Today marks the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, a historic event that occurred in the town where Kyle Peaden taught students who knew nothing about it. We are grateful he shared his design process that led to his fellowship and its outcomes…

In my 2012 Fund for Teachers grant proposal, I wrote:

I see history repeating itself. I see that my students do not know or comprehend of the hate and bigotry that violated our city in the early 20th century in what is regarded as one of the most destructive race riots in the 20th century. While my students may not be involved in the repulsive actions of racist groups of individuals in the past, I can see hints of the same distance from understanding. Students are letting bullying and anger fill the voids where communication, discussion, and understanding should be. I hope to bring about understanding of racism, hate, and intolerance by contrasting the history of South Africa to the history of our city. By visiting South Africa to show the history and recent developments in Apartheid and segregation I can bring students to look closer at their own local history. This quiet city holds scars and wounds from one of the largest race riots in America and it remains a difficult subject to face. These wounds are ignored, and the impact of the race riots still linger. By bringing students to my experiences in South Africa I believe they will be able to use an unbiased process of examination to the history of South Africa and eventually to our history.

 

Sometimes it is too difficult for a child to think that something so awful could have happened in their home town. A sense of favoritism holds strong in their heart that would leave them less willing to hear or realize what happened here not too long ago in their own backyard. It is my hope to go to South Africa to learn firsthand why one person can do terrible things to another and how the goodness in humanity can prevail. I hope to bring a community of students closer to understanding what did happen, what can happen, and what we can do to make sure none of that will happen here ever again. By looking at examples of strength, ignorance, and hope abroad in South Africa and right here in our own back yard these students will work through questions dealing with morality and morality that can help their own understanding of such subjects.

My exploration started at home in Tulsa. I wondered how a city could recognize and reconcile the immense tragedy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. This question took me on a journey over 8,700 miles away to South Africa. South Africa is a country that exemplifies the evils of racism and the hope that can bring a society from those dark times. I wanted to study the culture of South Africa, its art, food, and people, so that I could gather a greater understanding of what happened and how the country has adjusted from Apartheid.

My journey began near Johannesburg where I spent a week in Soweto, the largest and arguably most influential townships during the resistance against Apartheid. During my stay I met the most welcoming people during my whole stay in Africa. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to teach a lesson at a local art school as soon as I found one and my work with Emilia Potenza, the curator at the National Apartheid Museum, gave me a greater background understanding to the reasons and history behind Apartheid. Not far from this epicenter of struggle I visited the Cradle of Humankind where the fossilized remains of our direct ancestors are found. From Johannesburg I traveled through Kruger National Park driving amongst natures most raw surroundings to the Drakensberg Mountains. The Drakensberg site is home to thousands of Bushmen paintings throughout the mountain ranges. After hiking and documenting these ancient works of art I continued south toward the Cape of Good Hope.

In Cape Town I visited the many cultural and historical sites that represent so much of this diverse country. The blend and recognition of cultures reminded me so much of the country I grew up. I started to understand and recognize the steps towards reconciliation in South Africa and a small step to what might be needed at home. The art and history of this wonderful country helped me to see what steps my students and I can take to repair and resolve our troubled past. While my journey is a personal one, I know that the impact of my steps and my efforts will help students to further their own passage through the difficult topics of race, racism, hate, and hope. In my exploration our dark history nearly broke my heart, the people of South Africa filled it with joy, and my students carry it forward with hope.

I stayed in Tulsa teaching for another two years and my wife and I moved to Wisconsin. I ended up working with the Title I program at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction because I felt like much of what I learned is the systems and structures established during Apartheid had some of the deepest impacts on South Africa and the black community of Tulsa. I wanted to work on addressing those policies and by working at the state level I could work towards a more equitable education system.

My Fund for Teachers experience has helped to inform the decision making and policies in programs I work with. By acknowledging the impacts of multiple landscapes and their relationships with race I am more prepared for the injustices that our youth face. Wisconsin has some of the largest gaps for students of color and our state agency has made the work of closing those gaps one of our highest priorities. Personally, I work not only with Title I-A but in programs that support incarcerated students, students that are placed in foster care/out-of-home care, and I am a part of some of the equity work occurring in our agency. I’ve worked on teams that developed and train all staff in our agency on equity to build a foundational experience for our work. I think it is from the experiences in South Africa, learning from the Apartheid museum, the cradle of humanity, Soweto, and the people (most importantly the people!) that could tell their story that helped me build an understanding of how I can listen and work towards a more equitable education system for all our students.

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Kyle recommends the John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation as a starting point for those wanting to know more about the Tulsa Race Massacre. He also encourages us all to reframe language you might hear this week referring to the event as the Tulsa Race Riots. “I’ve learned since my fellowship that the word riot incorrectly places blame on Tulsa’s Black community, which acted in response to an unlawful arrest and subsequent rounding up of 6-8,000 Black Tulsans – many for up to eight days,” he said.

One year ago, my community suffered a devastating loss, which called into question the very systems upholding the safety of the neighborhoods my students and I call home. In the wake of this tragedy, street art has been popping up around the community. This art is varied and unique, giving a platform to unheard voices. It is empowering, celebrates diversity, and represents an outcry for justice. I began to wonder how I could include these amazing pieces in my classroom to foster conversation, create an opportunity for my students to share, listen, and learn from one another, and connect with what I’m teaching in Algebra.

Through this fellowship, I will travel to Philadelphia, home to the nation’s largest public art program. I will explore the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, learning about the ways that one community has used art to ignite change. My primary activity while traveling will be to explore the murals of Philadelphia, the world’s largest open-air art gallery. I will participate in three different walking tours, led by professional guides and local experts:

• The “Mural Mile City Center” tour will introduce me to the stories of Philadelphia’s culturally rich downtown.
• The “West Philadelphia” tour will teach me about leaders and change-makers who faced tremendous barriers and
  paved the way for change in Philadelphia for years to come.
• Lastly, the “Morals & Murals: Tales from Our Hood” tour will use art to teach me about the experiences of life in Philadelphia from one of its very own community members.

Once home, I will reframe my Linear Functions unit through the lens of art – drawing inspiration from both the established art scene of Philadelphia and new works of street art appearing in my own community.

My ultimate goal is to explore how art can empower personal expression, celebrate who we are, and move us forward, while also deepening connections to foundational Algebraic understanding.

I will utilize what I’ve learned to reframe my Linear Functions unit, a foundational skill for Algebra and higher-level math, through the lens of art. I hope that through this reimagining, I will be able to better engage my students in learning, make my curriculum more representative of my students and their experiences, and connect the content to my students’ realities. As we move further into our unit, exploring art will drive our mathematical learning. We will use graphing software to recreate parts of the murals that sparked the students’ interests, exploring how modifying the slope, y-intercept, or domain of a function changes the design of a piece.

After using Philadelphia’s murals to explore linear functions, students will leverage their mathematical understanding and creative inspiration to create their own piece of original “linear artwork.” They will first design their art using graphing software, and then bring their artwork to life on the walls of our school. My principal has already given her permission for a student mural, and I colleagues in the art department who are willing and eager to collaborate with me on this endeavor.

I work in a district where, according to our most recent state-wide test, only 29.3% of students are proficient at math. We know that algebra is a gateway to graduation and future success in college and careers, so our school has responded by doubling the amount of time our students spend learning math. Even so, students are still struggling. Despite my best efforts to bring the world into our classroom, many students wonder, “Why do we have to learn this?” It can be challenging to find authentic opportunities to connect social justice to my curriculum. This problem is complex and I certainly don’t have all of the answers. But I do know that when students feel disconnected from the content being taught, their engagement, and ultimately learning, suffers. If students feel that what they’re learning doesn’t matter, some don’t buy into what’s happening in the classroom. If the world around my students feels like it is imploding, and I as an educator do nothing to address it, I am tone deaf to the lives they lead.

