FFT Fellow Chris Smith and 15 of his students recently hosted the first Chicago Immigrant Refugee Resource Fair at Mather High School. The story behind the event, shared below by Chris, demonstrates the true ripple effect of a Fund for Teachers grant. This high school music teacher designed a fellowship to attend the Blas International Summer School of Irish Traditional Music and Dance at the University of Limerick to enrich orchestra curriculum by integrating elements of Irish folk music, ensemble skills, and improvisation. He shares the progression of learning from there below. We are proud of you and your students, Chris!
“I have continued my study of Irish traditional music since 2013 when I was awarded the FFT fellowship, which was transformative to my teaching in many ways. Not only have I incorporated lessons that I learned in my teaching strategy, but my support from FFT has led to many more opportunities for me and my students
Chris with Martin Hayes during his 2013 FFT fellowship
Additionally, I was inspired at write a grant proposal (which was funded) which allowed for a residency at Mather High School by renowned traditional Irish performer Kathleen Keane. Over the course of two months, Kathleen visited Mather to perform and work with a small group of motivated orchestra students. She taught them a set of traditional jigs which they performed in concert.
Because of my FFT experience, I was also awarded the Teaching for Global Classrooms fellowship by the US State Department. In summer 2016, I traveled to India and, in part, taught music at a school in Vadodara, Gujarat.
Visit this website Chris created to document FFT fellowship in Limerick, as well as another site, including access to his resulting unit and lesson plans, following his TGC fellowship.
Based on my TGC fellowship, I was able to apply to then attend a conference for alumni of government sponsored international travel. As a participant, I was invited to apply for money to create a project on the subject of inclusion. I was awarded a grant from the State Department to organize and implement the Inaugural ChiUnderOneRoof: Chicago Immigrant and Refugee Resource Fair. My students and I hosted hosted 25 local community organizations who work to support our immigrant and refugee population.
Parenthetically, since my fellowship, my wife has been awarded a fellowship along with one of her coworkers and three teachers at my school. These are just a few of the things that have resulted from the opportunities afforded me by Fund for Teachers.”
Click here to read Chris’ description of how planning the resource fair impacted him and his students.
Hero, Victim or Traitor? Students Decide
The facts represent La Malinche (or Doña Marina) as a slave, advisor, mistress and emissary. Whether those roles positioned her as a hero, victim or traitor is up for debate — which is what the students of Glen Meinschein and Alejandro Avalos did this semester. Following a fellowship investigating one of the most controversial figures in Mexican history, Glen and Alejandro led their middle schoolers through an exploration of colonialism, feminism and indigenous history to reach a broad range of learners at the Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies. They share the verdict below…
International Day of the World’s Indigenous People
August 9th marks the first meeting of the United Nations’ Working Group on Indigenous Populations in 1982 and the occasion designated by the UN General Assembly for honoring 370 million Indigenous People living across 90 countries who remain subject to political, economic and social oppression.
Indigenous People are defined as ethnic groups originally in a territory prior to being
incorporated into a national state, and who are politically and culturally separate from the majority ethnic identity of the state that they are a part of.
This summer, fourteen Fund for Teachers Fellows chose to research Indigenous People on three continents to increase student awareness and appreciation of the history, culture and challenges faced by those also known as first peoples, aboriginal peoples and native peoples. Read on to see how these teachers pursued knowledge of and experience among these inheritors and practitioners of unique cultures and ways of relating to people and the environment.*
Charles FitzGibbon and Christine Faye Dunbar (Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School– Forest Hills, NY) used photo journalism and oral interviews to examine the immediate effects of climate change on coastal Alaskan natives. They plan use their research to convey to students the interaction between individuals, communities, government policy and the climate.
Charles inspecting ice caves beneath Mendenhall Glacier on a hot day in Juneau, AK.
Their excellent blog documenting the fellowship begins:
“We are two teachers from a public 6-12 school in Queens, New York, who are traveling this summer to Alaska on a research grant from Fund for Teachers. We’re passionate about the work we engage our students in, and strive to make learning as relevant and real-world as possible. Our mission this summer is to research the impacts of climate change on coastal
communities, particularly those in the arctic region who are facing the more drastic effects of warming temperatures, melting permafrost, and land erosion. Namely we seek to answer three key research questions:
What challenges do coastal Alaskan communities face in the age of climate change?
How do borders ensure, enshrine, and entrap the communities of coastal Alaska?
What can be done to preserve and affirm the cultures of indigenous peoples as climate change threatens the future of their communities?”
For 21 days, Christine and Charles explored Juneau, Nome, Shishmaref, Fairbanks, and Prudhoe Bay, providing a broad scope of how climate change is impacting the state, its economy and social fabric. Click hereto see what they discovered.
Glen Meinschein, Greg Gentile and Alejandro Avalos (Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies) investigated of one of the most controversial figures in Mexican history, “La Malinche,”
by exploring across Mexico themes of colonialism, feminism and indigenous history to engage students of different backgrounds and support their academic achievement.
