Brown’s demonstration of trendacis mosaics

Tammy Friedman believes the link between art and its history can help build bridges among different cultures, including the culture of a school. Cloonan Middle School in Stamford, CT, is experiencing a sharp increase in English Language Learners who speak Spanish at home. Realizing the lack of relationship between herself and students’ parents, Tammy turned to art (and a Fund for Teachers fellowship) to bridge the gap.

Last summer, Tammy developed under Barcelona artist Martin Brown skills to create “trencadis” mosaics popularized by Antoni Gaudi. Trendacis literally means “chopped,” referring to the fragmented shards and recycled materials pieced together to form images and/or patterns. When not in Brown’s class, Tammy embarked on daily field trips across Barcelona, exploring Gaudi’s masterpieces, such as those at Park Güell.

Tammy’s goals for this fellowship were:

1. to develop a bond with families,
2. teach students something they may not know about themselves and their culture, and
3. make them proud of their heritage.

With her new expertise, Tammy led 100 art students (40% of whom are Hispanic) in the creation of four 30 x 56 murals, which were installed around the school last week.

“The four mosaics represent Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo, and Antoni Gaudi, including inspirational quotes from the artists,” said Tammy. “In addition, students painted cubist self-portraits, personal cultural art, surreal collages, surreal hands, and street art. This fellowship inspired me with new creative ideas to share with my students, not for just one year, but for years to come.”

“Tammy is one of three teachers at our school who have received Fund for Teachers fellowships and I can’t say enough about how they return re-energized and with experiences that are relevant to kids, which has a huge impact on how they respond,” said David Tate, principal at Cloonan Middle School. “Tammy’s project is particularly relevant, as our school’s single largest demographic is students from Latino homes, so for them to see this aspect of their culture on permanent display is huge.”

A group photo of students who created each mosaic is mounted alongside their artworks, which were praised by the mayor and the superintendent during a special showing.

Tammy chose for one mosaic Dali’s quote, “Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.” We love how Tammy embodies this quote as a role model for her students — taking her belief in the power of art from her classroom to Barcelona and back again to foster cultural pride and community relationships.

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Tammy has taught for 29 years, first with special education, then third grade, middle school Language Arts, and now Fine Arts. Recently she received a Spotlight Award for Teachers, one of 20 recipients nominated by peers and awarded from across the Stamford Public School district.

…not a drop to drink. That’s what Richard Lebowitz discovered on his Fund for Teachers fellowship last summer in Indonesia. For two weeks, he collaborated with Balinese municipalities, scholars, citizens and tourists to research the country’s inability to overcome its water shortage crisis. Richard’s inspiration came from observing water waste at The SEEALL Academy in Brooklyn, NY, where his students are now implementing sustainability practices as a result of his research.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]B[/minti_dropcap]ack in the ’80s, when Saturday Night Live was funny, Jon Lovitz did a skit called “Get to Know Me!” espousing how people (i.e. Steve Martin) benefited from knowing him. We believe the same is true of our 2019 Fellows and are, therefore, continuing a blog series throughout the summer to introduce you to many of our grant recipients.

Today, we meet the teaching team of Kaellagh Cassidy and Katie Hollerbach, teachers at Chicago’s Robert Lindblom Math and Science Academy High School. FFT fellowships designed around language/cultural immersion are a favorite among our grant recipients; this particular one, however, has an interesting component: collaborating with indigenous communities in Mexico to inspire our own civic action projects.

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On why they designed this fellowship…

Our student population is predominantly African American (70%), but the Latnix population is rapidly growing. Our school actively works to foster an inclusive environment that celebrates all cultures and backgrounds: we provide mirrors for students to see themselves in historic and academic texts; we do case students on racial inequality in Brazil; and address trauma in Haiti and youth homelessness in Morocco. However, we wanted to expand and diversity the examples we include from Latin America.

Thus, we designed this fellowship to study Mexico’s indigenous cultures and establish a partnership with a community school in Chiapas to design a unit on the fight for land and education rights.

We believe that a unit on indigenous activism and historical memory of indigenous contributions will affirm to our Latinx students that their history matters.

On their itinerary…

We plan to travel through central and southern Mexico, exploring museums and cultural sites that highlight indigenous culture and speaking to local experts to better understand the relationship between national identity, indigenous history and culture. Our itinerary includes:

• touring the National Museum of Anthropology and interviewing its director of education outreach
• experiencing Chichen Itza, one of the most significant and well preserved sites of Maya and Toltec acculturation,
• exploring Teotihuacan, one of the largest pre-Hispanic cities in the Americas, the Frida Kahlo Museum, Museum of the Palace of Fine Arts and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe,
• working alongside and learning from teachers and community members involved with the NGO Escalera to learn more about access to education in indigenous communities,
• visiting important sites associated with the Zapatista movement, including San Cristobal de las Casas, and
• interviewing local experts, community members, and journalists who are involved with indigenous activism and education, including indigenous experiences with employment and integration into Mexico City and other urban environments.