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Emily Kjesbo-Johnson teaches high school math and drama at Washington Technology Magnet School in Saint Paul, MN. She has been teaching since 2008 after working as a Peace Corps volunteer in Uganda and an AmeriCorp volunteer on Saint Paul’s West Side. Emily holds an undergraduate degree from Bethel University and a Masters in Teaching from Hamline University. She is also a two-time FFT Fellow.

• In 2019, Emily captured in virtual reality Thailand’s history, culture and architecture to create case studies for the analysis of geometric properties and theorems set amidst the rich backdrop of the Southeast Asian nation. Here is her summary of this fellowship.
• In 2014, she used a grant to explore how Apartheid continues to affect issues of racial injustice, self worth, motivation and academic achievement to inform discussions on social justice and build a math curriculum based on the principals of reconciliation. Watch her presentation about this experience here.

Emily was awarded one of Fund for Teachers’ new Innovation Grants to undertake her research in Philadelphia this summer. Click here for additional Innovation Grant recipients and to be inspired by their plans.

Reflecting on today’s birthday of Malcolm X, we share the thoughts of an FFT Fellow used her grant to research past and present resistance movements (but in Mexico) to use these as a model for student writing and meaningful resistance to injustice in local communities. Sara Boeck Bautista teaches English at Leaders High School in Brooklyn, NY, and works to make language arts a catalyst for social change in her students’ lives. She chose to research grassroots political and social movements in Mexico, where movements have often hinged on the words and actions of young people and other oppressed groups. “I wanted to document, study, and model these grassroots movements by people in society who, like my students, have historically felt that their voices didn’t matter.”

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As a social justice educator, the struggle to continue moving forward in the face of increasing inequity and continual global and local problems is difficult. My studies in central and southern Mexico with a Fund for Teachers grant not only gave me countless practical materials, texts, artifacts, interviews, and photographs to bring back to my students, but it also revitalized my passion for social justice and renewed my belief that the struggle of social justice is worth it.

Over the course of six weeks, I met women’s rights activists who are providing support for women in indigenous communities in central Mexico, professors who are committed to lifting up the indigenous culture into the space of the dominant culture of formal education, LGBTQ activists and scholars who know that change will come and believe that the system can be changed, and ordinary women and men who work to empower families and inspire gender equity by helping their communities walk away from the legacy of machismo.

Interviewing women’s right’s activists and domestic abuse survivors.

In Mexico, I learned at length about the ties between the history of colonization and the current daily challenges of indigenous and other oppressed people (queer, Black, women, and those at the intersections of these identities). In my class, we have continued to explore the ties between history and our present by studying the role that science fiction and Afrofuturism in particular have on supporting visions outside of the norm that seek to liberate oppressed people. In my class this semester, students are reading Octavia Butler’s 1993 science fiction novel Parable of the Sower and are considering their own relationship to change in their lives and in this pandemic and racial uprising. The lessons I learned six years ago in Mexico are still embedded in my mind as we grapple with the recent turmoil in the US political system, justice system, and educational system.

In response to the colonial legacy of oppression, I have framed my thinking as decolonizing and reindeginizing my classroom and my approach to social change. This looks like lifting up oppressed voices and honoring the vast knowledge, creativity, and expression that has come from oppressed communities and honoring the creativity it takes for those who are not free to imagine a future of liberation.

What sticks with me in reading Parable of the Sower and reflecting on my experience learning about the Zapatistas, in particular, is the power that change and autonomy can have even if it is not done through the powers of government. In Chiapas, I met people who are making their own utopias in spite of the colonialist legacies that still exist in Mexico. But the autonomous communities in Chiapas are a living example of an intentionally developed autonomous community. The main character in Parable of the Sower also develops and creates her own intentional community, envisioning and creating her own sacred space outside of the oppressive systems in her world. The connections are endless and endlessly inspiring.

To quote Octavia Butler, “All that you touch you change. All that you change changes you. The only lasting truth is change.”

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In recognition of Sara’s professionalism and student impact, Expeditionary Learning awarded her it’s highest honor in 2019 – The Klingenstein Award. Listen to her acceptance speech here (starts at 4:05).

Our high school is co-located in a converted elementary school building that still feels very much like an elementary school building (low sinks, low toilets, tiny lockers, a gym the size of a glorified broom closet). As our school prepared to open for in-person, synchronous learning this fall, COVID-19 reminded us just how small our school is. It was difficult for administrators and the janitorial staff to accommodate the maximum of ten learners in a classroom.

Meanwhile, students often speak about the resources at the more elite public schools in our area. And many a student laments his or her school choice in spite of our strong test scores and STEAM offerings because our high school (now their high school) does not resemble anything they’ve ever seen on television. There weren’t feral cats, rats and cockroaches on Riverdale. Nor were there methadone clinics and brownfield sites located on the same block of the TV high school.

A major gap exists in our city and in our school district and in our adjacent school community.

And those gaps are exacerbated by COVID-19 and the ongoing struggle for Black lives. Furthermore, our school is located in an area exposed to 95% more hazardous waste and waste water discharge and PM 2.5 and ozone than the rest of the US. When compared to the locations of elite (public and independent) schools located within five miles of our school, the percentiles that gauge environmental and demographic risks to public health drop to below 50%. It doesn’t take a genius to overlay the demographic information and quickly surmise that the elite schools are located in more affluent, white communities, or are composed of predominantly white students and staff, compared to our school.

Clearly, something’s wrong here.

I want to know why educational, economic, environmental, and public health gaps exist in my community by traveling to our seat of government and seeking answers.

With my Fund for Teachers grant this summer, I will follow a trail of important civil rights sites from New York City to Delaware, West Virginia, Washington DC, and Virginia to analyze the lasting impact of Brown v. Board of Education on students’ economic, environmental, and educational opportunities.

• The first stop will be Howard High School in Wilmington, Delaware on June 29th. Howard High School is connected to the U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education “that found racial segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional.” Black parents in Wilmington sued to enroll their children in the local all-White high school.
• Then I will visit Harpers Ferry. Harpers Ferry is known for many things, including John Brown’s assault on slavery and the massive surrender of Union troops during the Civil War. But, I will focus on something that I recently discovered in my research. Harpers Ferry is the site of one of the earliest integrated schools in the US. Former slaves received an education at a small college called Storer. Why did that happen? And how was it possible that this wasn’t possible for the rest of the nation until after Brown v. Board?
• In Richmond, I’ll visit Virginia Civil War Museum exhibits and explore the journey from the Civil War to Civil Rights.
• In the central Virginia town of Farmville, I’ll visit Robert Russa Moton High School and Robert Russa Moton Museum. This was a public school built for Black students living in Prince Edward County. The school’s conditions were something my students can relate to: overcrowding, a leaking roof, limited educational resources like books and chalk. The brave actions of two students, Barbara Johns and John Arthur, who organized a student walkout, catalyzed the Brown v. Board of Education decision.
• The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial will be my first stop in Washington DC, followed by a walk across the Mall to visit the Supreme Court of the United States where the Brown v. Board decision was made and numerous other cases that have influenced who I teach and where my students learn. I plan to visit the National Archives and research the various court decisions that have influenced or decided where and who I teach.
• Also in DC, I’ll visit John Philip Sousa Junior High School. This school denied admission to twelve Black students. The
  case was argued by a professor James Nabrit, Jr. of Howard University. Later, the case was folded into Brown v. Board. In addition, I’ll visit three sites at Howard University connected to the history of Brown v. Board of Education: Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel, Frederick Douglass Memorial Hall, and Founders Library. Founders Library has the largest collection of “African American documents, letters and oral histories about the African-American experience.” I’ll visit the library and research the Black experience in schools – focusing on the post Brown v. Board ruling to see how it impacted the education of Black Americans and other Americans of color.
• My fellowship will conclude at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. I’ll visit all the exhibits,
  but pay special attention to “A Changing America: 1968 and Beyond.”