This blog documents their experiences, characterized by the sentence, “It was unsettling how much of our investigation of her has resulted in silence, shrugs or lack of any answers or any significant information.”
Exploring Xochimilco, a part of Mexico City where Aztecs built floating islands, or chinampas.
Learning about the Huran Wendat tribe on the Wendake Reservation.
Renee Lukaniec (Fox Run Elementary – Norwalk, CT) was handed a curriculum, outdated textbooks and asked to teach a unit on Native Americans three years ago. The search for authentic information and artifacts inspired her Fund for Teachers fellowship living and learning on the Huron-Wendat Nation reservation in Quebec. Read more of her experiences here.
Michelle Broxterman and Rachel Southard (Westside Elementary – Pittsburg, KS) chose to investigate with their Fund for Teachers grant the Mashallese people, culture and environment because their classes increasingly welcome immigrants from the cluster of small islands in the Pacific Ocean. Despite the contingency of immigrants living in their small town, the teachers found that many people have no idea where the Marshall Islands are. Their goal is to reach, teach and assimilate Marshallese students and families – and to educate the community about their new neighbors. In their grant proposal, Michelle and Rachel wrote:
“The Marshall Islands face numerous obstacles resulting from global warming and continued effects of nuclear testing. According to scientists, the Marshall Islands could be underwater within our lifetime. These looming threats have resulted in a mass immigration of over 20,000 Marshallese people living in the US. Although there has been a large influx of Marshallese people, their language and culture are relatively unknown and seem to be gradually disappearing along with their islands. We feel an urgency to gain as much information as we can now because later may not be an option.”
Rachel and Michelle checked in after their fellowship:
Our fellowship took us to Majuro, the capital of the Marshall Islands, for an amazing experience. We were able to ride on a traditional Marshallese canoe, sample local foods and gain a deeper understanding of the nation’s history. In addition, we studied the Marshallese educational system and toured an elementary school.
The most meaningful part of our fellowship was spending time with the people. We were welcomed with open arms by relatives of our Marshallese students. They ensured that we were able to learn a large amount of
information in a short period of time. It was obvious that generosity, caring, resilience and hospitality were and continue to be key attributes in the Marshallese culture. It is our hope that from our fellowship, we will help our Marshallese students to be proud of their heritage and continue on their traditions.
Additional 2017 Fellows focusing on First Peoples include:
Kelly Shea and Sherry McCullough – Meeting with Maori guides and professors from the University of Auckland in New Zealand,to learn how the Maori use storytelling to represent cultural values and unify community for a new “Power of Language” unit (pictured above with guide Robert McDonald on top of Te Mata Peak).
Rebekah and Robert Polemeni – Investigating 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.
Amy Manware – Volunteering with conservation groups and native communities in Hawaii to
learn about ecological restoration, explore the impact of water on ecosystems and create blended learning activities that integrate Next Generation Science Standards and enrich STEM and instructional technology curricula.
David Hunt – Investigating the effect of 1800’s Westward Expansion on the American
Tribes of Arizona, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Montana to better teach topics including The Trail of Tears, Battle of Apache Pass and surrender of Geronimo, Battle of Wounded Knee and the Battle of Little Big Horn.
Judie Cavanaugh – Exploring the art and culture of Indigenous Peoples of the Pacific
Northwest to integrate art lessons with social studies curriculum.
Rebecca Cutkomp – Exploring Washington’s Spokane Indian Reservation and Alaska’s Denali National Park to enrich student learning in thematic units on identity and aid in students’ deeper insight into rhetorical analysis.
Timothy Kiser and Vincent McCollum – Exploring Dominica’s history and geography through an intersectionality lens of race and colonization to better understand two central questions: How did the Kalinago survive while others did not? and why do the Kalinago continue to thrive? And,
Samantha Verboven – Observing Alaska’s Native American population and the culture of
storytelling to create a after school writing club based on reader’s theater designed to improve oral storytelling techniques and the narrative writing process.
Click on the following links for further research accomplished by previous Fund for Teachers Fellows on:
In June 2014, Washington DC Fellow Ariel Laguilles began his Fund for Teachers fellowship – a 200 mile section of the historic Camino de Santiago pilgrimage from France to Spain. The following three years, he’s returned with his students from Gonzaga College High School.
Ariel’s goals for his FFT fellowship were twofold:
Become a pilgrim walking one of the oldest Christian pilgrimage routes to reflect on his
personal, spiritual and professional life, and
Research and create a unique upperclassmen Spanish curriculum for students to reflect on where they have been, where they are and where they hope to be.