On plans for students…

The Zapatista mentality (emphasis on direct democracy, valuing all voices, and inclusivity) will be an engaging topic to begin the school year with, and will also create an opportunity for students to structure our own classroom community and goals. Throughout the fall, we will more effectively validate our Latinx students through new learning, as well as connections with other courses and organizations at school, including the Latino Culture Club, Black Student Union and the Step Team. Additionally:

• A unit in our Gender & Ethnic Studies course current connects the work of the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo to the actions of female activists against gun violence in Chicago. We plan to add connections to the female Zapatistas and activists we meet to enrich this unit.
• The AP World curriculum will incorporate Mexican revolutions more thoroughly by emphasizing how the Zapatistas continue to advocate for autonomy and freedom.
• Our Human Geography course, which examines urbanization and the migration of people to cities, will include knowledge about indigenous groups moving to Mexico City because of a lack of employment opportunities in more rural areas. And,
• In the culminating project, students will plan and execute civic action projects of their own in response to issues facing our Chicago community.

As white teachers instructing on indigenous cultures, we want to ensure we’re not simply relaying the simplistic narrative often found in textbooks, but allowing the experts in the field to inform our instruction. Rather than be instructors with a monopoly on knowledge and information, we want to build a unit that authentically connects students with the course content in a way that puts students in the position of power.

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Kaellagh Cassidy has taught history and civics in Chicago for eight years. She aims to put her students in the shoes of historians and activists by re-examining historical truths through documents and simulations and student-driven civic action projects. Kaellagh is also a coach of Cross Country and Track and believes that high school should be a community that fosters student curiosity and empowerment.

 Katie Hollerbach has taught high school social science at Lindblom Math and Science Academy in Chicago for the past eight years. She is passionate about including a global mindset into each of her classes, which currently include Global Civics and Gender & Ethnic Studies. In 2017, she traveled to Morocco as part of the Koldyke Global Teacher Program. She also is a teaching assistant in the MSEd Program at Northwestern University.

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]B[/minti_dropcap]ack in the ’80s, when Saturday Night Live was funny, Jon Lovitz did a skit called “Get to Know Me!” espousing how the lives of people (i.e. Steve Martin) benefited from knowing him. We believe the same is true of our 2019 Fellows and are, therefore, beginning a blog series to introduce many of our grant recipients throughout the summer.

For our first installment, we introduce you to a Fellow whose fellowship ranks among the most unique we’ve funded in almost twenty years. Get to know Mick Posner of Conrad High School in West Hartford, CT.

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On why he designed this fellowship…

I am now in my 10th year of teaching American Sign Language (ASL), which was actually the first language I learned as a child because I was born deaf. As a faculty member of my high school’s World Languages department, I work with students in 9th through 12th grade. Students take my class to fulfill their World Language credit and to learn about the deaf community. More than 90% of my students have not been exposed to a sign language system until they take my class. I believe that students enjoy my class because they are being introduced to an entirely different culture that, in a sense, intertwined globally and for many of them, the challenge of communicating in different environments and situations is mutual.

Many people do not know that there are 200+ sign language systems around the world, each with their own grammar, vocabulary, influences and origins. Twice a year, my students complete a survey in order to share their feedback about my ASL classes. Consistently I receive the same inquiries — students have a strong interest in learning about unique deaf communities in other countries, particularly those shaped by linguistic and geographical barriers (such as the fact that deaf people in Cuba who are not allowed to drive and work full-time, among other government imposed restrictions.

(photo courtesy of Nunatsiaq News)

After conducting extensive research, I found very little exists regarding the Greenland Deaf Community (and deaf Inuits), thus leading me to the following learning experience that I wish to pursue: understanding how such an unique population survive in such a remote part of the world, despite their deafness, by becoming a student of Inuit Sign Language (ISL), which is the official sign language system of the Greenland Deaf Community. This fellowshipwill deepen students’ understanding of the human spirit’s resiliency and the importance of continuing learning and pursuing knowledge in sign language systems.

ISL is a dialect that is centralized around vocations (a large percentage of their vocabulary is focused on being able to communicate related to hunting and fishing) and survival skills.  It is a language based purely on livelihood and survival in a very remote section of the world and would be a strong evidence of sign language’s relevance to a community that depends so much on a particular dialect to survive. There’s not many other languages like this, particularly in the form of a sign language system.

Celebrating the news with Principal Julio Duarte (left) and Superintendent of Schools Tom Moore

From this FFT experience I will have my students actively involved in the creation of online resources regarding different deaf communities around the world. In this project, students will include locations of community, what makes them unique, how they interact with the rest of their community at large, and the identification of unique signs necessary for survival.