I did not know until I started researching this fellowship
the number of cases that made up Brown v. Board of Education.

The problems are so vast, but I can distill it into the questions my students asked me after the insurrectionists overran the Capitol police force and simply walked out of the building joyous, and unscathed by the same state apparati that wreaked havoc on black and brown bodies just a few short months prior.

Why is it different for us?

Why have Black and Brown students been treated differently than White students since the founding of this republic?

Why did (does) the promise of Brown v. Board of Education go unfulfilled in classrooms across America?

Why are my students exposed to more air pollutants, more toxins in the soil, more asbestos and lead, more vermin carrying infectious disease?

And how can we operationalize this knowledge to bring about change in our school community?

Students will benefit from the clear history and timeline of the economic, educational, and environmental injustices taught to them through the accounts of those who experienced the same injustices but fought back.

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Patrick Callahan (pictured with students at Buckingham Palace thanks to a grant through ACIS) is an Sloan Award winning science educator at the Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics. He is a Math for America Master Teacher Fellow and a recent finalist for the Big Apple NYC DOE Award. He has taught for 11 years in the South Bronx. He is currently the Science Department Chair and Director of Enrichment Programs.

After our 2020 grant recipients’ plans stalled due to the global pandemic, our organization faced an interesting situation. No Fellows pursing learning beyond the classroom or applying their experiences inside them. And we didn’t know if 2021 grants would even happen. Entering our twentieth year of supporting teachers, what did that look like when teachers couldn’t leave their homes or hometowns?

Fund for Teachers created a new grant that provides the space for teachers to support each other. Beginning in May, select FFT Fellows will meet virtually in Innovation Circles focused on four topics: Social-Emotional Learning, Equity, Art & Design, and Accessibility. A summer of pursuing individual experiences with a $1,000 grant will be bookended with community building, brainstorming, reflection and application — together with and led by the following Fellows:

Social-Emotional Learning

2009 Fellow Beth Mowry (Brooklyn) will co-lead this Innovation Circle alongside 2021 Fellow Megan McCall (Daphne, AL). “I recognize and honor the power inherent in being able to guide a learner to deeper understanding through experiences, a well-timed question or a probing reflection question,” said Beth. “This Circle structure is designed to give learners the Goldilocks amount of support and structure that will lead to incredible innovation. 

Equity

2003 Fellow Mekiva Callahan (Houston) is not only a FFT grant recipient, but also a college professor and administrator. In a variety of classrooms, she’s witnessed the impact a “decentralized” classroom can make. “My classrooms are more participant centered, and that’s what excites me about this format,” she said. “The Circle Structure removes the burden from me to carry the cognitive load shifting to participant centered work. This pedagogical style is ideal, even for a classroom setting, as we will co-construct the learning and reform the curriculum together. We will learn from one another, and that is the most exciting part–what we all take away from the experience.”

Mekiva will co-lead with 2018 Fellow Josh Frost (Brooklyn). “It will be an invaluable learning experience to be able to discuss and help develop projects rooted in these same themes with educators/Fellows outside of New York that teach in diverse communities from around the country,” he said.

Art & Design

2019 Fellow Mia Corvino (Madison, CT) and 2015 Fellow Adam Burns (Troy, MI) brings experience from teaching at Columbia Teachers College and Adam from participating in our Innovation Circle pilot program last fall. “What I really liked was being exposed to so many different ideas. I could try them out, tinker, adapt, ignore, whatever,” he said. “What I love about the circles is they capture that idea of always questioning why you are doing what you are doing, of knowing that things don’t always have to be the way they are.” Mia added, “I am always happiest when I can be a facilitator rather than a lecturer, guiding and helping others to build and brainstorm, to be more creative and think outside the box, and to reflect back to the group what I am hearing and seeing so that they can reach their own conclusions.”

Accessibility

2013 April Chamberlain (Trussville, AL) is stepping up to this cohort. “The community aspect is key for me as I have had the opportunity to be a part of communities that I have taught me, challenged me, and supported my growth,” April said. “I wish to facilitate this experience for others and “coach” rather that lead the educators in the design and implementation of their learning plans.”

“Seeing teachers’ response to this opportunity for collaboration with other Fellows has been so encouraging,” said Liza Eaton, director of Fund for Teachers’ Ramsden Project, a new initiative focused on grant recipients post-fellowship. “Synergizing teachers’ collective years of experience and passion for a topic will result in authentic engagement for all of their students.”

Check back on April 30 for the names of FFT Fellows awarded $1,000 grants to participate in our first season of Innovation Circles.

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.

In celebration of  International Women’s Day, we share the teaching of Neha Singhal (Montgomery County Public Schools, MD). In one of our more unique fellowships, Neha conducted mini-ethnographic research on the experiences of doulas and other birth workers in New Delhi, India, to increase IB Anthropology students’ understanding of fieldwork and data analysis, and to spark interest in maternal health justice in the United States. Neha exemplifies what can happen when teachers are given the trust to design experiential learning. She combined her educational background (an undergraduate degree in international business, international development and conflict management and a master’s in social justice), previous experience (work with a non-profit on the Texas/Mexico border), and a passion for women’s health to create in-depth, project based learning for students.

My high school was only the second school in our district (the largest in the state) to offer IB Social & Cultural Anthropology and has become one of the few schools in the country to offer such a course. This study, aimed at deciphering the complexities of what makes us the same and different from one another, is extremely relevant for my students who come from 30 countries and speak multiple languages. The subject also corresponds to my commitment as a teacher to develop students’ analysis of history, oppression, power, and social justice to help equip them with the tools necessary to transform themselves and their communities.

In addition to being a social studies teacher, I am also a full-spectrum doula who is trained in providing nonjudgmental support to pregnant people in all decisions and phases of their journey. I became trained in this role after watching a documentary and doing my own research on the experiences of women giving birth at hospitals. It is unacceptable that the U.S. has a steadily increasing maternal mortality rate, which is also the highest in the developed world. There is a clear need for more attention to the issue and community-based solutions, and I used my Fund for Teachers grant to accomplish both.

For one month in 2019, I conducted mini-ethnographic research on the experiences of doulas and other birth workers in New Delhi, India, to understand what challenges and opportunities they see in lowering maternal mortality rates. I chose India partly because it holds significance to me as my birthplace and because the maternal mortality rate has decreased by 22% in the country from 2011 to 2016 according to recent data. I met with individuals in hospitals and nonprofits such as Birth India to collect data through a mixed-methods approach, using both participant observation and interviews, which are two popular methods in cultural anthropology.

Conducting this fieldwork gathering and analyzing data equipped me with new primary resources that now model and support my students’ research inquiries for their IB Anthropology projects. And, undertaking fieldwork helped me become a better teacher because I intimately understand the challenges and excitement that comes with “doing anthropology.” Now that I did the work I ask of my students, I can better explain the process of collecting data and articulating analysis about social phenomena.

Students benefit tremendously when their teachers are given the time to become energized and gain new ideas and perspectives. Teachers who have been invested in, invest in their students in return! The type of learning Fund for Teachers affords allows us to engage in creative experiences that enhance our connections with ourselves and our subject areas. It is also great role-modeling for students to see that teachers are lifelong learners and continue to have passions and goals. As a result of my fellowship, I am now waiting to hear about my acceptance in a PhD program in Cultural Anthropology!