Judging from his student’s final observation on the blog maintained throughout the 2015 journey, both of Ariel’s goals have now been met…
“We have arrived! Señor Laguilles, Mr. Szolosi and the boys have made it into Santiago de Compostela! The morning started off relatively early – 6 am – as the goal was to make it to the pilgrim mass at noon. After a short breakfast at a nearby cafe in Pedrouzo, we set out, with the two veterans quickly leaving the high schoolers in the dust.
Today’s mileage was nothing compared to earlier in the week, clocking in at a paltry 12.5 miles. After watching the Km markers on the side of the road slowly dwindle, the boys were excited to see the glimmering city of Santiago on the horizon. It was a shame that that horizon was cleft in two by a mountain. Hours of hiking later, we were finally in the city…
…which was a shame, because the cathedral (where the pilgrimage REALLY ends) was another two miles inward. It was kind of cruel, in a way. The streets of the city were filled with cafes of all sorts and citizens who were clearly not strangers to tired-looking Americans with packs on.
Then, we truly arrived at our destination. The cathedral of St. James, with centuries-old stone towers arcing into the sky, stood before us. The fact that it was covered in scaffolding didn’t faze us at all, as we were too busy congratulating each other on having completed El Camino. Maybe we were celebrating the last day of walking. I dunno.
However, with the end of the Camino only ended the trek. This trip has been full of unique experiences which I wager will come to impact me and my actions for years to come. Reflecting on the trail has been a common theme, and now it is time for us to step back and reflect on what this adventure has meant for all of us. It may be different from person to person, but that’s the magic of the Camino: it provides. Exactly what it provides is up to the peregrino to decide.
The Eagles are on their way home. I hope the plane and train rides pass quickly. I miss my dog.”
Read more about Ariel’s 2014 Fund for Teachers fellowship on the blog he maintained throughout his “walk.” Ariel is a Spanish teacher and Department Chair at his alma mater, Gonzaga College High School in Washington, DC. He taught in Managua, Nicaragua, as a Jesuit Volunteer for three and a half years and has been at Gonzaga since his return in 2004. In 2006, Ariel was recognized by the High School Principals Association of the Archdiocese of Washington as a New Teacher of the Year. Aside from teaching, he coaches the school’s cross country and tennis teams, and enjoys ultrarunning “to stay sane.”
Channeling Mrs. Frizzle Across Asia
I teach a class of first through third graders at Garden Oaks Montessori in Houston, TX. Social studies and science are the center of our curriculum, with math and language arts integrated as tools for learning. We take an anthropological approach to history, examining how each culture met universal human needs such as clothing and shelter, but our materials were embarrassingly Eurocentric.
Milking a yak in Mongolia
To increase my knowledge of Asian culture, history, and ecology and enhance this part of our curriculum, I embarked on a three-week expedition in Mongolia and China. My small group visited three different biomes in Mongolia and met six herding families. These families likely represent the last generation to practice a traditional nomadic lifestyle. At each stop, I participated in daily living. I milked a yak, built a ger tented shelter, dressed in a Mongolian deel, and cooked a meal.
To bring the experience to my students, I assembled a mystery trunk of artifacts from my journey, including a wooden spoon for milk offerings, camel hair rope, yak and reindeer fur, wooden puzzles, an ankle bone game, a Buddhist prayer scarf, samples of Kazakh embroidery, a traditional music CD, an ink stick and compressed tea from China, and more. Each student acts as an expert in a discipline: botanist, zoologist, anthropologist, meteorologist, etc. As they examine an artifact, our experts will ask, “What is it made of? How is it used? Which experts would be interested in it?” After reviewing photographs with more clues, the children will draw conclusions about where I traveled, citing evidence for each guess.
Perhaps the most fun application of my fellowship coincides with Halloween. Each year, I “become” Mrs. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus. Last year, a student pointed to Ms. Frizzle in Imperial China and asked, “Ms. Frizzle, next year could you wear this dress?” He got his wish. This week, we will celebrate Chinese New Year with calligraphy and chopsticks lessons and kite-making with a museum scientist.
After 15 years of teaching, I risk becoming stagnant. This fellowship renewed my adventurous spirit. I worried less and relished challenges. I did laundry in a river. I used a doorless wooden outhouse on the side of a highway. I crawled through a glacial ice cave, spent chilly nights in a ger under the stars, and tasted reindeer milk and silk worm larva. It was freeing to say yes to new experiences. Now, my example spurs students to take adventurous risks in their learning, as well.
Shana documented her entire fellowship with a blog. She regularly presents at state and national Montessori conferences and she professional development courses for the Smithsonian ScienceEducation Center. She also volunteers with the paleontology field team from the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
Based on my TGC fellowship, I was able to apply to then attend a conference for alumni of government sponsored international travel. As a participant, I was invited to apply for money to create a project on the subject of inclusion. I was awarded a grant from the State Department to organize and implement the Inaugural ChiUnderOneRoof: Chicago Immigrant and Refugee Resource Fair. My students and I hosted hosted 25 local community organizations who work to support our immigrant and refugee population.