On learning he is a 2019 Fellow…

When I first found out I was an FFT Fellow, I was overcome with an extraordinary sense of relief. The grant was something I had worked diligently on for four months, stemming from an idea I had from over a year ago based on articles I read the previous summer — quickly, that feeling turned into so much joy. My students were really excited for me — after it was announced, I asked if I could have a few minutes to call my wife. My 5th period class (that was when it was announced) voiced their support and understanding.

The impact on students already exists — I received several congratulatory and well-wishes emails from parents who shared that their students came home and told them about the FFT award. Along with a few additional parents who contacted me via social media, some of my seniors shared that they wish they could stay in high school for another year so they could hear about the experience (of course, I will see if I can extend an invitation to them when the time comes.)

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Mick is the only member of his family who was deaf, yet his parents believed in having ASL as his first language, which he learned before English. You can learn more about his life experiences and his own family from the A&E documentary “Born this Way Presents: Deaf Out Loud.” He and his wife also own Posner Inclusion, a consulting firm that creates bridges between businesses and unique markets, such as the deaf population.

If you see an inordinate amount of people wearing blue or a puzzle piece lapel pin today, here’s why. Today is the 12th annual World Autism Awareness Day (#WWAD), established by Member States of the United Nations to raise awareness about people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) throughout the world. To show our support, Fund for Teachers proudly shares the work of Guin Geyer.

Autism was a relatively new diagnosis when Guin earned her special education degree, which meant she received little to no training on how to help students and their families living with the communication disorder. While the diagnosis continues to increase (1 in 59 children according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), Guin found teacher development in the field remained non-existent. Not one teacher in her school district was trained on the spectrum.

“I intend to become the go-to professional in the state of Oklahoma to help colleagues find the best teaching methods for severe-profound student populations they teach,” wrote Guin in her Fund for Teachers proposal.

The Picture Exchange System facilitates communication through images

She started this quest with a $5,000 grant to attend the Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication Handicapped Children (TEACCH) conference in Indianapolis last summer. Considered the best practice for teaching those with autism disorders, TEACCH representatives taught Guin how to structure her classroom in ways that help students better understand their environment and achieve independence over time. She then returned home to Oklahoma City and created that classroom at Bridgestone Elementary.

“With extra funds from my Fund for Teachers grant, as well as some personal fundraising, I was able to set up a model classroom,” said Guin. “I submitted another grant to set up all areas of the school with a Picture Exchange System so that our non-vocal students have a way to communicate everywhere in the building.” In addition:

The new bubble tower employs sound, lights and movement to calm students’ anxiety.

• Students now have schedules that match their specific level and needs.
• Every student is now included with regular education peers in one aspect or another on a daily basis.
• She’s conducted several teacher professional development sessions across Oklahoma.
• The Facebook page she created for Oklahoma educators reaches more than 1,200 people, supporting collaboration and reducing burnout.

As a result of these innovations, Guin reports a 98% reduction in disruptive classroom behaviors. “Very rarely do we see any problems at all and it’s easy for us to resolve them at this point,” she says.

“By funding training for me, you changed the lives of multitudes of students with special needs,” said Guin. “You have given me the tools to help them be more successful in the general education environment and to be more included in society as a whole.”

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Emily Frake (Camino Nuevo Charter Academy #2 – Los Angeles) also chose to pursue learning that supports students on the Autism spectrum. Emily used her Fund for Teachers grant to attend The Autism Show, in Manchester, UK, and, afterwards, observed leading inclusion schools in London to better understand effective and meaningful implementation of inclusion on a school-wide level.

“My fellowship opened my eyes to a society that is more accepting and accessible for people with all sorts of disabilities,” she said. “With all the learning I’ve done, I’m hoping to help general educators know that teaching kids with disabilities is not scary or even as difficult as they think. I want them to feel empowered to take ownership of ALL students.”

If one ever needs an excuse to have pie for breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner, it’s today — March 14, 3.14, National Pi Day. (Also, Albert Einstein’s birthday and the day of Stephen Hawking’s death. Coincidence?)

Making the hike to Pythagoras’ Cave to see his school, known as the Semi-circle, in Samos, Greece

The mathematical constant that’s been around since the Babylonians figures prominently in math and physics calculations like the ones taught by Jennifer Lehner and Pam Guest at Platt High School in Meriden, CT. To make math more compelling to high needs students and extra-engaging to the school’s Mathletes Team, the teachers designed an FFT fellowship to explore historic sites pertinent to mathematics in Greece and Italy.

“Rather than just talk about Pythagoras’ theorem, we wanted to personally describe what Pythagoras’ cave looks and feels like,” said Jennifer. “Instead of just presenting the Fibonacci series, we wanted to share how we visited his birthplace and what significance he has to the local people. Our vision was to embed key elements of our two weeks into a virtual Greece and Italy math challenge students can navigate prior to graduation.”

