understanding of the need for preservation and care for these national treasures. Over the course of this year, students within my General Environmental Science class identified their level of water usage and conducted a debate focused on the development of land and urbanization in an area facing issue linked to water scarcity. This experience has helped me add personal insights and antidotes to class discussion.”

Reagan on a hike with her “Geology on the Edge” professor.

Reagan Kiser and Ashton Booher (Sandy Springs, SC) opted to learn from the experts by enrolling in the Grand Canyon Association’s “Geology on the Edge” class. Under the direction of a Ph.D. in geology, the duo learned how the Grand Canyon was formed and how fossil records teach history while embarking on hikes along multiple trails and the east rim. Their third graders in a rural, Title I school now benefit from a new “Rocks, Minerals and Landform” unit aligned with the South Carolina Science Standards.

On this day in 1908, President Roosevelt declared of the Grand Canyon, “Let this great wonder of nature remain as it now is. You cannot improve on it. But what you can do is keep it for your children, your children’s children, and all who come after you, as the one great sight which every American should see.” Today, especially, we honor these teachers committed to carrying on his vision.

For more “Grand” Fellow stories, click here to learn about Cassie Pierce’s “Parks & Rec” fellowship and here for how Mary Beth Werner’s fellowship eroded her educational philosophy.

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 five-month-old daughter Sophie Tilmant set off for Alaska this summer to tour boreal forest, coastal, tundra, and glacial ecosystems and collect first-hand evidence of climate change for a sixth grade unit called Human Impacts. She shares some of her experiences below…

Why was it vital for you to pursue this particular opportunity/experience?

An educator in Denali shares with us about the methane that is being released as a result of permafrost melting.

We teach in a school that has students from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds. Some students have second homes in the Hamptons, while others have grandparents/aunts/uncles cousins all under the same small roof in Chinatown. We previously did a Human Impact project; students relied on internet searches to source information. Now we have brought real data; photos, interviews, and our stories to ALL of our students–we are bringing the world to them even if they have yet to board a plane.

I now see the bigger picture in a deeper way and I’m more passionate about making my students ‘see’ it, too. It’s easy to read articles about climate change and cognitively understand what is happening. It’s an entirely different boat to stand by the sign showing where a glacier was just 10 years ago (and now it’s ice-free) and not viscerally feel how the world is being affected.

Why was this opportunity transformative for your teaching on a macro-level?

On our heli-hike adventure, we learned how about it’s not how warm it is, but rather the length of the growing season that is changing the vegetation.

Teaching is a joy and a grind. You are always “on;” engaging with students in person, families via email, via google docs with colleagues, or in person at staff meetings. This opportunity allowed me to turn my brain to a different mode from the regular routine. I was learning, yes, but in a more open and unencumbered way than the minute-by-minute schedule of a middle school environment. I landed back in NYC feeling enriched and invigorated for the year ahead.

Also, we experience the world through storytelling and now, our stories are going to be much richer and more vivid; filled with cutting edge science and personal anecdotes from our time in Alaska. They will be able to cite specific examples — equisetum plants spreading, the number of days above 50 degrees Fahrenheit North of the Arctic Circle, soil that doesn’t hold rain, roadways decimated from melting permafrost, increased frequency of wildfires, heavier snowfalls in winter, methane gas being released at an alarming rate, the list goes on — and then have teacher stories/images to connect to these sometimes hard-to-internalize science facts.

How did your fellowship changed your personal and/or professional perspective?

In 2010, the ice used to be where we’re standing.

I went into this fellowship with the understanding that I was traveling with my co-teacher, Molly, and that we would strengthen our co-teaching skills on this trip. I didn’t know how much so, though! I traveled with my 5-month-old infant, so I relied on Molly in SO many ways for support and sanity. This journey to Alaska was like the ultimate trust-builder. If students thought we completed each other’s sentences BEFORE this trip, now they’re going to think communicate telepathically!

Additionally, living in a city, it is easy to go about my day and not feel fundamentally affected by climate change. My food, my transportation, my workplace, and home are all far enough removed from Mother Earth that I am not forced to see how climate change is a real thing affecting real people, animals, and plants. On this fellowship, I was able to witness how ice has shifted, plants and animals have migrated, and people have altered their ways of life because of a warming planet.

And finally, what we’re all here for…What did Sophie think?

