Today marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, an initiative that got its start at a school (college, to be exact). According to EarthDay.org, a Wisconsin senator was inspired by student activism surrounding the Vietnam War and he wanted to direct the same level of passion to protecting the environment. Senator Gaylord Nelson proposed a “teach-in” on college campuses and that idea mobilized so many people that he hired a staff, the teach-in morphed into a nation-wide event and 20 million people demonstrated against the impacts of 150 years of industrial development which had left a growing legacy of serious human health impacts.

Fifty years later, protecting the planet is a major focus of FFT Fellows’ self-designed experiential learning each summer. This year’s theme is climate action, and we’re extremely excited to see how these members of the 2020 class of grant recipients will bring new ideas and inspiration to their pk-12 students about this topic after their fellowships:

• Laurel Cardellichio will research traditional knowledge-based agricultural practices in Italy and create partnerships with local farms to create classroom and field lessons promoting traditional farming methods that mitigate climate change, improve food security, and conserve biodiversity.
• Kathryn Hendrix will explore and photograph unique geographic characteristics of Iceland and Greenland while simultaneously witnessing how these populations manage climate change and renewable resources to prepare students as critical thinkers who can problem solve the challenges their generation will face, both in terms of global warming and for minimizing natural disasters.
• James Janski will explore Alaska’s Denali, Kenai Fjords and Wrangell-St. Elias National Parks to learn firsthand about glaciers, climate change, and the tilt of the Earth, and enhance students’ understanding of these science concepts.
• Jaclyn Lawlor will conduct research on climate change in Montana to enhance math education through the creation of an interdisciplinary senior seminar course that conflates math, earth science and naturalist writings to examine current issues.
• Barbara Niziolek and Micheal Niziolek will study the impact man made climate change has on Hawaii and investigate how advocacy and new technology are working to counteract its effects to develop a unit that empowers students to create their own environmental focused advocacy projects.
• Christopher Purdy will explore Alaska’s Denali and Kenai National Parks, Chugach National Forest, and the glaciers of Prince Williams Sound to learn how global climate change impacts glacial melting and rising sea levels and how extreme environments influence natural selection as aligned with Next Generation Science Standards.
• Ryan Roberts will research Norway’s environmental policies and how statistics influence these policies to infuse the AP Statistics curriculum with climate change and give students an authentic example of data collection that connects to one of the biggest current events of our lives.
• Charles Solarz will study the effects of climate change in the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica and its impact on biodiversity and ecosystems of the Isla de Cano Biological Reserve and Golfo Dulce and Corcovado National Parks to create a NGSS curriculum that encourages students to be curious about the world around them and develop the skills necessary to be analytical, evidence-based thinkers.
• Katherine Soltys will join an educator expedition throughout Southern Africa, gathering gather data and evidence for student analysis of the effects of climate change, to teach students methods for monitoring and minimizing human impacts on the environment and inspire them to become environmental activists.
• Mary Elizabeth Sugden will join an organized expedition through Tanzania to collaborate with local experts and other educators in designing learning that increases students’ understanding of the impact of global climate change on biodiversity and supports Next Generation Science Standards and the AP Environmental Science course framework.
• Jacqueline Theoharidis will learn from scientists and UNESCO experts about environmental issues affecting the coastal cities of Venice, Italy, and Zakynthos, Greece, to bring real world experiences about the global nature of climate change into the classroom via case studies, modeling of concepts, and inquiry lessons. And,
• Peggy Weinhoeft-Renfro will explore in Canada and Iceland the impact of climate on the electric grid and innovative efforts to avoid a possible infrastructure and energy crisis to provide students with engaging, real-world curriculum that will provide experiences that instill confidence to engage with STEM topics and future STEM careers.

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You can read about previous FFT Fellows’ eco-experiences at the following links:

Climate Change from A (activism) to Z (Zanzibar) – A Brooklyn teacher explores the methodology and best practices of community-based efforts in the Maldives and Solomon Islands to mobilize youth in island nations and Brooklyn confronting climate change.

Bomb Clone = Climate Change? – Two Boston teachers investigate the impact of climate change on Iceland’s society, educational system and natural environment to develop instructional resources that empower students to address climate change and its impacts on Boston.

Changing a School’s Climate Regarding Climate Change – Two NYC teachers toured Alaskan boreal forest, coastal, tundra, and glacial ecosystems and collect first-hand evidence of climate change for a sixth grade unit called Human Impacts. And,

A Grand Education – A husband and wife teaching team investigated in five national parks the impact of climate change, with a specific focus on drought and indigenous peoples, to guides students’ creation of a local service project based on water conservation.

Earth Day 2019 FFT Round Up

On this day in 1861, the Confederate Army attacked Fort Sumter, beginning the War Between the States that would kill 620,000 soldiers from combat, accident, starvation, and disease. Two states over and 159 years later, Blake Busbin teaches high school students why and how this period of our country’s history continues to influence their lives. Alabama’s passage of the Memorial Preservation Act sparked renewed discussion about historical memorials, specifically those of the Civil War; it also inspired Blake to design a Fund for Teachers fellowship around key battlefields and sites with particular attention given to analyzing the monuments that reflect the historical memory of the Civil War.

Blake holds an undergraduate, Masters and Ph.D. in Social Science Education from Auburn University; both his education and his location make the Civil War a familiar topic. His students, however, represent an increasingly diverse cross-section of society, hailing from more than 20 countries. Blake’s goal is for students to reconsider the history they often see, but might not understand. Before school closed due to COVID19, students were in the initial phases of constructing a community panel of experts to discuss the role of Civil War monuments before conducting their own deliberation on the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act. With the extra time at home, they’re now engaged in a project inspired by Blake’s fellowship proposal.

“Students are plotting their own Civil War road trip exploring the key sites and also doing some analysis of things like monuments and artifacts they would see,” said Blake. “Students’ initial thoughts and work have been amazing and they have really traveled off the beaten path in some ways.”

[minti_pullquote align=”left”]Download Blake’s Civil War Road Trip Project here.[/minti_pullquote]

“By researching communities and scenes of controversy regarding monuments, I want students to envision these monuments’ current place both physically and politically in the civic dialogue about the role of monuments,” said Blake. “Ultimately, students will demonstrate what they have learned by composing a letter to be sent to their state representative and senator on the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act, either supporting, wishing to amend, or rejecting the law.”