Pam uses a clinometer at the Leaning Tower of Pisa to estimate its height using trigonometry

Beginning at the cave where Pythagoras taught the likes of Aristotle and Plato, Pam and Jennifer photographed and filmed ancient architecture in Athens and Delphi, creating media assets to support the math questions for students’ virtual challenge project. In the homeland of Galileo and Fibonacci, the teachers sought out memorials to math, including the Garden of Archimedes Mathematics Museum in Florence and the Museum of Mathematics in Rome.

“Our goal was to acquire as much knowledge as we could about the history of key math figures and concepts from the regions, as well as evidence of applications of math in historic and current times across a range of disciplinary areas,” said Pam.

Members of the afterschool “Mathletes” club are in the process of creating a rigorous SAT-level math questions associated with each site their teachers researched. In May, teammates will test and refine one another’s questions and decide what platform to use to share out their virtual math tour with a wider audience. Today, Jen has students on a field trip to Southern Connecticut State University’s Mathematical Puzzle Programs High School Challenge which, according to her, is another experience perfectly aligned with student goals established as a result of their fellowship last summer. The teaching team is also in planning discussions with an English teacher who covers Greek Mythology about a cross-disciplinary field trip with students back to Greece, hopefully next year, if approved.

“It was so impactful  to step foot on the same grounds of many famous mathematicians and to learn first hand from being there rather than out of a textbook,” said Jen. “I not only feel that this fellowship has improved my teaching, but it has also shaped me into a well-rounded person who can set a positive example for my students as to what it means to be a lifelong learner.”

Mathletes today at the Mathematical Puzzle Programs High School Challenge

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The display Jen & Pam created at Platt High School

Pam Guest is a high school mathematics teacher and school and district Restorative Practices teacher leader who also serves as an adviser for the Interact Club, co-adviser for the Mathletes team, and throws coach for the cross-town high school’s indoor and outdoor track teams. Previously a Senior Executive HR Director with Accenture, teaching fulfills her lifelong dream to help children learn to succeed. Now a seven-year teacher, she has been recognized as her school’s 2019 “Teacher of the Year.”

Jen Lehner is a high school math teacher, advisor for the Mathletes team, and coach of the girls tennis team. In addition to her B.S. in Mathematics, she earned her M.S. in Educational Technology from Central Connecticut State University.

Jen and Pam did an excellent job documenting their learning on their blog and Facebook.  And for some fun facts about Pi Day, check out this Forbes article.

Sculpture outside the Anne Frank House

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]T[/minti_dropcap]ara Holmin is a Learning Disabilities Special Education Teacher in Saint Paul, MN. In order to help her high school students mainstream into “regular” classes, she also co-teaches English 11 in the general education setting. The majority of her special needs students read and write between two-to four-years below grade level and one of her goals is to show them that writing can be a therapeutic and positive outlet for anxiety and frustration.

Just as it was for Anne Frank.

To introduce her students to Anne’s life and legacy, Tara designed a fellowship to research the young woman, as well as author and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, in The Netherlands, Germany and Poland. The itinerary included the Anne Frank House (where Tara took the above photo) and National Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam; The Holocaust Memorial, Reichstag and Topography of Terror Museum in Berlin; and Auschwitz in Krakow, Poland. The driving motivation throughout her learning was to increase personal knowledge on the Holocaust and lead students in the recording of their own stories on the school district’s podcast.

Prisoners shoes at Auschwitz

“I am passionate about having my students connect to others in history who have gone through hard times and used writing to help them cope,” said Tara. “Previously, my students considered writing a chore, but now it’s not just a task assigned in school, but a tool that can be used to express themselves and to get their story out of personal struggles and triumphs.”

Tara’s students accomplished this by first writing, then voicing, their stories using iPads and Anne’s example.

“While reading The Diary of Anne Frank in class, my students journaled every other day – improving their writing and self-expression skills,” said Tara. “By the end of the unit, they created podcasts on a snippet of their lives based on the journals they wrote. After interviewing people for their particular stories, they then created, edited, narrated and produced their stories, even adding music and side effects using their iPads.”

Anne Frank died of typhoid seventy-four years ago today in the Bergen-Belsen death camp, but her legacy continues in the lives and learning of students around the world, including Tara’s. They are the embodiment of Anne’s quote:

“The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!”

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Tara (pictured at right on the Amsterdam leg of her fellowship) teaches Fusion Reading to students who have a learning disorder in the area of reading and writing. She has taught this course for five years and helped create the curriculum for the 3rd year of the program that did not exist previously.