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Helen is in her 15th year of teaching. She is a New York City Teaching Fellow, Math for America Master Teacher, and former Department of Energy Teacher as Scientist. She believes in helping students to see science in their everyday lives; continually striving to make connections between their world and the science they are learning about. Outside the classroom she is a passionate runner. She’s a proud mom to two young children.

“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 fellowship to collect data and capture 360 video in the Galapagos Islands to inspire scientific field experiences in Georgia that culminate in student presentations at elementary and middle schools intended to pique student interest in biology. Now, photos from their fellowship will also help fund conservation efforts of the Islands.

“My team member, Sherry Grogan, submitted some photos to the photography competition for the Galapagos Conservancy.  She was notified this weekend that one of her photos of a lava lizard (above) had received an Honorable Mention and will be in the 2020 calendar.”

Read on to see more of “Team Darwin’s” adventures:

What Changed As A Result of Your Fellowship?

Sherry: “I pushed the limits of my comfort zone routinely while in the Galapagos. I learned to snorkel and engaged with land and sea creatures while shooting 360 videos and taking pictures. Learning in this manner has shown me the importance of capturing student interest in every unit and I feel that I am better equipped to make this happen after the fellowship. Students will surely perform higher in the evolution unit with newly designed lessons of 360 VR experiences and having studied Darwin’s work.”

Kelly: “As my teammate said, ‘We showed up as teachers and we are leaving as students. Our ‘I wonder…’ list is a mile long; our confidence has exploded; our friendship bond is rock solid. The emotional impact was more than I could have imagined. I sat in a panga with six other people with tears rolling down my cheeks at my first sighting of a blue footed booby. I found out that I can’t cry and snorkel at the same time, when I was bobbing in water with penguins.”

How Do You See Your Teaching Evolving?

Sherry: “I will be entering my 22nd year of teaching next year. This fellowship has completely overhauled my passion for teaching and finding ways to spark interest in my students. I have already tentatively created a plan for involving some portion of the “Galapagos” in each unit. I think this recurring theme will brilliantly help the students learn about such a fascinating place on earth, while also mastering the standards in Biology.”

Kelly: “Our students are going to see our excitement and come up with their own ‘I wonder…’ lists. Our students will be able to ‘visit’ the Galapagos using our 360 video and still shots. They will have a connection to this material that they didn’t have before. We are already looking at the photos we want to exhibit in the elementary schools and middle schools. Our students will have a different level of engagement due to this connection.”

How will your students learn differently because of your new knowledge or skills?

Sherry: “With all of the footage we shot (i.e., 360 video, photographs, 360 still photos, etc), we have a new approach to many of our units. The photos will come to life in the classroom through the eyes of two very enthusiastic teachers who absolutely cannot stop talking about this trip with friends and family. I learned so much about myself as a teacher, reevaluated my students, and I am prepared to provide a growth opportunity for all students in my room with exciting new material!”

Kelly: “We wrote a grant for mini journals for every student, as well as for field trips to the state park and the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.  Sherry’s winning photograph with the Galapagos Conservancy inspired us to have a photo competition among our students. Our media specialist printed the winning photos and our principal ended up paying to frame them! (That’s the water lily picture below).

We also worked in some interdisciplinary activities. We invited the art teacher in to teach a mini-lesson in nature sketching. Our favorite language arts teacher taught a mini lesson on descriptive writing. And our math teacher did a lesson on data collection and also designed a geometry lesson for a putt putt golf course.

Lastly, while writing our grant proposal, we reached out to our mayor. This connection built a relationship and we felt completely comfortable inviting him in to our class to have a forum with our students about environmental decisions in our town. How cool is that? We presented him with the winning photo from the photo competition and he took it to city hall where it was displayed for a month. All because of the connections made during the development of our grant proposal.”

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Sherry Grogan has taught high school biology for 20 years after spending 8 years as a police officer. Dr. Kelly Whitaker is a special education co-teacher in Biology and Physics. Her previous summer adventures include riding a motorcycle, solo, across thirty states and 16,000 miles; hiking 500 miles across Northern Spain on the Camino de Santiago and climbing Mt. Katahdin. To order the Galapagos Conservatory’s 2020 calendar featuring Sherry’s photographs from her fellowship, click here.

…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 Brooklyn, NY, where his students are now implementing sustainability practices as a result of his research.

“An environmental sustainability practice that my school fails to address is our overconsumption of freshwater,” said Richard. “Our sinks and water fountains often break, and excess water pours out of these faucets while they are not in use. They are eventually fixed, but only after wasting potable water. The school’s sinks and toilets are outdated and overconsume freshwater because they lack modern water saving technology, like reduced water volume sinks and toilets.  I am committed to transforming our school culture, first by transforming the way my students view their roles as environmental stewards within our school and community.”