Blake’s plans for his fellowship impact go far beyond the classroom. In collaboration with Auburn University and the Dave Mathews Center for Civic Life, Blake and the Auburn High School history department has begun a professional development initiative to foster opportunities for deliberation in the history classroom, as well as in the larger school environment and community. “This is part of an effort to build greater civic capacity in our school through fostering awareness of public issues and improving civil dialogue,” he explained.

Not surprising that Blake is a History Teacher of the Year for the state of Alabama and a “Final Four” candidate for Alabama Teacher of the Year. Enjoy this video he created for students, learn about the Auburn Veteran’s Project he established, and follow him on Twitter at @BusbinsClassAHS.

Today marks the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade History, an annual commemoration established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2007. The aim of the day is “to inculcate in future generations the causes, consequences and lessons of the transatlantic slave trade, and to communicate the dangers of racism and prejudice.” FFT Fellows consistently design fellowships to further this work and we are honored to share the work of one of them today. Aisha Haynes (Academy of Urban Planning & Engineering – Brooklyn) used her grant to research colonization in Ghana on the 400th anniversary of the first enslaved African arrived in Virginia to share learning with the school Equity Team and advance campus inclusivity goals. We’re grateful for Aisha’s work and her story…

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“Akwaaba” is a traditional greeting in Ghana that welcomes visitors. This greeting resonates with me often as a teacher in the neighborhood in which I teach in Brooklyn, New York. Many of my students are recently arrived immigrants, students who are living in temporary housing, or simply new to our school community. This warm welcome invites my students into our classroom space to move from becoming visitors in our community to making themselves at home. I designed this fellowship to celebrate their diversity, encourage their inclusion, and build leadership amongst my adolescent students.

For ten days, I experienced the history and culture of Ghana while staying with a host family to broaden personal understanding of the African country, particularly the role it played in the slave trade, and more effectively teach this period of history. Visiting the Cape Coast was the most transformative of experiences. To stand in the same spaces where enslaved people were once tortured, punished, and forever taken away from the life that they once knew was jarring. Despite this painful past, so many of the Ghanians that I met were willing to acknowledge the dark past while acknowledgouting the hope and promise for the future. I was inspired by this attitude and I hope to share these experiences and attitudes with my student.

The “Year of Return” [2019 commemorated 400 years since the first enslaved Africans touched down in Jamestown, Virginia in the United States] was a carefully curated event by the nation’s government and tourism department. Watching them weave music, dance, art, and history together to tell a comprehensive story of Ghana’s past and present. This has supported a more interdisciplinary approach to my teaching and I am encouraged that my students are learning more because they are engaged. I also hope that my students will feel emboldened to share their identity with newfound ways to tell their stories.

I did not expect to be so personally impacted by the visit. To walk into spaces and hear “Welcome home, my sister,” gave me a sense of joy and belonging that I have never felt in any place that I’ve visited. As a Black woman in America, I scarcely have the experience to be in spaces where everyone looks like me and I was unprepared for how significant that would be to me. Additionally, the visit to the slave castle left me committed to retelling the story of marginalized people in their voices.

Students now have access to the resources I collected during my time in Ghana to begin drafting their own origin stories. After developing these stories, they will be invited to address issues around their own identities and present their findings to the school community. This will culminate in a full day of activities entitled “Day of Dialogue” in which students act as facilitators.

This work is expanding school wide events to deconstruct stereotypes and build our school community. Staff, faculty, and the community take part in this daylong activity, which has become a tradition for our school. Our students lead the activities throughout the day in classrooms and after the day is complete, they often feel emboldened to share their skills at conferences and other schools on the campus.

After Ghana, I have renewed energy and more directed focus toward creating a meaningful experience for students. I teach mostly black and brown students and sharing these travel stories and memories with them is a personal experience that brings us closer. My teaching is transformed because my worldview feels larger as I feel more convicted to make their teaching relevant, interdisciplinary and authentic.

Too often, students feel like their learning is in silos- their personal lives are separated from the classroom. Having had such a rich cultural experience, I am dedicated to giving my students the same experience. Travel also reminded me that teaching should be interdisciplinary, relevant, and mixes the past with their contemporary lives. When teachers are personally enriched, they pass along the experiences and try to replicate those experiences in a meaningful way.

(top to bottom: Aisha in front of the Ghanian flag. The red in the flag represents the blood of those who died for independence from Great Britain, gold-the mineral wealth of the country, green-the country’s rich forests and nature, and black star-African emancipation. | The Door of No Return at Elmina Castle, through which tens of thousands of Africans destined for slavery passed to board slave ships. | Visiting Kwame Nkrumah Square, which recognizes the country’s first Prime Minister and President of Ghana. | Black Star Square, site of the annual Independence Parade. Read excerpts from today’s speech by the UN Secretary-General about this year’s theme “Confronting Slavery’s Legacy of Racism Together” here.)

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Aisha is a high school teacher in Brooklyn, New York where she has taught English for the last eleven years. She is also a doctoral candidate in New York University Educational Leadership and Policy program. Her research interests include the changing educational landscape, education equity and school leadership.

…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.

At least 3,000 years before the modern world elected a woman to be a head of state, one woman led a country’s government, judicial system, religious life, and military.  Her name was Deborah, and somewhere around 1100 B.C. she was in charge of a collection of tribes known as the nation of Israel. A prophet, a judge, and a songwriter, she managed to be her community’s exemplar in pretty much every sphere of life.  Receiving a prophecy and passing it on to a commander named Barak, she initiated the overthrow of national oppression that had lasted twenty years. Hours after overseeing the stunning military victory, she wrote a song commemorating the occasion which has been passed down for three millenia. All in a day’s work.  Under Deborah, Israel experienced peace for forty years. Not a bad resume.  

Atop Mount Tabor in Israel, the site where Deborah directed the nation of Israel to decisive victory.

Deborah is just one of the fascinating, and too-often overlooked women I was able to study this summer. In both ancient Greek and Judaic cultures, Wisdom is personified as a woman. Historically, women’s voices have often been ignored, with disastrous results for individuals and society. In the grand chorus of humanity, a vast section has been muted or diminished, weakening the full song. Last summer, I listened to the cry of wisdom, too often ignored, and paid attention to the parts of the choir too often neglected.