While my fellowship helps me most readily with my 11th and 12th grade IB Anthropology students, with whom I piloted a new Medical Anthropology unit introducing the subfield focused on the impact of social, cultural, and historical forces on health and illness, how illness is experienced by various communities, prevention measures, and the process of healing. However, my experiences in India also benefit my 10th grade students in my U.S. Government class, as well as my Latin American Studies elective course. In my government class we have a unit on domestic policy where I implemented a research project that allows students to pick an issue, such as maternal health, and propose a policy-based solution. Our high school also hosts a medical careers program, which trains a sizable amount of our student population to explore careers in the healthcare industry and my students now present their new learning about birth, public health, and combating maternal mortality to students in the medical careers program.

Learning about issues women face in India regarding birth and realizing how similar those are to what we see in America made me even more confident in creating a unit on maternal health justice. At some point in their lives, it is very likely that students will either know someone pregnant, be the person giving birth, and/or be the partner of someone giving birth. Being in any of these three positions warrants the knowledge of pregnancy and birth as one way to tackle the crisis of maternal mortality in the United States (as well as many other countries). This fellowship is leading to learning outcomes that:

• Help students understand a specific situation (maternal health and birth) both in a global context and in their country of residence and
• Teach the practice of using research to solve real-world problems.

By directing my Fund for Teachers grant to confronting the problem of maternal mortality, I’m positioning my students as the solutionaries of the present and future.

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Neha Singhal is a high school teacher in Maryland who has taught students in several courses: IB Anthropology, Government, U.S. History, Latin American Studies, and College/Career Prep. She has also taught various courses in Asian American Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park and University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Prior to becoming an educator, Neha worked with La Union del Pueblo Entero, a grassroots immigrant justice organization at the Texas-Mexico border, where she supported organizing efforts to fight for neighborhood development, immigration reform legislation, and workers’ rights.

As Naima Hall tells it, she had a hard time finding her way in the world of work. For a while she did construction work, then bartended. Only after a few more minutes into our conversation did she mention that this phase of her career came after she worked for the International Trade Division of Tiffany & Co. and directed New York City’s Sister City Program through the United Nations. These roles, while high-profile, left her empty.

“I felt like my life wasn’t real,” she said. “I had titles and positions that sounded interesting. And I felt like a blank slate. My family was proud, but I couldn’t get through the cognitive dissonance of achieving but feeling empty.”

Her next step came from an unlikely source – Craig’s List.

“The Helen Keller School for the Blind placed an ad for volunteers,” Naima said. “When I arrived, the social connectedness was there, the good cause, the good mission. “I think I knew I was on the brink of an aha moment, but had questions about vocational sustainability and  next steps.”

Her answer came quickly. After a few weeks, the principal of Helen Keller saw Naima’s potential and volunteered to write her recommendation for the master’s program in deaf and hard of hearing education at Hunter College. She eventually added this degree to her bachelor’s degree in communications and master’s degree in urban policy and planning to become an itinerant service provider for New York City’s Department of Education. As a teacher in the largest education program in the world serving students who are blind and visually impaired from preschool to 21 years of age, Naima goes onsite to provide braille and advocacy work for students who integrated into a general population setting. She turns print material into braille, either by hand or electronically, and makes tactile models of concepts using embossing tools and haptic construction materials to help students comprehend teachers’ instruction. She also teaches students how to advocate for themselves and ensures that schools are compliant in their educational delivery to this specialized population.

“I make stuff, teach stuff and get out of the way,” she laughed.

To expand the state’s core curriculum and further support her students, Naima used a 2018 Fund for Teachers grant to explore French historic sites attributed to the inventor Louis Braille and investigate French-inspired multisensory, experiential learning opportunities.

Read more about Naima’s fellowship here.

“Not a day that goes by that my students and I are not in proximity to the embossed system of writing Louis created during his life,” said Naima. “This fellowship was a career apex and reaffirmed my passion and sense of purpose within my own vocation.”

This experience, especially a teary eyed moment at Louis Braille’s grave, provided the inspiration to push through a difficult career aspiration – earning certification as a Library of Congress Certified Braille transcriber last fall. Fewer people pass this accreditation than the CPA or the bar percentagewise, making it one of the most difficult certifications to earn in the world.

The moral to Naima’s story? Don’t settle and don’t sell out.

“Sometimes young people jump in and stick in it for too long. I just kept leaving,” she said. “People looked at me like I was bananas when I left Tiffany & Co. and the United Nations. I couldn’t tell them why I left, but I knew I couldn’t stay, but I thought, “If I am dying on a long arc, I don’t want to go out with this being it. There’s a difference between quitting and reclaiming your life.”

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Naima invites everyone to follow virtually the New York City Braille Challenge, on March 8-10, 2021. This annual, city-wide event has four components: the academic competition, a braille experience, parent workshops and interactive activities.

For two decades, Fund for Teachers has respected the power of teachers to determine their own learning and, subsequently that of their students. For each of those twenty years, that respect came in the form of grants – more than $30 million – to fuel fellowships in the United States and around the world. As Fund for Teachers enters our third decade, we are pleased to continue supporting our cohort of Fellows and adding to our programming portfolio.

We are excited to announce Innovation Circles, a new $1,000 grant opportunity specifically for any FFT Fellow who received a fellowship grant prior to 2021.

Each Circle is organized around one of three topics: Social Emotional Learning, Equity or Art & Design. Fellows who are accepted will join a Circle with their self-identified learning goal or problem of practice.  Each meeting will be used to help Fellows navigate the process of devising solutions.  Participants will meet virtually, twice early in the summer and then go on to pursue individual learning experiences before reconvening with their Circle colleagues once every two weeks between August and November.  Some meetings will be with small working groups and some as a larger cohort. It is our hope that self-designed learning, paired with Fellow collaboration, will inspire teachers to continue to refine and reimagine teaching and learning in their schools. If you have something you want to learn, and you know that an experience with other Fellows will allow you to navigate the complexities of implementation, apply to be part of an Innovation Circle.  Grants must be used for teacher learning and implementation.

FFT Fellows can apply here.

The application for Innovation Circle Grants opened March 1 and closes April 1^st. To be considered for the role of lead Fellow for a particular Circle, send a resume and short cover letter, including the name of the Circle and why you are interested in taking the lead, to liza@fundforteachers.org. Circle participants and leads will be informed by April 29th.

Nataliya Braginsky is a high school teacher at Metropolitan Business Academy in New Haven, CT, where she teaches African American and Latinx History, Contemporary Law, and Journalism, and co-advises the school’s Gender & Sexuality Alliance (GSA) and Youth Justice Panel. Nataliya is also a 2020 Fund for Teachers Fellow, member of New Haven Educators’ Collective, the Anti-Racist Teaching and Learning Collective, as well as a facilitator of culturally relevant pedagogy and restorative justice workshops. She believes that, as a white teacher working within an education system that has its origins in white supremacy and that continues to perpetuate racism, educators—especially white educators—must take an actively anti-racist stance and make a lifelong commitment to their development toward this goal. 

To that end, Nataliya designed a Fund for Teachers fellowship to analyze Los Angeles archives, museums, and historic sites associated with the intersection of African American, Latinx, and Indigenous (AALI) histories to support a new state mandate to teach this subject in all high schools. The mandate was sparked by a growing movement led by youth of color who in 2019 successfully petitioned their legislators. While this legislation does not go into effect until 2022-2023, at Nataliya’s school they decided that this course was long overdue. Such a class is necessary in all schools, but is particularly significant in a school that is majority African American and Latinx.

Learn more about Nataliya’s work in curriculum development, culturally relevant pedagogy and restorative justice practices on her website.

photo courtesy of the New Haven Independent

In developing this course, Nataliya surveyed her students. A common request was for untold stories and histories, rather than what is typically taught in history courses. Understanding dominant-narratives while centering counter-narratives is central to the course Nataliya has developed. Another request from students was not to focus only on oppression. As one student expressed: “We barely know the good things, we need to shed light on how brave, strong, and powerful we really are. It’s important to understand our blessings, to have people to look up to who look like us.” While stories of resistance are an important part of the course, students also want to learn of African American and Latinx beauty, joy, and brilliance.