The most effective way to do that, he decided, was to show students what happens when a community fails to advocate for its environment.

Throughout his fellowship, Richard witnessed and documented the implications of a freshwater shortage crisis:

• More than 60% of the country’s waterways have dried up;
• Densely populated areas along the coastline have lowered the water table level, causing saltwater to leach into aquifers;
• Agricultural runoff pollutes bodies of water; and,
• Tourism creates an increased demand for freshwater.

Back at school, Richard introduced students to the topic of Bali’s water crisis through his fellowship pictures, videos and interviews. Then the students got to work, proposing solutions to four primary challenges listed above. The process included creating visual representations of their solutions through a classroom model, as well as science fair tri-folds.

This project sparked further student activism around the school, including elimination of single-use plastics and a new recycling program.

“Before the fellowship, my professional obligation as a science teacher was to inspire students to develop a love for learning while aiding their growth and development,” said Richard. “Now, my job continues to be what it was plus to inspire students to become positive contributors to society, the community, and the world within areas of science such as environment conservation. I have an obligation to share my experiences with others. I am grateful that I was able to have this opportunity to learn.”

We’re proud to share Richard’s story in celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Watch this blog and our social media sites this summer for more teachers’ odysseys in Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Maldives, Nepal, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

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Richard is a middle school science teacher, sustainability coordinator, and science department chairperson in Brooklyn, New York. Currently, Richard is leading an effort that would bring recycling into his middle school. He spearheaded the construction of a greenhouse with a roof rainwater collection system. Next year, he plans to bring a reusable water bottle filtered refill station into his school. He is a Math for America Master Teacher and Greentree Foundation member.

Students wielding knives at North Haven High School are par for the course – Traci Planinshek‘s Culinary Arts course. She teaches food preparation and presentation skills to her Family and Consumer Sciences students and envisions them as future members of the local workforce, supporting a community’s economy, ancestral traditions and personal nutrition. This trifecta of impact materialized in the form of an FFT fellowship focused on F.L.O.S.S.

Two years ago Traci planted a small school garden to support a curriculum promoting fresh, local, organic, seasonable and sustainable food (FLOSS). Student engagement increased as they experimented with produce, herbs and spices associated with the area’s first inhabitants, the Quinnipac tribe. Inspired to take the learning one step further, Traci used a Fund for Teachers grant to explore historic culinary movements of the Pacific Northwest, including contributions of indigenous people in that region.

Traci worked alongside chefs at Tillicum Village, an island off of Seattle promoting British Columbia tribes, and visited organic dairies and gardens on Bainbridge Island in Puget Sound. From the lock system supporting salmon migration to fishmongers of Pike Market and food trucks in Occidental Park, Traci observed the farm-to-table movement in action. All of these experiences harvested hands-on learning for her students, who produced a community-wide luncheon in collaboration with surrounding farms and vegetables from the school garden. Funds raised from the event supported five students’ participation in Disney’s “Cook Around World” contest in Orlando, FL.

A student harvesting for the community luncheon

“On field trips to farms around North Haven, students negotiated the purchase of produce while witnessing the passion for what is, for many owners, decades of a family business,” said Traci. “Teenagers took responsibility for their own learning and developed an awareness of the required work ethic for this local citizenry.”

Even if students choose to pursue careers outside the food industry, Traci feels confident in their futures. She embeds literacy, numeracy skills, science – and now history and culture – into every lesson, giving students opportunities to develop critical thinking skills and cooperative learning capabilities sought out by employers.

“Having the financial support to follow something that I’m so passionate about was beyond words,” said Traci. “I feel that many times teachers are not validated, but this grant changed that for me and now I incorporate that energy into the daily curriculum — passing on that spirit and learning on to my students.”

Traci’s students competing at Disney World

The name of our 49th state derives from the Aleut word alyeska, or “great land.” Many FFT Fellows would agree after experiencing the culture and ecology of the land that – 151 years ago today – was acquired from Russia for $7.2 million. In celebration of Alaska Day, enjoy the following images, insights and impact of grant recipients’ learning in “The Last Frontier.”

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2018

Panning for gold in Mineral Creek.