I teach students aged 12-18, two-thirds of whom are young women. I was astounded– and perturbed– when I sat down several years ago with a group of students and asked them about their heroes and role models. Only one referenced someone who had lived before the 1900’s. There is a desperate need for students to find historical role models in order to dream bigger than their surroundings and, as leaders, to walk our city and nation into a future shaped by the insights of past centuries. I see the need as especially urgent for young women. Oklahoma ranks as the 4th-worst state to be a woman, and we lead the country in female incarceration. Clearly, we are not championing our women to embrace greater destinies and live the fullest lives imaginable. All our students– but especially the women– need to see by example that they have the capacity to do far more than they have yet believed. They need historical proof to imagine outside of their current perspectives.

With my Fund for Teachers grant, I studied the lives, works and legacies of seven women who changed the world with their words in preparation to teach a course called “Women of Wisdom: 1100 BC to the Present.” Having taught a course on the wisdom literature through the centuries (Plato and Aristotle to Buddha, Moses, and Muhammad; from Lao Tzu to Mary Wollstonecraft and Benjamin Franklin), I used this fellowship to zoom in to just two braided traditions– Judaism and Christianity– to see what has changed and continued throughout the last 3,000 years.

At the Mother House of the Missionaries of Charity, where Mother Teresa spent the last 44 years of her life.

Though they come from different eras, countries, and careers, each lived and wrote or spoke with courage and conviction in a way that has shaped the ensuing centuries. While they used words in a variety of media– songs, poems, sermons, speeches, diary entries, and books– all changed the world, and we have much to learn from:

• Sojourner Truth (Battle Creek, Michigan)
• Susanna Wesley (Lake Junaluska, North Carolina and Epworth, England)
• Dr. Heidi Baker (Pemba, Mozambique)
• Lady Wisdom, Deborah, and Mary (Jerusalem, Mount Tabor, and Ein Karem, Israel)
• Mother Teresa (India)

My main questions were:

1. What did these women say and write about the art of living well? What aspects of their messages can and should we incorporate in our own lives?
2. How did these women convey their messages? How did the way that they wrote or spoke impact the transmission of their messages?
3. Who were these women as individuals? How did their lives become a message we still read today?

Back at Odyssey Leadership Academy in Oklahoma City, I am teaching with more perspective, more poise, and more passion. It is a huge privilege to create a space where my students are able to interface with some of the wisest women in history and to learn from what they said, how they said it, and who they were.  One thing I’ve discovered is how critical it is to get students learning directly from these voices. Learning about them is one thing– learning from them is something entirely else. Many of these women were deeply influenced by women of previous generations. For example, Mother Teresa was deeply inspired by Mary and by St. Therese of Lisieux.  Mother Teresa, in turn, had a deep influence on Dr. Heidi Baker. I hope that Dr. Baker will deeply influence my students, and they, in turn, will pass on their heritage to future generations.

This fall, I taught a course on Mother Teresa, and in March I will begin teaching a course on all the women I studied. After learning about Mother Teresa, I had students try to answer Q & A questions from her perspective.  Then I gave them the actual TIME magazine interview transcript of the same questions.  It was wonderful both to see how much our class was able to see through her eyes, and also how we were still surprised by some answers.  We clearly have more to learn from her.  

Mother Teresa stated, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” On the macro-level, this summer I engaged with women of wisdom of the last 3,000 years and was formed and inspired by their lives and their legacies, learning numerous lessons from these women who changed history. On the micro-level, I am encouraged by Mother Teresa that even the smallest act–correcting a paper or wiping down a whiteboard– can be, with the right attitude, a sacred act.

[minti_divider style=”3″ icon=”” margin=”20px 0px 20px 0px”]Sean Beckett  teaches at Odyssey Leadership Academy, an innovative school in Bricktown in Oklahoma City, where he teaches a variety of courses including the psychology of learning, English, and math. He also leverages his experiences competing nationally as part of Yale University’s travelling slam poetry team to coach his bold spoken word poetry students.  He is working on a book about his Fellowship experience tentatively entitled Schooled: Life Lessons From the World’s Wisest Women. He would love to connect and share more about his Fund for Teachers experience. You can reach him at  seanbeckett.ola@gmail.com. 

Last summer, FFT Fellow Brian Forte crossed seven states and the District of Columbia to experience significant cultural and civic landmarks and analyze how “stories of the south” are essential to the larger American narrative. He’s now re-framing approaches to civics and history curricula at Rockville High School in Vernon, CT. We’re grateful for his work and for sharing the impact of his fellowship, both personally and professionally.

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The Rosa Parks Memorial in Montgomery, AL.

As we begin our celebration of Black History Month, I realize how much I struggle that we’ve relegated a tragic history, an incredible, pivotal movement, and the accomplishments of a vital group of Americans to one month of twelve. I’m reminded of my journey south this year, as I embarked on my FFT fellowship in an attempt to learn the ways in which the past – both slavery and civil rights – informs and continues on in the present, albeit in different ways. Our efforts to sanitize the past, to say “that’s over, it’s all ancient history,” miss the fact that we must bear witness to those who lived and worked to change so much for so many. And, we must also acknowledge the ways that despite declarations otherwise, some of the places we use as icons and memorials for a civil rights movement that some believe is no longer needed are also hotbeds for white supremacy and terrorist attacks that target people of color.

I journeyed through the south experiencing and witnessing atrocities of our country’s history. There was the beautiful plantation house outside Charleston and its extensive gardens that were home to alligator and peacock alike. On lesser display were the slave quarters, tucked behind a grove of trees and not on the “beaten path” of most visitors’ tours of the grounds. As I considered the visitors around me, I remembered reading an article in the New York Times that discusses the ways some plantations are putting the slave experience at the forefront: after all, how do we tour these palatial estates without awareness of those responsible for building and maintaining them, for generating (and unfortunately representing) their immense wealth? So, while I could marvel at the beauty of the natural grounds, the most powerful part of the visit was visiting the slave quarters, taking in the stark difference between the columns and majesty of the main house with the dilapidated and basic structures that housed the slaves.

The most haunting visual, for me, is the collection of tombstone-like structures that form the installation at Bryan Stevenson’s National Memorial for for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, AL. Colloquially called “The Lynching Museum,” it is a testament for those lost throughout American history to lynch mobs. Walking through the installation that comprises the main part of the memorial, it’s hard to avoid the sheer number of “tombstones” hanging from the ceiling. You are in the middle of them, they surround you. It’s impossible not to come face-to-face with names of lynched individuals from 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, from all over the south.