Nataliya is part of the fall 2020 Pulitzer Center Teacher Fellowship program on Arts, Journalism, and Justice. Read the unit she developed, “Writing Personal Narrative in a Political World” posted by the Pulitzer Center, including the publication of two students’ powerful personal narratives.

“In my search for an educational experience that could offer such narratives and resources, Los Angeles was consistently echoed as the epicenter of intersectional AALI history,” said Nataliya. “LA is particularly rich in lesser-known examples of these histories, and many that are not only rooted in resistance, but also in powerful creation. I found numerous historic sites, museums, and archives that showcase the very history my students are asking to learn. That a group of Black, Indigenous, and Latinx people settled Los Angeles, for example, will be incredibly compelling to students.”

Los Angeles fulfills another of Nataliya’s needs as an educator, which is to collaborate. Connecticut is just beginning its collective work in teaching these critical histories, while LA has long led the struggle for intersectional ethnic studies in high schools. Learning from their experiences, sharing lessons and resources, and discussing the complexities of this content will support Nataliya as she continues to develop and improve her course.

Read Nataliya’s most recent article in the Washington Post: “The racist effects of school reopening during the pandemic — by a teacher” and “Not an ‘Achievement Gap’, A Racial Capitalist Chasm” for the Law & Political Equity Project.

Nataliya compiled destinations for her fellowship through talking with Los Angeles historians and educators, and through reading A People’s Guide to Los Angeles. After selecting relevant sites, Nataliya plotted them on this Google map in order to design a thoughtful itinerary.

Information and insights gained from these locations and those whom she meets will inform:

• Students’ creation of a pop-up Latinx museum at her school to accompany a pop-up Black history museum;
• Students’ presentation of final research papers at the school’s annual Social Justice Symposium; and,
• A more balanced and engaging curriculum with a more robust unit on the borderlands.

“Across AALI histories, students will have more stories to draw upon, not only of resistance to oppression, but also stories of creativity, joy, and success,” Nataliya said. “They will have more role models from whom to draw inspiration.”

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Nataliya earned a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College, and an M.S.Ed. from the University of Pennsylvania. She is most proud of the incredible work accomplished by her students, including:

• A Walking Tour of New Haven’s African American , Indigenous and Latinx History
• Black Is King Compendium
• “The Great Force of History:” The January 6th Syllabus

With any free time, Nataliya leads workshops designed to support educators working toward anti-oppression and liberatory education and writes freelance articles such as this piece about her family’s survival of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the lessons it offers for surviving the pandemic.

(Title illustration by Israel Vargas for the Mother Jones article “Digging Into the Messy History of ‘Latinx’ Helped Me Embrace My Complex Identity.”)

Fund for Teachers Fellows teach every subject and language, including American Sign Language (ASL). At FFT Fellow Mick Posner‘s school in West Hartford, CT, ASL is one of the world languages offered and he used his grant to learn from deaf Inuits in Nuuk, Greenland, basic conversational skills in that country’s official sign language system to expand current ASL classes and deepen students’ understanding of the human spirit’s resiliency.

FFT Fellows Amanda Kline and Jenny Cooper‘s situation is a little different. They are teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing at Metro Deaf School in Sant Paul, MN. Metro Deaf School is a pK-12, free public charter school that provides bilingual and interdisciplinary curriculum using ASL and English for students who are primarily Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard-of-Hearing. Enhancing their curriculum are short, timely lessons they create for their YouTube series Did You Know That?!

Amanda (who produces the videos) and Jenny (the host and who is deaf) created a Fund for Teachers 2020 fellowship to document pedagogies of Deaf cultures and communities across Iceland, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Ireland to provide linguistically-accessible primary resources that increase world knowledge for and decrease language gaps of deaf students. Due to COVID, they had to defer their fellowship, but we wanted to touch base now to learn more about their plans through a Q&A interview…

The YouTube segment “Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman’s Speech & Auditory Processing Disorders”

[minti_dropcap style=”box”]Q[/minti_dropcap]In your proposal, you wrote: “Many of our students have grown up with world experiences; but without the language to accompany those experiences, they are unable to process, understand, internalize, or apply their experiences.” When your students experience everything, yet rarely have the language for processing and sharing, how do you build community?

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]A[/minti_dropcap]There is community building in the simple “same as me” experience among students. Empathy is a deep thread that runs throughout our student body DNA. When students transfer to our school at 12 years old having had 12 years of life experience with 0 years of language and are finally given access to ASL to process those experiences, we see so much growth. Then, when other students transfer in after them, those students can come alongside them to support growth. It is also important for them to see how far they’ve come! Taking language sample videos and then showing them those videos 1-2 years later is always a treat!

[minti_dropcap style=”box”]Q[/minti_dropcap]You have 12-year-old in your classes, deaf, 12 years old, and at a 3 year old math and 0 year old reading level, yet within less than two years, you have that student perform at a 5th grade math level and reading at a 3rd grade level. How do you motivate and inspire students with such obstacles to achieve at these levels?

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]A[/minti_dropcap]Honestly, they don’t need extrinsic motivation, it’s an innate need, passion and desire. When they can understand what’s happening, their cognition goes into hyper-speed.

[minti_dropcap style=”box”]Q[/minti_dropcap]While your fellowship involves filming historically-significant sites, you also plan to focus on significant elements of the respective deaf communities such as: traditional folklore, celebrations, and language evolution. Can you talk more about that?

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]A[/minti_dropcap]Yes! We are excited to be visiting various Deaf Clubs, Deaf community gatherings, Deaf immigrant immersion programs, and much more. We can’t wait to see how these various cultures incorporate their local cultures and history overlap with Deaf culture and history. For example, by meeting with the Scottish Ethnic Minority Deaf Club, we will experience how members celebrate various diverse people groups within the Deaf community and take away ideas for events, programs, and approaches to be able to apply within our own community.

[minti_dropcap style=”box”]Q[/minti_dropcap]Your research will also include interviewing organizations about building community with parents. Why do you feel as though that is vital?

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]A[/minti_dropcap]Students can grow and learn 8 hours a day when they’re with us, but when they go home in the evenings, weekends, and during school breaks, that’s where they need continued education and support in ASL. When families get on board with their child’s newly acquired language, we see significant growth in those students.

[minti_dropcap style=”box”]Q[/minti_dropcap]Would you explain the SignPal program and your plans for implementing it with your students?

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]A[/minti_dropcap]We piloted a program like this within our own state a few years ago where we networked with another deaf school. This operated similarly to traditional Pen Pals, but in ASL using sign as opposed to writing in English only. We paired up students based on language levels, then they sent videos back and forth to one another, getting to know another person. We provided guided questions for suggestions. At the end of the academic year, we all met together at a local Deaf club where we had a tour and lesson about the history of the Deaf club, then had lunch together and played games. This proved to be a rich social experience for all students involved and formed lifelong connections. We would like to try a program like that, but to make it an international experience.

[minti_dropcap style=”box”]Q[/minti_dropcap]Lastly, how do you foresee your fellowship impacting the Metro School for the Deaf school community?

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]A[/minti_dropcap]We, as a team, as a school, and as a community, recognize American deaf culture is complicated and we recognize the ways the education system is failing our D/HH students; however, we also recognize our students are full of passion and drive. They need a global deaf identity, including more creatively-designed, visually-engaging, linguistically-accessible resources to be successful in their futures in the global society and marketplace. This experience will lead to opportunities for our students, staff, and community members to analyze their current cultural and educational situations and to problem solve with the support of an expanded global-knowledge. This is not a change that can happen overnight, it requires a community and a culture of first becoming aware of options, then being willing to adapt and change for the future benefit of each individual. Thankfully, the deaf community is a profoundly adaptive group of individuals willing to grow.