On Tuesday, we shared on article on our Facebook related to resources for helping students celebrate Chinese New Year. FFT Fellow Liz Kleinrock (also the 2018 Teaching Tolerance Award Winner) brought to our attention that many Asian countries celebrate Lunar New Year during this time period, not just China.

Indeed, from January to the middle of February, China, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Singapore and many Asian countries celebrate the Lunar New Year as national holidays. According to Voice of America, all celebrations have one common feature: family reunions. Many go back home to spend time with family, even if they live far away, and have New Year’s Eve dinner – the most important holiday dinner in China and many other Asian countries.

To clarify the broad scope of the holiday, Liz suggested using the picture book New Clothes for New Year’s Day  by Hyun-Joo Bae with younger students. “I think it could also be beneficial to use Lunar New Year as a lens to explore how different Asian countries celebrate (China, South Korea, Vietnam, etc.) including food, clothing, and traditions,” she said.

We chose to highlight some different countries that celebrate Lunar New Year by sharing images of our Fellows who designed fellowships to learn directly from those who live there. Enjoy the video above and this Year of the Pig!

A common misconception about Fund for Teachers fellowships has to do with their destinations. While many of Fellows choose to pursue learning abroad, the majority stay stateside. Furthermore, a fellowship’s “wow factor” has nothing to do with its funding potential or potential impact (i.e. repopulating coral in the Caribbean vs. taking a seminar in Seattle). Case in point: the fellowship of Cynde Ciesla, Erika Gilbert and Monica Fitzgerald who last summer attended the Model Schools Conference in Orlando, FL.

“The whole process of applying for our grant changed my professional and personal perspectives,” wrote Cynde. “Writing the grant brought my team members and me closer as we worked to write and revise the grant; the conference changed the way we look at our school and the relationships we have as teachers to our students and to each other.”

Last week, the team checked in to update us on their impact so far…

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As you may recall, our fellowship was to attend the Model Schools Conference in Orlando, Florida.  After four days at the most amazing educational conference, our heads were filled with so many things we wanted to implement!  We wrote an action plan and narrowed our focus to one specific area, Social-Emotional Learning. We wanted to purposely build relationships with our most vulnerable students.

 

After much conversation, we started a mentoring program for our kids.  Our program is very organic and our purpose is to foster positive relationships to increase attendance, decrease disciplinary issues, and boost performance.  We have a lot of evaluating and reflecting to do. Currently there are 12 staff members that are mentoring 27 students.

 

The most exciting take away from the Model Schools Conference has been the connections we made while there.  Those connections have helped us to continue our learning, which will continue to impact our students.

Many of the leaders at the International Center of Leadership in Education (ICLE) were quite impressed with our story – our desire and perseverance to get to their conference, and they truly treated us like “rockstars” while we were there.  Our connections with them have also grown! Since returning from the conference, we have been asked to write blogs as part of the Into the Classroom Series, including this piece titled Interactive Read-Alouds: Build Strong Student-Teacher Relationships.

 

We are going to Model Schools again in June and are currently working with the host, International Center for Leadership Education, to do a presentation that shares our experience and how we started our school’s mentoring program.

 

Being awarded our fellowship last year provided learning experiences beyond what we imagined. Most importantly, it transformed into student learning and building relationships with all students. We will be forever grateful for your support in our learning.

 

Warm Regards,
Cynde Ciesla, Erika Gilbert, and Monica Fitzgerald

This self-titled “Sparks of Change” team teaches at Gillette Road Middle School in Cicero, NY. Read more about their fellowship on their Facebook page Our Model Schools Conference Experience.

Tarah and Dan meet the individuals responsible for creating Chattanooga’s VW Akadmie

In addition to building Passats in its Chattanooga plant, Volkswagen builds a workforce through its onsite academy. That’s because job applicants arrive unprepared for technical careers, deficient in STEM skills and critical thinking capabilities. Daniel DeScalzo and Tarah Kemp also prepare a pipeline of qualified employees, they just happen to be doing it at nearby Dupont Elementary School.

“As we reflected on the impact of Volkswagen in our county, we grew curious about the influence of European branches of the company in educational communities abroad,” said Daniel. “We designed a Fund for Teachers fellowship to explore how assembly plants in Barcelona, Brussels, Ingolstadt and Wolfsburg, Germany, partner with schools to create an interdependency that produces gainfully-employed high school graduates.”

Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant

With help from Volkswagen’s senior vice president of human resources, the teachers researched real-world skills modeled in European plants and discovered that most of the employees on assembly lines were 17- or 18-year-olds who left work in nice cars and drove to comfortable homes. Technical and vocational training during primary school years positioned these students for careers and often fully-paid graduate degrees with the company.