As I returned to school this year, I tried to consider ways to impart my learning to my students, particularly my civics classes. In front of me sit students from all backgrounds, those who may be aware of race in a passing way alongside those who experience race in this country in a very direct way, every day.  The way I chose to implement what I had learned this summer was to have students create their own “Story of the South” using the landmarks and sites that I visited this summer. Students are required to research and analyze the historical and cultural implications as they relate to the history of our country, interpret the photos associated with each site, and then create their own “Story.” Students have options to create Gallery Walks, Podcasts, Visual Timelines, or I let them choose a project that they feel comfortable with creating. By creating these stories it is my hope that students will build a better understanding of the major events that impact their lives. The culmination of the assignment is when I share my grant proposal with them to see if our interpretation of the events and stories align.

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Brian Forte has taught at Rockville High School in Vernon, CT, for 15 years. Part of his teaching philosophy is making students aware of the world and that traveling is the antidote to ignorance. He has taken students to Italy and was nominated by peers for a district-wide “Profiles in Professionalism” award for School Spirit. Brian’s hobbies include playing sports, playing music, traveling, playing with my little girl, and constantly learning.

They gathered data in national parks, followed the Brothers Grimm through Germany, researched the secret to happiness in Southeast Asia, built an aquaponics system in Africa, and conducted interviews in Northern Ireland. Now they apply those experiences in the classroom and they want to share strategies  — and learn your own — for connecting students to global peers.

On Wednesday, February 19th, Fund for Teachers is hosting its inaugural webinar series designed to facilitate learning beyond the initial fellowship experience. All teachers are invited and encouraged to participate. Registration for the event is available here.

A little more about our panel…

Connecticut Fellow Dory Moore connects her students with peers in Michigan and Bermuda using Flipgrid.com. Students in each location design underwater robots to collect water and sand samples, then use the Flipgrid platform to sare ideas and prototypes. This spring, these citizen scientists will meet up in Bermuda (using grant money Dory secured) to test their designs and collect data on the invasive lion fish.

Kate Craven is a library media specialist who helps students practice research skills using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Her fellowship in Germany led to a collaboration through the German American Partnership Program and now map how each country is meeting indicators of the United Nations Global Goals.

 Carly Imhoff uses Empatico to be matched with international classrooms and connect through live video. They are currently sharing projects about climate change and renewable energy. (Her students also taught students in Nigeria about “Baby Shark” and they shared a hand clapping game.) Carly’s students also use Flipgrids to share with peers in Uruguay Lego creations for UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Oklahoma Teacher of the Year and two-time FFT Fellow Donna Gradel developed long-term relationships with a school and orphanage in Kenya that has resulted in two student expeditions there to implement an aquaponics and sustainable food initiative they developed in AP Environmental Science.  Watch her tell her story here.

And Saul Fussiner is a high school writing teacher who has experimented with classroom partnerships between his students, students in other parts of the United States and Ireland.  He has leveraged a virtual pen pal structure using e-mail and Google hangouts, which he talks about in this brief video.

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What questions do you have for these exemplary educators?

Submit them to carrie@fundforteachers.org and join the discussion on February 19th at 4 pm CST.

Register here for the webinar.

Abraham Lincoln High School, located on the west side of San Francisco, is far from the traditional ethnic neighborhoods of Chinatown and the Mission District; centers of the city’s Asian and Latinx communities. Eighty percent of Lincoln’s students identify with these ethnic groups so AP Human Geography teacher Leon Sultan decided to utilize his own city to design a research project in these well-known locations in order to help his students dig deeper into their own communities and see them in a new light.

“Concepts of identity, culture, language, ethnicity, nation and the concept of the ‘nation-state’ are all central to our course – as well as to the lives of my students,” said Sultan. “I sent students on field trips into their own communities to research these concepts through new lenses.”

And by lenses, Leon means figurative and literal. Mirroring  research he conducted on the Catalan independence movement in Barcelona last summer, Leon’s students took photographs, shot videos and recorded audio to document Sense of Place.  They then worked in mixed ability groups to produce Vlogs (video blogs) using a clear narrative structure, voice-over narration, text graphics, and montages of still photo/videos and interview footage. The result were research projects that effectively demonstrate course concepts, utilize academic vocabulary and connect learning to their lives.

Project 1: “What is the impact of gentrification in the Mission” and “Is Chinatown Authentic?”

Project 2: “Chinatown district through the lens of Human Geography”

“Students benefit from seeing their teachers as role models and life-long learners,” said Sultan. “This summer, they watched me conduct field research through Vlogs I produced on my fellowship. When I arrived back to school this fall, students I had never met before were already well acquainted with me, and with key course concepts. Then, they engaged in the same type of learning that I did. Ultimately I want this project to serve as a template for other teachers to follow as our school moves towards more technology integration and interactive project-based learning.”

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In celebration of Lunar New Year, we are also proud to highlight the learning of a few additional
2019 FFT Fellows:

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. In November 2005, the United Nations General Assembly designated this day as International Holocaust Remembrance Day to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism. We choose to do so by sharing the story of Kimberly McCabe, social studies teacher at Gulf Coast Middle School, Spring Hill, FL. With her Fund for Teachers grant, Kimberly joined a professional learning tour in Finland to explore that country’s model of Phenomenon-Based education practices, then researched historical sites and landmarks in Germany, Poland, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic to create a Phenomenon-Based unit on the Jewish Holocaust.

On January 27, 1945, the Soviets liberated the largest of the Nazi death camps which was located in German-occupied Poland. By this point Auschwitz and Auschwitz-Birkenau had an estimated death toll of over 1.1 million people and although it had originally been a detention center for political prisoners, it had turned into a death camp for Jews, Roma, and others who were deemed enemies of the Nazi state.

As we memorialize the beginning of the end of Auschwitz, I am brought back to this summer when, through Fund for Teachers, my colleague and I stood inside the gates of Auschwitz and took part in a six-hour educational tour of the camps. Our purpose? To more deeply understand life inside a concentration camp, to have the opportunity to speak directly to the very highly trained guides at Auschwitz and ask them the questions we still had, and to bring back resources to our classroom. Although we left Auschwitz with our arms full of books, professional photos, and other resources, the biggest resource we brought back to our classroom was our memories of that day and the feeling of walking through history.

One of the memorials that I found most impactful was the book of names at Auschwitz. Here is listed every single victim of the Holocaust. They also included blank pages for the 2 million people who were not identified.