Robin Barboza-Josephson & Catherine Gardner (New Milford High School – New Milford, CT) joined an expedition through the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge and Denali National Park to demonstrate the work of scientists and move ecology education to a model supporting Next Generation Science Standards. (Featured in clip above.)

“We hope to trigger a need for changes in human behavior to try and combat global warming before it is too late. I hope that by sharing my photos and experiences with them, they will realize that their behavior here (4000 miles away) still has an impact on environments they have never seen before.”

Listening to a lecture by Sheeren on Glacier Bay.

Ed learning procedure to help unresponsive diver.

As we watched Shark Week from the safety of our sofas, FFT Fellow Edwin Yoo (Dorchester, MA) chose to get a little closer to the action. He is currently conducting field research on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System in conjunction with Project AWARE, an initiative taking action to create change for the ocean and communities that depend on it. In Utila, Honduras, he is performing citizen science data collection for coral reef health to develop case studies based on theoretical chemical and biological principles associated with diving.

Codman Academy Charter Public School students from Boston’s south side ALL enroll in four-year colleges, despite entering ninth grade two or more years below reading level. Fifty percent of these students sit in Ed’s chemistry and biology courses. Combine a Caribbean heritage shared by the majority of his students with project based learning and the school’s nearby saltwater marshes and Ed’s fellowship hits a sweet spot of engagement.

“I designed this experience around global climate change and how that impacts the biochemistry of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef system (i.e. effect of temperature on O2 solubility, the effect of increasing concentration of CO2 on acidic levels of oceans that negatively impacts marine life) that protects the coastal cities and communities in the Caribbean Islands and Central America,” said Ed. “The narrative of this abstract chemistry theory becomes more deeply personal as it is an issue that is extremely critical to the families of my students who have connections to this region.”

Ed’s new case studies will support the ecology portion of his biology curriculum, specifically on topics of coral bleaching, sustainable fishing, climate change and invasive species. He is also earning his Divemaster certification that requires familiarity with a hyperbaric chamber used for decompression illness, information also applicable in Chemistry classes. Ed’s long term goal is to offer Codman students “Discover SCUBA” classes at the Dorchester YMCA pool.

“My certification will allow me to support Codman’s Wellness Program, in addition to the sciences,” said Ed. “As a Divemaster, I will be certified to teach snorkeling and introduce SCUBA in a pool setting, providing access to experiences not currently offered in the school and community. SCUBA and snorkeling combine medicine, engineering, marine biology, and chemistry into a single water sport activity. Without professional licensure and training made possible through this fellowship, my students would not likely have any exposure to potential career paths related to marine conservation, medical health industry, and engineering.”

Follow Ed’s learning on Instagram @educationalontogeny. And to get in the mood for Shark Week, enjoy this playlist provided by Discovery Channel.

From Idaho to Omo — that’s how far Christine Corbin went to help her students redefine beauty and identity.

An art teacher at Boise‘s Riverstone International School, Christine was researching ideas for a portrait-painting unit when she found photographs of the Omo River Valley tribe in Ethiopia. She immediately wanted her students to paint these “hauntingly beautiful” people, so began with the inquiry question, “What is beauty?”

“My students went bonkers,” said Christine. “Who are these people? What is their concept of beauty? And how is their view different from ours? were just a few of the questions I took with me to Ethiopia last summer on my Fund for Teachers fellowship.”

For four weeks, this sixty-something-year-old traveled alone in Africa with a dishonest guide, lived in areas of extreme poverty and traversed remote areas experiencing conflict between the government and various tribes. These conditions paled in comparison to the learning, however. “I was able to immerse myself completely in the beauty of the unknown and be amazed at what it taught me,” she said.

She’s now teaching her students about the art, customs and culture of the people with whom she fell in love. Eighth graders completed a photography unit based on her research, which included replicating versions of the images Christine brought back from her fellowship. She spent time with the Karo tribal people, whose face and body painting became the inspiration for students’ photo shoot assignments. The finished products (i.e. faces) appear in books they produced using Shutterfly. After a cross-curricular mask-making unit in conjunction with the music teacher this spring, her students will exhibit their art in a school-wide event at the local community center.