Exposure to the inner-workings of the automobile plants helped Daniel and Tarah realize that the missing link between their students’ knowledge and future STEM professions was a deficiency in engineering design. In response, Tarah established a network among local business executives to increase students’ exposure to job opportunities close to home. She also pitched an idea to Public Education Foundation’s Teacherpreneur program to obtain funding for a 3-5 year initiative that promotes hands-on, project-based learning through a culinary unit. Daniel applied funds saved from the FFT grant toward the purchase of robotic kits and invited mechanical engineers from a local pump manufacturer to partner with students on prototypes.

“If you ask our students about career goals, they would list being a YouTube personality, sports star, video gamer or fashion designer,” said Daniel. “Through exposure to industry opportunities and engineers, we want students to say, ‘I want to make things, design things, do this for a living.’ We want them to know there’s so much opportunity out there and empower them to make a life for themselves and the world awaiting them.”

(pictured above touring Volkswagen’s Wolfsburg plant, the largest automotive factory in Europe.)

This annual look back represents what can happen when teachers chart their course to keep content relevant and students engaged. We hope they inspire you to dream big about what 2019 could bring for you and your students!

For extra inspiration, enjoy these videos of our 2017 and 2016 FFT Fellows. To be part of next year’s recap, start your 2019 grant application today at fft.fundforteachers.org.

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).

We are grateful that Tim shared his experiences and insights from his fellowship below.

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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 in 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.

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For more than a decade, Tim has empowered his students to take ownership over their education and to become independent learners while focusing on character and integrity. Throughout his teaching career, he has coached athletics at both the middle and high school levels and views the competition field as an extension of the classroom where students can push themselves.

Pixar’s Coco familiarized many with the tradition of Dia de los Muertos, or “Day of the Dead.” And before Nancy MacBride‘s fellowship to Oaxaca, Mexico, the annual holiday inspired Voluntown Elementary’s singular art project honoring Latin American history and culture. Now, the celebration honoring life and death is just one in a series of year-long art opportunities linked with Latin culture in a preK-8 school that only offers 60 hours of social studies instruction annually.

“Voluntown, CT, is a rural, homogenous community with only one school (ours) where only 1% of students have other languages spoken at home,” explained Nancy. “The insular culture creates challenges for children to learn about different cultures and accept the differences in others. I felt our students needed cultures, not walls, so I designed a fellowship to make it happen.”

Usually Fellows’ implementation of their summer grants begins upon their return to the classroom, but Nancy started the learning when she applied for her FFT grant in the fall of 2017.

• Through the school’s PTO and a local Mexican restaurant’s sponsorship, three groups of Mexican folk artists visited the school.
• Older students read Esperanza Rising in English and created ofrendas, or altars, for loved ones who’ve passed away.
• Kindergarteners created multi-media collages of a Mexican desert landscape.
• Second graders learned Zapotec weaving techniques.
• Fourth graders read and illustrated a Mexican legend and painted portraits of Frida Kahlo.
• Fifth graders created metallic masks inspired by Pre-Columbian versions.
• Multiple grades watched PBS’ “Craft in America” episodes on Mexican art and were introduced to an artisan Nancy would meet on her fellowship.

The “pre-learning” culminated in a community Noche Mexicana last spring, attended by students, their families and government dignitaries.

This summer, students followed Nancy (a working artist herself) via Instagram as she lived out the learning they shared the year before. Nancy spent a month in Oaxaca, staying in a community that caters to local artisans, taking language classes, sketching World Heritage Sites and experiencing Pre-Columbian and folk art in surrounding museums and cultural centers. She practiced weaving through the Weaving Oaxaca initiative alongside a twelve-year-old teacher whose family has dyed natural wools and created art for generations; she also worked with Zapotec ceramist Adrian Martinez for a week. The highlight was visiting the artist studio of Magdalena Pedro Martinez, whom students came to know through the “Craft in America” series.

This fall, Nancy’s experiences in Mexico continue to inspire projects and discussions with students. Fifth graders are preparing to create wooden assembled animals inspired by Mexican alebrijes. Sixth graders are creating their own versions of sculptures modeled after artifacts Nancy brought back from Josefina’s Oaxacan workshop. And beginning this week, students of all ages will have the opportunity to join a new Spanish Club Nancy initiated as an elective.

Perhaps more importantly, students have a new appreciation for “our neighbors to the south,” according to Nancy. As a volunteer with the Voluntown Peace Trust, she collaborates with the Hartford Catholic Worker to bring urban minority children out of the city to enjoy the surrounding nature. Nancy’s leadership as a role model through this effort, combined with the cross-disciplinary learning she provides, is creating a new culture in the school community.

“My admiration of artists from other cultures helps break down the walls and build bridges to other cultures for students,” she said. “My Fund for Teachers fellowship wasn’t just about the place visited, or knowledge, skills and capabilities I gained; it also moved appreciation of Mexican culture from my head to my heart and that passion is now spreading to my students.”