As a Social Studies teacher, standing in a place where history has taken place always has a particular reverence to it. Touching a piece of the past always feels transportive and surreal. Auschwitz was no exception; in fact it may have been even truer there. I took a few moments during the tour to sit in one of the memorials and reflect on the sheer number of lives lost there and what could be taken from that ash and turned into beauty in the future generations, and what role I would play in that as a teacher. The six-hour educational tour is the longest tour that Auschwitz provides. It covers both Auschwitz and Auschwitz-Birkenau, and while I recommend the experience if you are visiting, I cannot stress enough how taxing it is both physically and emotionally. We left the location completely drained. Our evening was spent silently reflecting on our day. My thoughts kept returning to the fact that I had spent less than a workday in Auschwitz under voluntary circumstances, on a beautiful day in mid-summer. How could I possibly ever understand what life in Auschwitz was like for those who lived it? How could anyone survive that? Moreover, how could any human inflict that on another? The thoughts seemed too heavy for that day, and even today, months after my visit I feel the same when I reflect back. Now, even more than ever, it is my goal to honor the victims and celebrate the survivors of the Holocaust while also empowering the future generation to create a world in which discrimination no longer exists and differences are embraced.

Each year I am humbled by the task of teaching the Holocaust to my 7th grade students. For weeks prior to the unit I begin to feel the weight that comes with that responsibility. My ultimate goal is always to honor the victims and survivors as well as their families, while at the same time opening up my classroom to discussions of how this applies to them today. If I could choose one thing that every student would take away from this unit, it would be that we should always stand up for those being persecuted among us. This will not always mean large groups of people who are being persecuted by their government; it may be as simple as standing up for the kid being bullied on the playground-or more likely via social media. It may mean reaching out to those who are different from you in order to better understand their perspective. It may mean choosing to vote with other groups in mind.

One of the memorials at Auschwitz-Birkenau. The location was once used as a dumping site for crematorium ashes. However, now it is a quiet place to sit and reflect and memorialize those lost here.

Whatever form it takes, being an upstander is worth the temporary discomfort that may accompany it because if we don’t stick together as members of the human race, we will eventually look around us to find that there is no one there to support us in our time of need. 

For this I rely on a particular quote by Martin Neimöller that always makes an impact on me regardless of the number of times I have read it.

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me.

To me this quote embodies everything that went wrong during the Holocaust while at the same time allowing me to give honor to those who chose to stand up and do what they could to help others during the Holocaust.

Each week students are shown the biography of a different upstander. They are highlighted as the true heroes of the Holocaust, regular people who did extraordinary things to help strangers. To encourage this sense of empathy in my students, I hand-select a person for them to follow through the Holocaust. I talk to them about how each one of the people they will follow was someone’s child, sibling, parent, or friend. That just like all of us, they were a real individual with hopes and dreams, with fears and insecurities, with a whole future in front of them. I let them know that I am counting on them to take care of this person during our journey. To care about them, to become invested in their life story. Some even take time to research the person on their own time to learn more about them. Throughout the unit they find out more about the person they are following. They learn about their lives and families prior to the 1933. They hear about their family’s businesses and work, their home life, their country. As we move through the timeline of events they witness the changes in their individual’s life. Finally at the conclusion of the unit they find out whether or not their individual was a victim of a survivor of the Holocaust. It is a very somber class period because by this point the students have realized that no matter what the outcome, their individual has faced years of anguish that we can’t even imagine today. It is eye-opening to students that life can change so quickly because of one idea.

This year as a capstone to the unit, our students took part in a project which memorialized the victims and survivors of the Holocaust by creating a memorial quilt. Our local Holocaust museum is to credit for the idea behind the project as it is one they have done with visiting classrooms and have displayed in their learning center. Our students had the opportunity to visit the museum, hear from a survivor, view the quilt designed by past students, as well as take a guided tour of the museum. This visit created many questions for them which we explored during our unit. At the end of the unit they each created a felt quilt square. Each individual also wrote an accompanying essay explaining the symbolism present in their quilt square. The pieces were then combined to make one large class quilt as a memorial to the lives lost in the Holocaust and display in the school as a way to remember the lessons that can be learned from this tragedy.

Although there is nothing we can do to change the horrifying things that occurred during the Holocaust, the quilt project allowed our students to feel as though they were able to give something back to those who suffered by remembering and honoring them.  Rather than focus solely on the horrible things that were done, it allows us to focus on the beauty of the individuals and the hope that future generations will never allow this to happen again.

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Kimberly (pictured on the right with a member of their group at the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam) is a middle school Social Studies teacher in the Tampa Bay Area. She is a mom of 3 and enjoys learning as much as she enjoys teaching. She is always looking for new ways to learn through experiences, and traveling to historic sites is her preferred way to learn. She has been awarded with 3 NEH teacher grants, is a graduate of the Florida Justice Teaching Institute, and a member of the 2019 iCivics Teacher Network.

Martin Luther King, Jr, believed “everyone can be great because everyone can serve.” The students, teachers and staff of Morley Elementary in West Hartford, CT, bring this quote to life through their dedication to the children of Deschapelles, Haiti.

On successive Fund for Teachers fellowships, two teams of teachers each departed Morley with supplies and a mission to establish, then deepen, a sister-school relationship in the mountains of Central Haiti.  Jennifer La Forte, leader of the 2017 cohort, explained why.

“Our school is located in a suburban district and our school community has been historically
lacking in diversity,” said Jennifer. “As our student population has become more diverse and more reflective of the world, we felt a growing urgency to help our students develop understanding about and empathy for various cultures from around the world. Out of respect for the families in our school who are continuing to arrive with more and more diverse backgrounds, we decided to focus special attention to the country and people of Haiti in an effort to broaden our school community’s cultural perspective.”

Recipients of Morley Elementary’s scholarships.

Their initial fellowship led to a second team of Fellows’ return one year later. Inspired, two fourth graders launched a school-wide fundraising effort that now funds scholarships enabling four Haitian students to attend school. (Read more about their service learning project here.)

Everyone at Morley is now actively supporting their sister school, especially in this month of January, now annually referred to as “Haiti Month.”

“The two cohorts Fund for Teachers sent to Haiti are really busy this month,” said Principal Ryan Cleary.  “They presented to everyone at school during our kick off assembly earlier this week, and are busy visiting classrooms all over the school to share their fellowship pictures, videos, stories, and overall experiences with students in a smaller setting.  They are teaching students about the culture through art they collected and they talk about the needs in Haiti as it relates to the differences between their community and ours.”