Christine’s students shared their take aways from the unit on beauty:

“Beauty is pure, simple, and happy. The Omo Valley tribes gauge their lips and ears and scar their bodies to be beautiful. It is pure and beautiful to them. We used our photography to portray our emotions and the emotions of the tribes. Beauty is different for everyone.” -Alease

 

“My concept of beauty is a person who is confident and wise,” added Soloriana, another student. “I believe that cultures everywhere continue to redefine their definition of beauty. Beauty changes from culture to culture.” -Soloriana

 

“It’s important to understand others’ ideas of beauty. The Omo River Valley people use their painted bodies, scarification, lip and ear gauging to express themselves and their ideas of what is beautiful to them. People aren’t typically used to those types of things as something beautiful. It is important to understand what other cultures think is beautiful.” -Aiden

 

“They saw beauty in showing how tough they were and in their ability to endure pain. Using photography, I expressed my concept of beauty as seen by the Omo River Valley tribes. We got to create our own headpieces and used paint, flowers, scarves, jewelry, and makeup to express ourselves in different ways. We used angle, lighting, and special effects to create a story. A face can tell a story.” – Salma

An unintended outcome of the art study was learning about the Gibe III Dam and it’s potentially devastating impact on the Omo River Valley tribe. Her students are now brainstorming on how they can help save the people with whom they also fell in love.

“My personal and professional perspective has profoundly changed,” said Christina. “My research drove home the fact that, as an educator, I have the power to be the catalyst for change. Everything I say and do in my classroom must motivate my students to be original thinkers to impact our interconnected world, especially the marginalized and disenfranchised who have no voice or power.”

In support of the recent International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, we share the learning of Jodie Harnden (Sunridge Middle School – Pendleton, OR) who joined an atmospheric aerosol research project with scientists at NASA Langley to develop a similar student project modeling how authentic science is conducted to collect and analyze data useful to the community.

In emergency medical practices the airway, or being able to breathe, is the first priority, making air pollution a major threat to those who breathe…which is everyone! In my seventh grade science classes we study the structure of the atmosphere and air pollution problems and students learn about different pollutants and how they affect our location. While students do develop an understanding of air quality conditions, they do not have the opportunity to collect their own data and analyze that data in order to answer questions, as scientists would do.

And neither did I – until my Fund for Teachers grant.

One of the challenges of being a science teacher is that I had never been an actual scientist. While I have spent my career learning to be the best teacher I can be, I lacked in experience that relates to the actual processes of scientific research and data analysis. For me to lead students to think and work as scientists, I needed the experience myself. The two-week fellowship collecting air quality data with NASA Langley provided an intensive and exciting opportunity to interact and work alongside actual scientists, followed by developing related classroom applications for students.

I had the opportunity to participate in the data campaign as a volunteer intern under the direction of NASA scientist Dr. Margaret Pippin. My air quality data research took me to sites around Hampton, VA, monitoring aerosols, or tiny solids that are considered pollutants. I became proficient in using the Calitoo, a device that measures aerosol optical thickness, and indicator of particulate matter. I learned what the impact of clouds can be on the accuracy of measurements and established my GLOBE account for submitting my own data.

Previously I had only demonstrated the Calitoo with borrowed units. Now I will be having students collect and submit data on a regular basis to the GLOBE Project. Collecting data for a long-term project is a change from just occasional measurements. Students will now be the scientists,
collecting and submitting the data for use, and have access to the data for future use, as well.

The greatest accomplishment of my fellowship was developing a true understanding of the different stages of scientific research. Data campaigns have a planning and funding period, then, if approved, all participants coordinate for the campaign period (in this case, two weeks), then hope for good weather. Collection days can be very long! After rest and recovery, analysis of the data begins and will be the focus for the next year, prompting future research.

School has started and smoke from regional wildfires has created a difficult situation for many. Outdoor activities have been cancelled as we come to grips with the loss of beautiful forests. We can’t even make aerosol measurements because the smoke blocks the sun. Students are getting an early introduction to the air quality unit. We have begun to enter data into GLOBE, but the smoke prevents the collection of quality data (a good lesson for students!). Normally our rough time is January and February when cold, high pressure settles in to create an inversion, trapping the smoke from wood stoves; however, this year may mark different conclusions. I have taken note of an unusual ozone
concentration near one city west of the Cascade Mountains, a problem we don’t have, but can study from afar.

While there are numerous environmental issues that are worth studying, air quality continues to be a challenge in our area. While the causes may sometimes be out of our control (such as weather and wild fires) awareness and understanding is not. Mitigation of contributing factors that are human-caused are something we will continue to study, learn, and take appropriate action when possible. This August we have experienced a severe air quality issue, something to study further in the fall.