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Jenny Cooper (right) teaches American Sign Language and more to deaf/hard of hearing high school students at Metro Deaf School. Her passion comes from her family who are also deaf, making her a third generation deaf person in her family. She obtained her Masters from the only deaf university in the world, Gallaudet University. Amanda Kline teaches deaf and hard of hearing middle school students reading and language arts at Metro Deaf School. She is passionate about making learning exciting, impactful, and memorable. She enjoys combining world knowledge with creative film making and editing to create accessible videos for ASL users throughout the country and world.

This fall, Fund for Teachers introduced a new Circles program bringing Fellows together around various topics. This effort coincided with teachers’ return to school in the midst of a pandemic, so we were uncertain about interest and participation level. What we discovered, however, is that our grant recipients remain life-long learners despite the circumstances and the result has been life-giving for them and inspiring for us.

Members of Fund for Teachers’ Equity and Justice Circle began their final meeting of the semester by watching a Ted Talk inspired by a Martin Luther King, Jr.’s quote: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.” Reading critically, writing consciously, speaking clearly and telling your truth, according to the speaker/teacher/poet Clint Smith, are the four core principles posted in his classroom. These same principles could summarize the first collaborative learning experience undertaken by eight FFT Fellows around a timely topic.

Last summer, Fund for Teachers selected from applications a cohort of ten Fellows to attend a three-day Teaching for Equity and Justice webinar presented by Facing History and Ourselves, an organization dedicated to fighting bigotry and hate with lessons from history. Then, after full days of teaching virtually, the educators returned to Zoom for dialogue about race and culture with the goal of crafting an action plan to impact their students and school community.

Read more about Fund for Teachers Circles here.

“I did a lot of work on social justice fifteen years ago and I thought, ‘I’ve done the work! Good job!” shared 2019 Fellow Tim Flannagan, teacher at Stonington Middle School in Mystic, CT. “But after the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, I wanted something more tangible than reading books and discussing with all white peers. I knew Fund for Teachers would do this well, and the resources and reflections, check ins and follow ups have increased discourse and equipped us to take informed action.”

Tim recently launched the Family Anti-Racist Circle in which students and their caregivers (or a member of the staff) read, discuss and identify ways to remedy racism in their community. He secured funding from local foundations obtain 5 copies of 15 books from which students can choose. After the read, Tim will then lead the group in brainstorming and researching ways to address an issue of equity and justice to develop a plan that to implement in the spring.

“I’ve attended several Fund for Teachers events since my fellowship in 2018, and one of the first questions asked during these meetings is Where did you travel on your fellowship? It occurred to me that no one asked that question in the Equity and Justice Circle. It’s not that we’re not interested, it’s just that our work has a sense of urgency and every minute of our sessions is so purposefully planned so that we leave one step closer to accomplishing our goals. Thank you to Fund for Teachers and Facing History and Ourselves for connecting me with this professional learning community and empowering me to create a more equitable and just classroom and school.”

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In 2018, Tim used his Fund for Teachers grant to join a photography tour in Cuba with professional artist and documentarian Louis Alarcon to create learning that combines insights about the island nation with photography and digital literacy skills. In addition to his Fund for Teachers grant, Tim also completed a Fulbright fellowship in Vietnam and received additional grants to learn in Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Germany. Tim has also taught in Brazil and Bolivia. Read about his fellowship here and learn more about his practice on his website, The Alternate Route.

Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December — the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR is a milestone document that proclaims the inalienable rights which everyone is entitled to as a human being – regardless of race, color, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Last summer, Jenn Nekolny and Christine Halblander (Jefferson Junior High School – Naperville, IL) used a Fund for Teachers grant to explore how physical and societal divisions in historical and contemporary Poland, Czechia, Austria and Germany impact human rights. They now supplement Social Studies and Language Arts curricula with their insight and experiences to enhance students’ knowledge around migration and refugee issues. In honor of all those striving for human rights, we share this reflection of “Team Mending Fences” and how their fellowship is impacting students’ awareness of humans’ rights. 

Helping a refugee learn to ride a bike in Berlin through the nonprofit Bikeygees.

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Our fellowship allowed us to look at forced movement of targeted groups in Krakow and Warsaw and the ghettos and camps that swallowed once peaceful lives. Museums and cultural centers in former East and West Germany allowed us to trace the lives of individuals and families. We then met today’s refugees and NGOs who work with them in Vienna and Berlin. Finally, we stayed with Jenn’s host parents and explored how small towns are welcoming asylum seekers.

It was very important for us to share our Fund for Teachers experiences with our students and school community. We were able to speak genuinely about the places we visited. When we shared our interviews and work with asylees, NGOs and individuals who are helping refugees, we spoke of them like they are true friends. Our students felt included in our FFT experience from the beginning; this enabled us to encourage even the most reluctant readers to read Refugee and create an Open House event for our community. 

Our Open House was a great success! Each character/ time period/ journey of the novel Refugee, had a room with student-driven projects, maps, activities, and a food item that represented the culture. We were even able to expand the learning with a graphic novel, Illegal, and mini research boards that gave a refugee. migrant, or internally displaced person a personalized story.

As guests entered the main entrance of our school, they were greeted by one of our School Board members who explained the reason for our event and the passport. As guests visited each of the four themed rooms, they earned a stamp in their passport for trying an activity, sampling a food item, or participating in a learning experience. After visiting all four rooms, completed passports were entered into a drawing to win gift cards to a local bookshop. Parents and kids had a great time with a little friendly competition to see who could earn their stamps!

To add to our theme of learning about refugees, we collected school supplies to be donated to our local World Relief organization. Binders, backpacks, pencils, notebooks and folders were dropped off by families attending our event and will be given to newly- arrived school-aged children who need them.

Our entrance lobby was full of activity! This is where guests picked up and dropped off their passports, and also where our 8th grade students held a bake sale. Families donated baked goods and student volunteers were there to receive them, price them, and tell people about BikeyGees, an NGO that teaches refugee (and other women) how to ride bikes in order for them to have more freedom. BikeyGees is located in Berlin, Germany, and we were fortunate to work with them on our fellowship. We had a large poster explaining their mission, including photos taken while volunteering there. It was important for students (and families) to see where their donations of effort, time and money were going.

Our lobby was also the location for our one-of-a-kind bracelets. Each bracelet had a hand-stamped message (like HOPE or JOURNEY or our school mascot, PATRIOTS) and hand-tied strings. Students worked during lunch periods to create them and then asked for donations and talked with guests about the mission of BikeyGees and what is being done to assist refugees and asylees in other parts of the world. 

Things were a little quieter in our focus rooms. Students spent weeks reading, discussing and organizing their work based on a character in the novel Refugee. Here are some scenes from Josef’s room (Nazi Germany, 1939). A poster asked “What’s in the family’s suitcase?” and the packed items chosen by students were labeled with detailed notes about a party dress that Josef’s mother might have worn, a Torah that Josef needed for his Bar Mitzvah, a stuffed bear for Josef’s little sister, Ruth, and a shawl for covering heads and shoulders for religious activities. Students practiced research and writing as they worked together on this, then guided guests in Josef’s journey. Staying in the heart of Kazimierz and visiting Auschwitz- Birkenau allowed us to discuss some of the connected historical events. Next to the suitcase, visitors use Post-its to write something they would take if they suddenly had to leave home.