“Our FFT Fellows make such an impact talking about their experiences, it brings these cultural competency lessons to a whole new level,” Cleary continued. “We remain committed to maintaining the scholarships for the students at our sister school and our students here at Morley truly understand why, but they also see beyond the need to also see the beauty of the country.  All in all, its been an amazing experience, and as it continues to be — I am one happy principal!”

Today marks Dr. King’s birthday and the 25th anniversary of The MLK Day of Service, the only federal holiday observed as a national day of service. The most successful projects, according to MLK.gov, are those that connect to the life and teaching of Dr. King and meet a pressing community need. For the Morley Elementary family, that community is a global one.

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“There is no free public education in Haiti,” said Jennifer Dorl, team leader of the 2019 Fellow team. “A few of our summer campers, like Francique, second from left in the top photo, had not spent much time in school and were thrilled to participate in camp. Francique walked us home from camp each afternoon.”

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.

Recently a group of sixty Fund for Teachers Fellows gathered in New Haven, CT, to consider how one’s environment impacts learning. Led by Laura Pirie, lecturer at Yale School of Architecture and principal of Pirie Associates Architects, teachers thought expansively and creatively about ideal learning modes and new learning places that could emerge to suit these ideals.

The keynote “Transformative Engagement: Transformative Environments” considered how we make places — not with technical skills, but with intentionality. Pirie then led group brainstorming around shifting classroom spaces in order to achieve teaching goals.

“We are all unique people with personal experiences, interests, and passions, and the idea here was for us to use that uniqueness to create transformative experiences for our learners,” said Marina Outwater, 2016 Fellow. “So, for example, I love to quilt, and I found a way to bring this into the classroom as we designed a story quilt to tell the story of a National Geographic Explorer’s work in Peru.”

Graduate students from the Yale School of Architecture inspired additional thoughts with a guided tour of Randolph Hall.

“We cannot be complacent, we cannot be stuck in our routines, we cannot just go through the motions of the day in the rooms we are given with the materials we are given without having some control and ability to change things, said Outwater. “We need a purpose, and this event allowed me to see that transformation is that purpose. While the day was ostensibly about transforming spaces and architecture, it was really about so much more than that.”

How can you reconsider your classroom? Use these keys of architectural designs Pirie provided our Fellows to create your ideal learning spaces…

This convening is the result of Fellows’ request for more “face time” with each other that inspires communication, conversation and reflection.

“Our Fellows are moving away from teaching strategies of previous generations and are looking toward the future by teaching from the lens of people sitting in front of them,” said program officer Dale Bernadoni. “This convening supported that and also Fund for Teachers’ larger mission of The Ramsden Project — to extend thought-provoking professional development beyond the fellowship experience.”

“It’s nice to have a network and not just feel like there’s a fellowship in your past that has ended, but that it’s a living thin that continues a conversation.” – Saul Fussiner, 2017 FFT Fellow

On Pearl Harbor Day, we remember the 2,403 people killed in the surprise attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service. The “date which will live in infamy” launched America’s entry into World War II; the bombings also resulted in the internment of 7,000 Japanese American citizens in relocation centers by order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Teaching the complexities of this time is complex in and of itself for Tim Barry. His students at Nathan Hale Middle School in Coventry, CT, fall within a wide range of ability levels.

“This drastic range creates difficulty when choosing and providing engaging and appropriate text for students of all abilities,” explained Tim. “Fortunately, with the broad scope of our World War II unit, we are able to provide high interest and appropriately leveled options so that all students may contribute and draw connections to classroom discussion and produce work that they can be proud of.”

But that unit lacked dialogue about the domestic impact of the war. Tim designed a Fund for Teachers fellowship fill that gap and, last summer, examined life in and around Japanese Relocation Camps in Utah and Colorado to help students:

• Connect to the past and apply that knowledge to the current climate in the United States?
• Draw parallels between the treatment of Japanese Americans in the United States and Jewish (and other minority) people in Europe during WWII?
• Understand the Pyramid of Hate and how the act of dehumanization impacts individuals and large groups through self reflection and journaling, and
• Support other disciplines across the curriculum such as math (budgeting), social studies (constitutional questions), and science (geographic significance of camps and land features that made them ideal).

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Last summer, I was fortunate to travel to Colorado and Utah to study Japanese Internment Camps as part of my Fund For Teachers fellowship.  My intention was to supplement our current World War II unit with experiences from the home front to allow students to draw parallels in today’s climate of cultural bias.  I want my students to draw inspiration my own curiosity and go out and explore the world.  I want them to challenge what they know or think they know and I want them to be acutely aware of how history has a tendency to repeat itself.

Granada Relocation Center memorial

Trip Details: I spent nine days traveling from the Topaz Camp in Delta, Utah to the Moab Isolation Center in Moab, Utah and finally to Granada Relocation Center (Amache) in Granada, Colorado.  In Delta, I was struck by the beautifully curated Topaz Museum which highlighted the blending of traditional Japanese culture with the easily recognizable American identity of the time.  High school yearbooks, recounts of baseball games, and a letterman’s jackets sat side-by-side with instruments of the Japanese tea ceremony and watercolor paintings.  Despite the dramatic civil rights violations perpetrated by the United States government, these proud people still created a sense of normalcy and everyday life.  The message of their resilience is one that I hope will resonate with my students.

Pictured with Mr. Kitajima and Dr. Clark

The highlight of my trip was being able to connect with Denver University at their biennial open house at the Amache site in Colorado.  There, I was introduced to Dr. Bonnie Clark who is the Project Director of the DU Amache Research Project.  I was able to meet several former internees of the camp, including 87 year old, Mr. Ken Kitajima who was a resident of the camp from ages 12-15.  My hope is that I can provide my students with a first hand account of what it was like to be of middle school age in a Relocation Camp.  I plan to connect with Mr. Kitajima virtually to conduct interviews and provide insight into his experience.  Perspective is one of the most important things I can offer to my students.

Middle school is a trying time and although the experiences of my students will be different than those of the past, the challenges will not be unique.  My hope is that my journey will foster a sense of intellectual curiosity as my students create their own world view and tackle the test of growing up in an increasingly demanding world.

The digital world in which we live allows people to instantly access information and make snap decisions based on their own experiences and biases, yet we don’t often slow down to assess all sides of a story. Ultimately, I want my students to be willing to challenge what is accepted by society and greet people from all walks of life with an open mind.