Along with my personal experiences at NASA Langley, I was able to witness the inclusion of student interns in the research process. I came away more convinced that ever that science is a process and something to be understood, not just a set of facts to be learned. The future of science depends on doing science, and I must give my students opportunities to contribute to the field of science. School, in many ways, is an artificial microcosm of life and I will be able to expose students to so much more now that I was exposed to more myself.

A National Board Certified teacher, Jodie is in her 33rd year of teaching science at the middle
level, most of it in Pendleton, Oregon. She thrives on the opportunity to learn, bringing experiences back to the classroom and sharing with others professionally. While it won’t be a problem until retirement, rock collecting is a favorite activity.

Yesterday was National Wildlife Day, created in 2005 and carried forward in the memory of animal lover and conservationist Steve Irwin. Irwin sought to educate the public, especially children, about conservation and endangered animals. FFT Fellow Leanne Mortell and her fellowship in South Africa perpetuates his dream. A kindergarten teacher at Bluff Elementary School in Claremont, NH, she shares below “A Day in the Life” of her Fund for Teachers fellowship volunteering with Wildlife ACT in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in Zululand, South Africa, where she learned data gathering techniques used to monitor endangered animal populations to create a science unit teaching young students the scientific method.

My fellowship to Africa in winter was more than I could ever imagine. I arose before sunrise, gulped down breakfast with a half cup of instant coffee and headed for the truck while loaded down with my camera equipment. Our troop of five volunteers climbed in, wearing multiple warm layers and wrapped in blankets. We headed off with our researcher to be in position before the sun rose to find some of the most endangered species of the animal world.

After six or seven hours of searching for and observing African wild dogs, lions, and cheetahs, we returned to camp for a few hours of food, rest and a review of photos taken from the morning jaunt only to return to the truck for our evening rounds. After dark enveloped us leaving us with no ability to spot any more animals, our troop returned to camp to cook dinner, do dishes and crash into our beds for much needed rest so we could be revived enough to do it all over again the next day. I did this routine for 2 weeks. I loved every minute.

The mammals I saw during our drives left me in awe.  We tracked a pack of African wild painted dogs along dirt roads as they ran through the terrain on a hunt. We found lions resting near the road and observed them for hours as they slept. Elephant herds blocked the road in front of us as we traveled, allowing us to observe them closely as they fed.  We watched rhinos feed with their babies beside them. A cheetah emerged from the grass and jumped on a tree beside our truck. We observed him for thirty minutes before he left to watch impala in the distance. Giraffes fed from the tops of trees, then silently,
with the grace of the finest ballerinas, slipped away.

Amazing; experience of a lifetime; a childhood dream come true. These words only scratch the surface of the emotions I felt during this fellowship to Africa. Populations of many African mammals are dangerously low. Through our morning and evening drives, I witnessed many of these species roaming freely in their natural environment while collaborating with researchers working to protect them from their greatest threat – humans. This work wasn’t glamorous, nor did it seem heroic; it was hard work under difficult conditions. Yet, these people were working at it every day, living on the reserve to gather needed scientific data. And their work is making a difference. Numbers of African wild dogs and white rhinoceros are slowly on the rise. Although cheetah numbers are down, our data collection will allow more to be brought into the reserve to aid in genetically diversifying the population there to continue to promote the species. The beauty of these creatures is beyond words and now, after my fellowship, thought of loosing them brings a rising panic from deep inside. However, the knowledge that there are teams of people working these long hours under tough conditions to prevent their extinction brings admiration.

I am inspired students to help students realize that we have a gift freely given to us and we need to learn all we can to protect it. To let them see the images of these animals through my photographs and bring them outside to their own piece of the world to see it’s beauty and teach them ways to learn about it, protect it, and love it as I do is a privilege.

I now plan to educate my students on authentic methods of scientific research. Bringing the classroom outdoors will expose them to learn about their own neighborhood in a new way and help them connect to nature.  By providing them the instruction, modeling and practice they need to feel proficient at these skills will give them the confidence and desire to continue to learn and expand their knowledge.

Thank you, Fund For Teachers, for this rare opportunity.  I will share with my students how to observe animals, record their numbers and learn ways to identify each one. I hope to instill in my students the desire to learn how to care for the land for the benefit of all and I look forward to sharing with my
colleagues about this amazing opportunity through your organization to learn in hopes that they will be inspired to apply for their own chance at an adventure.

Leanne has worked as an educator, occupational therapist and principal. She uses these experiences to reach out to all her students to inspire in them the quest of knowledge of the world around
them and to use their unique talents for the benefit of all.