Mahmoud’s room (Syria, 2015) welcomed visitors with a summary of his story and the “official” flag of Syria and “rebel” flag of Syria. Students explained the symbols on a poster and students sewed the flags with fabric and felt, guided by our Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) teacher. Here, students and one of our EL teachers get the room ready for guests. Students designed the room as if guests were following Mahmoud’s journey on land and sea. Chapter highlights explained where he went and why with maps, photographs, and research. The tension of his journey built as each station was reached by visitors. Students learned how to make hummus in their FACS classes and paired it with vegetables for guests to enjoy. Each plate is divided into fourths, with the name of each country written on one fourth of the plate. This helped us to cut down on waste and allowed guests to start in any room and travel “around the world” with their plates and passports.

We met several Syrian refugees on our fellowship–a car mechanic, a dentist, a student, a mother–all had such a love for their country and a desire to help others. We were able to show students that a country might have issues with politics and war, but the individuals each have a story that isn’t what’s portrayed on the news.

In Isabel’s room (Cuba, 1994), students wanted to mimic the sights, sounds and tastes of Cuba so guests would feel a little of the island on our cold February Open House night. There was a selfie station with a “wet foot/ dry foot” beach theme to represent Isabel’s goal of taking the boat to “El Norte” (the United States). Students used bright colors as a tablecloth for the pineapple and mango skewers dusted with Tajin fruit spice. They did a great job encouraging people to try the Tajin! Our population of families from Mexico and the Caribbean were happy to taste something familiar to their culture.

The entry to Isabel’s room included a game of chance (after all, that’s what we saw over and over in our fellowship) that directed guests to different experiences, including a station with QR codes that linked to videos that taught the rhythm of the clave. Our music teachers worked with students to create short videos at beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels and provided the clave percussion instruments to try. 

To enhance our learning, we added the graphic novel Illegal, by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin. Families were introduced to the story of Ebo, a Ghanian boy who leaves his village in search of his brother and sister, who had led before him. Ebo must travel by land and sea, across lonely deserts and through huge cities, always alone. The people he meets along his journey help to guide him as he learns about his own strength. We were able to connect the idea of the “helpers” in his fiction story with what we had learned from Mohammad, Bahar, Tarik and Mo, asylum seekers we had met in Vienna, Berlin, Puchenstuben, and Leipzig. As students read Ebo’s story in Language Arts, we were also talking about cocoa farming and labor practices in Social Studies. As we researched, students found that the Lindt chocolate company had made significant changes to their practices and their cocoa harvesting. Because of this, students chose Lindt chocolate as the snack to represent Ghana (and families were very happy to have this sweet treat at the end of their passport tours through the rooms!).

In addition to reading the novels, students had a unique opportunity to design a complete experience for our Open House guests. From designing the room layouts to determining who would greet guests, explain stops in the rooms, and take care of set up and clean up, students worked together to create something to be proud of! Originally, we had planned to work with 7th grade Language Arts and our EL teachers and students, but as our project was building, many other staff and students became part of the event. Our FACS teacher worked with students to design and sew the Syrian flags and to make the hummus, our band and chorus teachers volunteered to teach students the clave rhythm and how to use the percussion instruments, our library staff offered a selection of books that went along with our theme and 8th grade students provided book reviews to encourage others to read them, the families of our 8th graders made goodies to be sold at the bake sale, a School Board member volunteered to work with World Relief to collect school items and greet guests in the lobby, and countless others offered support to our students for our event.

In Social Studies, students selected a photo from #everydayrefugees and did further research on the reasons why that particular person or group would flee their country. They then added an enhanced caption and a map to show the refugee as an individual and not just a statistic. Students in our Dual Language Spanish classes practiced their reading and writing in the target language of Spanish with the same activity.                

The 8th grade students read connected fiction books and wrote reviews of them to encourage further reading. These were the students who helped with the idea of our fellowship last year as 7th graders; it was very special to have them as part of the Open House, too.

FFT granted us the opportunity to be students and explore the world in a unique way together. We asked a question and designed a plan to answer it. We wondered and through the journey learned about a global challenge and what other countries are doing to help. Our professional perspective changed because we are a team committed to creating a welcoming school community where we model and teach others to open our minds and hearts to the world and all it has to offer.

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Learn more about Jenn and Christine’s learning by reading their post-fellowship report here and accessing the Facebook page they made for students and families to follow.

On this Election Day, we’re focusing on a different type of vote, one conducted by students at the Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies. Inspired by their teachers’ fellowship in Mexico, seventh graders explore colonialism, feminism and the indigenous history of Mexico to  vote on whether the female translator and daughter of an Aztec chief was a hero, victim or traitor. Thank you for FFT Fellow Glen Meinschein for this story of turning an original idea into action…

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It seems that now more than ever it is important for us to learn to think like historians. To think critically. To determine the reliability of sources. To analyze and corroborate evidence. To try to understand perspectives that are different, even contrary to our own.

When we started our grant proposal for Fund for Teachers, we had the goal of reframing the typical “American History” curriculum. We sought to teach American history not as the history of the United States, but the history of the Americas: an entire hemisphere, two continents, 35 countries whose histories are inextricably linked. We wanted to root it in narratives often ignored in history- by drawing from perspectives of indigenous people, women, and people of color. We wanted our diverse group of New York City students to see themselves in the history we taught.

We saw the perfect opportunity in the story of La Malinche – best known as the indigenous translator and lover of Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes. A woman forced into slavery and given to Cortes as a gift upon his arrival in the “New World.” In Mexico today, her name is synonymous with “traitor,” but her legacy has evolved as the country has grown.

As we interviewed locals about their opinions on La Malinche and her role in helping the Spanish during the conquest, we quickly realized how divisive this topic could be. The interviewees often had to take time to really think through the question, and had strong and complicated feelings about the subject. Seeing people grapple with this question proved to me how important picking a challenging central question is to push students to think deeply and to care deeply about learning history.

Glen found La Malinche’s story in this mural, one of many about her in public spaces around Mexico

Read about this fellowship and student impact here.

Three years after our fellowship we continue to use the story of La Malinche and the research we were able to conduct in Mexico as the learning expedition which kicks off the year in this Brooklyn 7th grade Social Studies class. It is the introduction that we hope teaches students the importance of understanding context, analyzing bias, looking at history and current events through multiple perspectives, and learning the power one individual can have to create change in the world around them.

Here are a few student samples showing their perspectives on the legacy of La Malinche:

• “Today in history many people see La Malinche as a traitor for helping the Spanish instead of her own people, but it is important to remember that she was a survivor. La Malinche should be remembered as a hero because she helped to unite two cultures to create the place we know of today as Mexico.” -Ella
• “La Malinche is a traitor because she turned her back on her own people. She helped Cortez and the Spanish who only wanted to find gold. As Cortez and his men arrived in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, Malinali didn’t think twice about helping Cortez wipe out the entire Aztec capital.” -Julian
• “The reality is, even with the ability to speak three languages she was still a woman in an era where women held no power or importance. Her job was to translate. She did not command the battles or fire the cannons. So, in a time where women could be regarded as property to be passed on as gifts from one man to another with no say in all aspects of their own lives, are we to believe that this woman’s ability to translate could be seen as betrayal that brought down a whole empire? Her natural intelligence allowed her to survive, creating a better life than the one she had. She was a victim not a traitor.”  -Lia

My fellowship through Fund for Teachers allowed me to learn first hand about a topic that had fascinated me for some time. Through our explorations, museum visits, interviews, and conversations, we were able to better understand the legacy of the conquest of Mexico, and local perspectives on La Malinche’s controversial role in helping the conquistadores. Learning about these perspectives first hand has challenged me to think more deeply about the way history is often taught at home.

Read Glen’s fellowship summary here.

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Glen Meinschein is a middle school social studies and special education teacher at Brooklyn Collaborative, Brooklyn, NY. After graduating with concentrations in Spanish, International Studies, and Business from the University of Oregon, Glen spent two years teaching in Spain. Soon after, he moved to New York to join the NYC Teaching Fellows and finish his graduate studies at Long Island University, Brooklyn. Glen is currently the Social Studies department head at Brooklyn Collaborative.