Hundreds of families in Zionville, IN, will have a much better Thanksgiving, thanks to FFT Fellow Danielle Wilson and her students at Zionsville Community High School. After she spent two weeks last summer volunteering at a food outreach program in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Danielle inspired her students to undertake a similar service learning project. We’re honored to share their impact and wish for you and your families (of origin or choice) an equally meaningful day.

In my Midwest, suburban high school, students often discuss how they live in a “bubble,” sheltered from major issues and problems of the world and rarely exposed to diverse cultures and perspectives. They have no concept that there are people literally on the other side of the world struggling with the same issues as people in their own community. Hunger is a real issue in our county. The child food insecurity rate is nearly 13% and 41,000 families access local food pantries, according to the Good Samaritan Network of Hamilton County.

I designed my Fund for Teachers fellowship to spend two weeks volunteering in Ho Chi Minh with a food outreach program to better engage students in the fight against hunger in our own community and empower them to become socially-conscience, civic-minded, empathetic young adults.

This was my first experience working in a “soup kitchen” and I spent long days working alongside other volunteers to prepare, cook, and serve sixty poor and disadvantaged families spending time with loved ones in a local hospital. The work and the people made such an impact on me; I wanted to find a way to allow my students to participate in something similar.  

Back in Zionsville, my school district is addressing students’ voiced disconnect with a campaign called “Strong in Every Way.” One of the three tenets is aimed at fostering diversity and I am one of three high school teachers on the district committee charged with identifying ways to expand our students’ worldviews. I volunteered to help lead the Social Studies department’s annual Thanksgiving food drive to benefit two local food pantries. We combined ours with another teacher’s drive and are now in our last week of collecting non-perishables and frozen turkeys for three pantries in our community.

But the best part is that students are much more involved this year than they have been in the past. Rather than simply bringing in their cans of green beans and moving on with their days, they are volunteering to help count, organize, transport, and eventually deliver and serve the food. They are seeing beyond their own lives and for many, understanding for the first time that there are people in our very own town who face hunger and food insecurity. Perhaps most importantly, they are feeling empowered to make change and confident that even as teenagers, they can be the agents of that change. And this week of Thanksgiving, they are delivering thousands of items and approximately 100 turkeys to families from two local elementary schools, as well as The Giving Tree Food Pantry in near-by Lebanon. 

My fellowship helped me model life-long learning and show students that everyday we all have to keep asking questions, growing as learners (and as humans), and that experiencing new things makes us more empathetic and better global citizens. I am also modeling service. Students should be giving back to their communities and taking on issues that impact not just themselves, but our nation and our world.

Personally, my fellowship made me feel like a professional, to feel valued. I felt like I was learning what I needed to learn to become a better teacher. This was a journey I would never have taken on my own but now that I’ve done it, I feel more confident, more energetic, more excited to be with students every day. I hope to inspire them to travel, to meet new people, and to take risks by stepping outside their comfort zone.

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In addition to her time spent volunteering, Danielle also experienced historic sites throughout the country to understand the lasting impact of the Vietnam War on local communities and encourage students to become globally-conscience, action-minded citizens. Danielle holds an undergraduate and graduate degree in US History, but felt she had a gap in teaching global perspectives. 

Being able to talk with Vietnamese veterans, as well as the younger generation of Vietnamese, both from the North & South, gave me new insight into the war & its legacy. I have been teaching only one perspective of the story and I also discovered that I was teaching the geography of Vietnam inaccurately; now I can share from first hand experience what the mountains, foliage, rice paddies, and coastal areas look/feel like. Overall, I was humbled.

My students will now conduct oral histories with community and family members about the 1960’s and 1970’s. Not just about the Vietnam War, but also Civil Rights, the Women’s Movement, the Chicano and LGBTQ movements, and the Counterculture. We will then upload these to the National Archives through the Story Corps program.

Mainly, I am now placing more emphasis on perspective, not just with the Vietnam War, but in all the history we study.

• How do other countries view the US? Why?
• How can this help us understand our history?
• What about marginalized people, such as Native peoples? Women? Enslaved Africans? What do their voices have to say?

I have a much deeper understanding of the war now that I have seen where it took place and talked to people who fought on their home ground. A book can only tell you so much, so I will also encourage oral histories and talking with older family members.

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Danielle was the 2017 Zionsville Community High School Teacher of the Year, a 2013 Lilly Endowment Grant winner, and has participated in multiple Gilder-Lehrman, TAH, and NEH summer programs. In addition to teaching social studies, this 10-year teaching veteran coaches the school’s Ethics Bowl and sponsors the Military Club and the Spartan Fit Club.

Program officers are Fund for Teachers’ primary point of contact for grant recipients. These individuals field applicants’ questions; support new Fellows throughout the summer; and continue to encourage them once back in the classroom. Other than living vicariously through the Fellows with whom they work, program officers’ favorite part of the job is meeting those teachers in person — which Alycia Johnston did this month at Reflection events in Oklahoma, Tennessee and Chicago.

Reflections are just that, evenings in which Fellows convene to reflect on all they accomplished over the summer. We asked Alycia to share a little about these inspiring nights when she witnesses the impact of Fund for Teachers grants…

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]Q[/minti_dropcap] You see Fellows twice a year: at Orientations in the spring and Reflections in the fall, after they’ve had a few months to process their fellowships. What’s the “before and after” you observe?

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]A[/minti_dropcap] At Orientations, I hand teachers checks for up to $10,000 and say, “We believe in you and your ideas.” Because they rarely hear this sentiment, the teachers look shocked — even though they worked diligently on their proposals for months and received their award notifications via email weeks earlier. During these “pre-fellowship” events, the teachers are reserved, cautious and sit far apart from each other. During the Reflections, however, the same teachers are chatty, warm, laughing and sharing their learning. Getting their attention can be a challenge because they are eager to network and leverage each other’s fellowships to benefit more students.

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]Q[/minti_dropcap]What are the most common things Fellows say during Reflection events?

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]A[/minti_dropcap] Hands down, that they’ve never been trusted with so much autonomy as educators. Teachers live in a one-size-fits-all/cookie cutter/prescribed environment when it comes to professional development, so the freedom represented by a Fund for Teachers grant is unprecedented for most. Fellows talk about walking back into their classrooms after their fellowships with a confidence they didn’t previously have. They feel like experts on topics they pursued during the summer and that impacts how they teach the rest of the year. I also hear:

• “I’ve never seen an organization that meets me where I am.”
• “At every turn, Fund for Teachers says, ‘Yes! Do that!'”
• “Throughout the process of designing a blueprint for learning, executing my plans and bringing it back to students, I felt honored, trusted and respected as a professional.”