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Nancy (pictured with a state selectman and superintendent at Noche Mexicana) has taught art for 31 years, a career that has included teaching sculpture to widows and orphans in Zambia and earned her Connecticut’s Outstanding Elementary Art Teacher award. She frequently exhibits her own work in galleries and museums, which you can see on her website. (Top picture of students dressed as Frida and her fawn at the Noche Mexicana.)

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

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2018

Panning for gold in Mineral Creek.

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

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

Listening to a lecture by Sheeren on Glacier Bay.

Two weeks ago, Fund for Teachers opened the 2019 grant application. Have you been thinking about where you want to go and what you want to learn? For a little inspiration, today we share excerpts from a piece produced by the Stamford (CT) Education Association highlighting the learning of FFT Fellows from the area. Maybe you’ll see yourself in them and be inspired to start your online application, due January 31, 2019.

Kristin Baldovin above the Theatre of Dionysis at the Acropolis.

[minti_dropcap style=”normal”]”I[/minti_dropcap] wanted to travel to a place I had not been before to expand on my world view, and I wanted the location to be relevant to curriculum for my fourth graders. Our first literacy unit of study centers around Greek mythology, so going to Greece seemed like a natural fit. I also noticed that my students often struggled with some of the historical context that I knew I could gain going to Greece myself.

Do it! Apply! I would highly suggest submitting a proposal if you are interested in furthering your knowledge and learning as an educator or person in general. Choose a place and/or topic you’re passionate about. When you have passion, it makes the writing/work easy.

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Diane with founder of Rainbows Within Reach.

[minti_dropcap style=”normal”]”M[/minti_dropcap]y main goal in applying for an FFT grant was to improve how I teach writing to English Language Learners. Thanks to Fund for Teachers, I was able to attend the I Teach K! conference in Las Vegas. I attended a variety of sessions on writing, guided reading, and helping ELL students, as well as those with behavior issues. Now, more than a year later, I still refer to the strategies and techniques I learned.

I would urge anyone who has a desire to learn and explore to take a chance and submit a proposal. You just might get some exciting news in April!

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Sarah spent the day interacting with 35 orphans living at a children’s shelter in Atenas.

[minti_dropcap style=”normal”]”I[/minti_dropcap] chose this experience because, very simply, I realized that I could be far more effective in my work with families if I could speak basic conversational Spanish. I spent two weeks in Grecia, Costa Rica, attending Academia Centroamericana de Espanol’s program specifically designed for social workers. Through classes and living with a host family, I developed a small sense of how some of our families must feel when they can’t advocate for their children due to a language barrier. I am much more mindful of this now and also have found that if I make an effort to speak Spanish, parents are often willing to try a bit of English. Just making an effort opens a lot of doors.

Whatever program you design for yourself, you need to make a strong case for how your fellowship will benefit students, their families, and/or your school community. If you want to know more about my fellowship, visit my blog at https://costaricasarahblog.wordpress.com.”

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Jenna Cinelli developed a global network of peers during her fellowship.

[minti_dropcap style=”normal”]”I[/minti_dropcap] had the amazing opportunity to attend the Hawaii National Great Teachers Seminar in Hilo. This was unlike any other conference I’ve attended: Gone were the rows of desks, teachers on laptops and lectures. It was just 60 teachers from around the world meeting together in small groups to talk about education, the issues we face as educators and how to become that “great teacher” our students need. By deciding what learning would be best for your teaching, you are in control of your own growth. No one dictates what you are learning or how you should take it back to your classroom. I was able to decide what I was going to learn and what I was going to take away from it.”

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Connie in the Boyne Valley with a Neolithic monument built in 3,200 B.C.

[minti_dropcap style=”normal”]”I[/minti_dropcap] kept it simple and didn’t try to see 10 cities in 10 days, but was still able to explore 9,000 years of Irish landscape, mythology and culture through the country’s national treasure of storytelling. I experienced UNESCO World Heritage Sites and the largest Anglo Norman castle, attended evenings of music and storytelling and learned that storytelling is not only just active for the teller, but also the listener. If you are going to apply, first read about other people’s fellowships. There are some amazing ideas! Then start your dream. You do not have to leave the USA. The trip is about YOUR personal growth as an educator!”

Researching the Trans-Saharan trade routes in Tangier, Morocco.

FFT Fellows take planes, trains and automobiles in pursuit of knowledge that will engage students. Kristie Blanchard and Christine Troup’s transportation of choice? Camels.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites can be hard to get to.

According to the United Nations Education, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Heritage Sites are cultural and/or natural sites considered to be of ‘Outstanding Universal Value’ with special importance for everyone. Everyone, that is, except Kristie and Christine’s students at Bacon Academy in Colchester, CT.