Last week, we shared about The Ramsden Project, our network of Fund for Teachers Fellows across the world who are bringing their bold discoveries into their classroom and communities. This community will provide continual resources beyond a teacher’s summer learning experience and lift up their voice as a collective of trusted professionals who can lead their own professional growth and make the best decisions for students’ learning.​ Today, we’re going a little deeper into what this network represents. In short, it’s teacher leadership at the highest level.

We are continuing to construct aspects of The Ramsden Project that will add the most value for our Fellows. The pandemic and the fact that we didn’t have Fellows learning around the world this summer provided an opportunity to explore the possibilities more diligently. A Fellow Educator Advisory Council agreed to serve as ambassadors for our entire cohort and they, along with thought leaders in education and philanthropy, inform each new aspect of The Ramsden Project, including:

• A Mentor Program that matched each 2020 Fellow with one who has gone before them to maximize fellowship learning and support instructional innovation upon the return to the classroom.
• A Circles Program that organizes Fellows around topics they deem most relevant. Led by Fellows for Fellows, current Circles are collaborating about Virtual Teaching and Learning, Equity & Justice and National Board Certification.
• Convenings of Fellows in geographically-concentrated areas (when appropriate per the pandemic)

Ultimately, The Ramsden Project falls in line with the same mission Fund for Teachers has followed for 20 years:

[minti_blockquote]Strengthening instruction by investing in outstanding teachers’ self-determined professional growth and development in order to support student success, enrich their own practice, and strengthen their schools and communities.[/minti_blockquote]

How we talk about these teachers’ will pivot slightly to demonstrate ways in which they, and our organization ignite teacher leadership both through their fellowship and membership in The Ramsden Project, by:

• Leading the Way
• Seeking Opportunities
• Embracing Risk
• Turning Ideas into Action
• Discovering Resources, and
• Collaborating to Build Solutions

“Fund for Teachers is nationally unique in its motivation to trust teachers to know what they and their students need to achieve,” said Liza Eaton, director of The Ramsden Project. “As a Fellow myself, I experienced the validation this organization provided me in the form of a grant. Now, we’re making sure that Fellows don’t lose that initial sense of empowerment and possibilities the fellowship provides.”

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Read the Charter that guides describes the caliber of teachers The Ramsden Project strives to serve.

Turning ideas into action is nothing new for Tracey-Ann Lafayette. As a student at the University of Connecticut, she founded Leaders in Diversity within the Neag School of Education after recognizing that students from underrepresented backgrounds lacked a support system. Upon earning her Masters in Education and beginning her career at Robert J. O’Brien STEM Academy in East Hartford, CT, she founded a statewide LID initiative for BIPOC teachers and even organized a virtual summit last summer called Melanin Magic for educators of color to to embrace and empower their identities in educational spaces. Student activism, however, was the focus of her Fund for Teachers fellowship. Specifically, Tracey-Ann and her colleague researched in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa, the history of apartheid as influenced by Nelson Mandela to empower elementary students in social activism and restorative justice.

Read about Tracey-Ann’s learning in South Africa here.

“I continually shared with my students experiences and knowledge rooted in our fellowship – especially student activism while in South Africa,” said Tracey-Ann. “I think it’s important to teach my students to think critically and form their own opinions about the world so I try to give them information about a variety of topics that really make them think.”

And when they thought about Columbus Day, it didn’t make sense.

“They couldn’t understand why anyone would want to celebrate someone who caused so many issues and treated people so poorly so they wanted to speak up about that,” said Tracey-Ann. “We did talk about how even though they feel strongly about something that there are others who feel strongly on the opposite side of things, but they were determined to take action.”

Tracey-Ann felt it was important to support her students and show them that even as a third grader you can make a difference in the world. When the students decided to take their case to the school district, Tracey-Ann helped make it happen. The superintendent and assistant superintendent accepted the class’ invitation to dialogue about why they believed the school district should change the calendar to annually honor Indigenous People’s Day on October 12.

In front of Table Mountain overlooking Cape Town

“My FFT fellowship was transformative for my teaching because it allowed me to engage in authentic learning experiences,” said Tracey-Ann. “Learning in South Africa about Apartheid made me curious about the local histories that are surrounding me that I haven’t considered. It also solidified the importance of teaching students about social justice and social comprehension, reminded me of the power that passionate individuals can have, and showed me the impact that children can have on their communities.”

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Tracey-Ann, who holds a Masters degree from the Neag College of Education at the University of Connecticut, is active on social media. You can follow her work on Instagram, Twitter and her blog, Learning with Lafayette. You can also learn more about why she teaches on this short video produced by UConn.

FFT Fellow Rebecca Zisook (Helen C. Peirce School of International Studies – Chicago) also facilitated learning around this topic with her elementary students. Read about their learning here.

On this day in 1877, Chief Joseph and his Nez Perce people surrendered to the U.S. Army on the Bear Paw Battlefield after a 1,300 mile retreat — an event previously unknown to Jenn Raub and Sara Griffith‘s US History students at East Lyme High School in East Lyme, CT. Last summer, they journeyed across six states in 12 days — stopping at museums, schools, reservations and historical landmarks — to elevate Native American history above stereotypes.

“History is often told by the winners,” said Sara, “so often the ‘losers’ of this history were not heard. We designed this fellowship to promote and amplify the Native American experience.”

Meeting with an elder from the Northern Cheyenne tribe at the St Labre Indian School.

Their itinerary included:

• Fort Laramie, WY, which served as a Pony Express Station, a military post during the American Indian Wars and where The Treaty of Fort Laramie was signed there in both 1851 and 1868;
• Lander, WY, home of the Wind River Reservation of the Arapaho and Shoshone tribes, the burial site of Sacagawea  both the Shoshone and Arapaho cultural and historic centers;
• Lame Deer, MT, to visit the Northern Cheyenne reservation and the St. Labre Indian School;
• Garryowen, MT, the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn;
• Lapwai, ID, and the Nez Perce National Park from where the tribe fled in 1877;
• Lewiston, ID, home to the Nez Perce County Historical Museum that covers the
  tribe’s local history back to the Lewis and Clark Expedition; and,
• Oregon City, OR, famous for being the end of the Oregon Trail.

With each stop, Jenn realized that her students weren’t the only ones working with stereotypes.

“My impression of ‘The West’ had been all tumbleweeds and flat plains. I could not have been more wrong,” she said. “I hadn’t even thought about the landscape and its importance versus the content we would learn. The environment and my experience with the natural world actually added context to the history of the Great Plains region and helped me to make more sense of things.”

[minti_blockquote]Sara and Jenn exemplify how FFT Fellows seek opportunities to define a problem and identify solutions. According to the East Lyme Historical Society, the first recorded inhabitants of the area where East Lyme High School now sits were the Western Nehantics, an Algonkian-speaking tribe whose territory stretched from the mouth of the river now named for them, the Niantic River, westward to the Connecticut River. These teachers felt compelled to teach their students — .2% of whom have Native American heritage — about their community’s history and the larger story of Native Americans.[/minti_blockquote]

“On my fellowship we were able to gather rich resources that our students will be able to use to increase their knowledge base and improve their analysis skills,” said Jenn. “In particular, students now grapple with issues of perspective in history and how those historical perspectives and issues impact their modern world.”

The content their students learn is now infused with multiple perspectives. A research paper is written from the standpoint of both Custer and Crazy Horse regarding the Battle of Little Big Horn. And members of the local tribe Western Nehantics come to classes to share stories about the history and culture surrounding East Lyme, CT.

“On a large and broad scale, the importance of humanity within history is being emphasized due to this experience,” said Sara. “When teaching a survey course, it is easy to get lost in dates and patterns of events. But it is important to stress how history impacted, for good and bad, the lives of everyday people.