Read more about the Tennessee Reflection here.

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]Q[/minti_dropcap]You’ve been a program officer for eight years. What advice do you have for teachers preparing their application for a 2020 grant?

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]A[/minti_dropcap] In my opinion, the most important part of crafting a solid proposal is identifying one’s passion. It’s so clear when someone wants to travel to Italy and writes a proposal for that purpose versus when someone finds a need in their practice or gap in their knowledge and then creates a road map for how they are going to address those learning goals. Also, no matter what teachers want to learn or where they want to learn it, their proposals should be personal and capture their passion for the topic. If a teacher can make a case for why it’s vital for them to make this fellowship happen and their passion shines through, that’s a great start.

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Click here to meet three of our program officers and hear their tips for crafting a strong grant proposal.

(Pictured L-R: Salma Zaky, Alycia Johnston and Stephanie Ascherl while filming a Facebook Live tutorial. Watch for upcoming Wednesday Webinars led by these experts on November 13, December 11 and January 8. Register here.)

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.

On this day in 1945, an atomic bomb flattened Hiroshima – one of two bombings that induced the Japanese to surrender and end World War II. FFT Fellow Kelly Loubier (Orville H. Platt High School-Meriden, CT) participated in the anniversary ceremonies at the Hiroshima Memorial Peace Park, where she also delivered to the Children’s Memorial paper cranes folded by her students in keeping with the novel Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.

Kelly designed this fellowship to document the nuclear legacy in Nagasaki, Hiroshima, Osaka and Fukushima and demonstrate how these events continue to impact citizens and the greater world community in relation to policy decisions regarding war, nuclear weapons, nuclear energy, peace and disaster relief.

She continues to share experiences on her Instagram and we’re honored to include a portion of her learning below in recognition of this momentous day in history…

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[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]I[/minti_dropcap] headed to the memorial service this morning around 7:30 and I joined crowds of people who I thought were just going to work. I was so wrong about that. They were all headed to the cenotaph and the ceremony at 8 am. I read online afterwards that 70% of all citizens of Hiroshima have attended a memorial service for the atomic bomb victims. It’s not a recognized day off, so kids still have school, men and women still go to work. The ceremony took place from about 8-8:45 and it included adding names to the cenotaph, a moment of silence at 8:15, an address from the mayor renewing calls for peace and decrying nationalism and addresses from students. They also sang a song of peace and released doves. After, people lined up to deliver flowers and offer a prayer. It’s 2pm and there is still a line. There have been groups promoting peace and youth groups, high schools and universities teaching people about the atomic bombs and interviewing others about peace in the park. More cranes are being brought to various monuments and people are purchasing lanterns for later. The sense of community is unreal, even 74 years later.

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]O[/minti_dropcap]ne of my major take aways from Hiroshima is that the knowledge about the atomic bomb is so ingrained in the fabric of the city that it isn’t something that just happened in the past and that’s it. It’s something that the people of Hiroshima must learn about and teach others about so that we as a global community don’t let it happen again. There were so many people in the park today, but what really amazed me was the amount of students involved. The Boy Scouts handed out programs and cold towels before the ceremony. Sixth graders gave the children’s address during the ceremony and other students sang or played music. A group of fourteen year old girls gave me a peace declaration their high school drafted. University students interviewed me about peace. Other kids were involved in music, tours, tea ceremonies, peace demonstrations, delivering cranes, reading Sadako’s story (in English and Japanese) and presenting their art. So many families were out with their young children tonight helping them to send out lanterns, color wax candles and present flowers and prayers to the cenotaph. My mind has constantly been thinking of the Margaret Mead quote, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” The people of Hiroshima are leading the charge to a more peaceful world.

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]T[/minti_dropcap]he face you make when a small Japanese woman grips you by the hand, puts you in a line of other confused foreigners, and puts a necklace of paper cranes around your neck. Turns out, I was given a Croatian flag to wave and lead the crowd in a prayer for peace for Croatia. All countries were represented. The artwork pictured represents 193 countries, their flags and a message of peace in their language.

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]I[/minti_dropcap]want to give thanks to Yuji @fellanandez_tokugiwa and Holly @hiroshimayasuko from @magicaltripcom for a wonderful tour of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and the pictures. I learned quite a bit during the Heiwa Walking Tour that I’m looking forward to bringing back to my classroom and the Meriden community. I learned a lot today and I’m still trying to process everything and put it into words. I did go to the Children’s Peace Monument this afternoon to drop off the cranes. They’re in the second cabinet at the monument and I filled out a sheet so they will be recorded.

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]I[/minti_dropcap]n Japan, the atomic bomb is taught with the stories of the people who were affected through their clothing, their pictures, their art and their stories. I learned that many of the victims were school aged children between the ages of 12-14. They had been reporting to school on August 6 at 8:15 am to clear buildings to create buffer zones in case of an air raid to prevent fires from spreading. Many of their stories are told in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, allowing visitors to bear witness and connect with the human aspect of this terrible tragedy. It is not until the end of the museum when you learn about the science of the atomic bomb, the reason it was used and what the global community did with nuclear weapons after World War 2. We need to teach these stories in the United States.

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]T[/minti_dropcap]here is a rumor that persists that claims nothing would grow in Hiroshima for 75 years after the atomic bomb. I heard the rumor as a student and I still hear it from my students today. Hiroshima is actually very green and there are trees everywhere. This is because during the recovery period, citizens and organizations from Japan and the global community and governments around the world donated trees. There are also 170 Hibakujumoku (survivor trees) in various locations around Hiroshima that are marked with plaques. The organization, Green Legacy Hiroshima works to spread saplings from these trees around the world. I’d love to talk to @ctca19 in September more about this organization.

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Thank you, Katie, for the exemplary job you’ve done in designing, pursuing and sharing your learning with us. You can follow her entire fellowship on Instagram @kcloubier. Katie teaches 9th grade world history and 11 and 12th grade human rights at O.H. Platt High School in Meriden, Connecticut. As a third year teacher, she believes that students should walk away from her classroom with a greater understanding of the world around them. She has worked with exchange students from around the world and traveled to places such as Egypt, El Salvador and Iceland, bringing her experiences with her into the classroom.