“Our rural public high school lacks diversity and global acuity,” said the teaching team. “Freshmen also take a year-long geography course that lacks geospacial technologies used by professionals in the field. We designed our fellowship to explore iconic sites of Catalan, Andalusia and Morocco. Documenting the destinations with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) linked world cultures with geography to emphasize WHY these places have value.”

Taking their lead from the UNESCO theme “Protecting our Heritage and Fostering Creativity,” Christine and Kristie started their fellowship at the Creativity Workshop in Barcelona. There, they deepened proficiencies in the “Four C’s of Deeper Learning” outlined by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills: work collaboratively, improve communication, critical thinking and creativity.

Then, they set off for the Iberian Peninsula to interview citizens and learn from local guides and docents how UNESCO sites represent the cultural landscape of each unique region. Their odyssey took them to:

• Antoni Gaudi sites, including Sagrada Familia
• the Alhambra
• Alcazar of Seville
• El Torcal de Antequera, and
• the “Blue City” of Chefchaouen

The question that guided all of their research was “What makes a place worth preserving?”

Kristi and Christine began the school by addressing the lack of Middle Eastern and European elements in their curriculum. An ESRI Story Map documenting the fellowship models for students how technology can bridge information with authentic learning in multiple aspects of their lives and their community.

“In keeping with our fellowship’s guiding question, students will be challenged to find sites that they believe are worth preserving in our town,” said Kristie. “Through research, inquiry and writing, students may influence the Historic Preservation Office of Connecticut to add additional sites to their register.”

“We’re now able to make text-to-world applications through our experiences and gathered artifacts,” added Christine. “By using new techniques, all students, including those who read and write below proficiency level, will be encouraged to participate in more personalized ways to tell their authentic stories, as well as those of our community.”

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Christine Troup has taught grades 6 – 12 in three states over the past 23 years. In her free time, she enjoys reading, writing, and traveling, or any combination of the three. Kristie Blanchard has specialized in teaching 9th grade Geography and 10th grade AP Human Geography for nearly 20 years. Her career accomplishments include: the National Council for Geographic Education Distinguished Teaching Award, New England St. Lawrence Valley Geographical Society’s Friend of Geography Award, and the American Geographical Society Teacher Fellow.

[minti_dropcap style=”normal”]A[/minti_dropcap]s part of the “follow up” portion of an FFT fellowship, grant recipients complete a Passport that documents their learning and where they plan to go from here. Teachers answer brief questions in three categories:

1. Personal and Professional Growth
2. Impact on Your Classroom, School & Community, and,
3. Imagining the Future.

During the month of August, we’ll share some of our Fellows’ Passports to get us all in the “Back to School” mode. Today, we’re proud to share the reflections of Nolan Hanson, teacher at Oscar F. Mayer Elementary in Chicago, IL. He described the threefold nature of this fellowship in his grant proposal:

Shopping for paints at Sennelier, where Picasso purchased supplies.

The knowledge and insights I gained into the cultures and environments that impacted Picasso’s life and art have grown immeasurably as a result of my fellowship. Coupling this with my newfound knowledge of him as a person and an artist, as well as the complexity of his background, provided me with an understanding of how each of these elements are displayed in his work. I now feel capable of presenting these characteristics and experiences to my students and school community effectively.

First and foremost, my capacity to teach art in Spanish now exists, which it previously did not (except on a superficial level) as a result of: 1) the instruction I received from multiple museum staff members on art creation, appreciation and analyzation; and 2) having now observed, analyzed and appreciated the art of so many Spanish and Latin artists. Where I previously included art in my instruction, I will now be able to embed art in my instruction as a means for dialogue and inspiration.

Living for a month in Spain has to be the greatest personal accomplishment of my fellowship. During the writing of my proposal, I regarded being a Spanish teacher who had never been to Spain as a personal and professional deficiency. I can now state that deficiency has been satisfied with incredibly memorable experiences and professional growth. The fact that the entire fellowship was centered around the study of one of my Spanish heroes enhances the richness of each experience.

Impact on Your Students, School & Community

On a walking tour of Picasso’s Paris, at the St. Germain studio where he painted “Guernica.”

I will now be able to provide my students with the opportunity to use art in their weekly Spanish instruction. The authentic resources I was able to collect during my fellowship will provide them with quality enrichment tools to better connect with the experiences of Picasso and the culture of Spain. Using all of these resources together will allow us to create a positive social emotional learning environment that up to this point has been challenging to build within a language classroom.

In collaboration with the humanities teachers at my school we developed an interdisciplinary unit to cover the life and times of Picasso. Students will research and discuss the major world events that parallel Picasso’s lifetime in tandem with a micro focus on specific events that happened to Picasso. We will then combine these into an evaluation of his work and what influences we can see in his choice of subject, color, technique and message before students begin making their own artwork.