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.*

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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.

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 here to 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.

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:

The ‘Namgis
The Maori

The Aborigines
The Lakota Sioux, Blackfoot and Salish Peoples

The Zapotec
The Navajo, and

The Incas

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* Indigenous People at the UN web site

Supriya Kotagal reclaimed her time in an airport to send us these beautiful images and update from her fellowship. Supriya used a Fund for Teachers grant to explore 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.

“My hope,” she wrote in her proposal, “hope is that my fellowship experience will enable me to leverage both of these foci as my students engage in their design thinking work. Ultimately, I hope that ideas generated in my classroom around climate change can begin to be applied to the pressing issues that impact the neighborhood our school serves. I hope to mobilize my own students to be natural drivers of change in their community by creating a student advisory board or governing organization with my colleagues where youth weigh in on key problems and solutions that can better their neighborhood and school experience.”

Read more about her learning that will precede student advocacy.

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As I type this, I am at the airport in Abu Dhabi waiting for my connecting flight to take be back to New York City. I think this is probably the perfect time to reflect on the experience and provide you with some closing thoughts and some of my favorite videos from my time abroad:

Through my Fund for Teachers fellowship, I set out to document the impact climate change is having on small island developing states in the Indian Ocean – specifically the Maldives
and Zanzibar. Providing tangible examples of how climate change is impacting ecosystems and people is incredibly important to me as a science educator. We are living in a time when the impacts of climate change are deemed “debatable” by some and my goal was to make this environmental crisis as tangible as possible for my students. I did this by collecting qualitative data in the form of interviews, photographs, and film clips in order to create “Country Kits” that will enable my seventh graders to explore climate change more deeply. As part of my “Country Kits” I am also producing several  mini-documentaries that help explain different environmental issues and innovative solutions I encountered along the way.

Another aspect of my fellowship was to explore sustainable, community-based efforts that empower youth to tackle the very real challenges of climate change and to use this information to engage my students in thinking more globally about the environment. In the Maldives, I partnered with a sea turtle rehabilitation center called Naifaru Juvenile which seeks to spread awareness about the endangered sea turtle population and create sustainable solutions to protecting beaches and improving waste management–both environmental issues that stem from climate change and directly impact the sea turtle population. I met some amazing young activists who helped organize and participate in a festival bringing awareness to their local community. I was able to interview young people who are developing ways to improve environmental outcomes in their community. One young woman I met started a fashion line where she develops bags and purses from the trash she finds on the beach!

Read more about Supriya’s learning on her blog.

In Zanzibar, I explored how the country’s seaweed industry is being impacted by rising ocean temperatures. I met with a seaweed scientist and attended a community festival aimed at promoting the local development of seaweed products as a way of providing supplemental income to seaweed farmers, the majority of whom are women and who have seen recent declines in profit because of climate change. I also met with a collective of female seaweed farmers who are trying to create innovative products from the seaweed they cultivate in order to support their families. Additionally, I formed a valuable partnership with a youth organization called Zanzibar Learning 4 Life that seeks to encourage young people to become environmentally engaged and develop sustainable solutions to the problems that affect their community. I learned of some amazing work and ideas young people are formulating including using discarded plastic water bottles as bricks for water tanks. I hope to develop a deeper partnership with this organization in my classroom and am working on creating a pen-pal partnership between my students and theirs.

I wanted to share with you two mini-documentaries I made. The first [above] explains the seaweed industry in Zanzibar and the changes female farmers are making there in the face of climate change to maintain a profit. The second shares the perspective of youth on the island of Naifaru, the Maldives on the environmental issues impacting sea turtles and what needs to be done.

Thanks again for such an amazing opportunity. I can’t tell you how valuable this experience has been in re-energizing my passion for this work.

Best,
Supriya

(photo below of a group of young girls getting ready to dance at the youth-led “Turtle Festival” in Naifaru, the Maldives)

Supriya, middle school teacher at The School at Columbia University, is a curriculum designer, consultant and educator who has been involved in the field of education for ten+ years. She was a 2007 Teach for America Corps Member, a New York Hall of Science Design Fellow & Master Teacher, a New York Public Library Cullman Fellow in Creative Writing and currently teaches a STEAM* science course in New York City. Through her experiences, she understands education to be a powerful and transformative tool in uplifting individuals and communities.

Happy birthday to J.K. Rowling, who brought the magical world of Harry Potter to readers of all ages! Last month, we sent two Fellows off on their Potter Trail journey. We’ve checked in with them to learn more about the author’s inspiration for her beloved books and how the librarians Vilma Martinez and Christina Stark plan to inspire readers after “being there”:

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“Our Fund for Teachers fellowship has come to a close, but the magic will continue to brighten our library worlds and in turn the world of our students. We are grateful that Fund for Teachers “chose” us to be recipients of a 2017 grant! Harry Potter has been in our hearts for years, what better way to re-ignite the love for the series in ourselves, our students and future generations of readers than by going to the sites captured in the pages of J.K. Rowling’s magical series?  Reading the books, biographies, newspapers, watching movies…NOTHING…can compare to the experience of seeing and learning things for ourselves.

To stand in the grandeur of places like Tower Bridge, Lacock Abbey, Gloucester Cathedral, Warner Bros. Studio Tour London, and all the others, it’s just an indescribable feeling. We love J.K. Rowling for creating such vivid, complex, beloved characters and a truly magical world that continues to touch so many people – young and old alike! Through our walks, we saw older couples getting just as excited to stand in the places where Harry, Ron and Hermione stood and we could hear the excitement in their voices, see the excitement on their faces. (People could say the same thing about us!)

Twenty years after Rowling’s first book was published, we were there to celebrate her spirit and her characters and the magic welcomed us with open arms as we created videos that will enhance students’ reading experience. In addition, we’re planning the following activities for students after they read each book in the series:

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: Choose your House: a sorting ceremony where students will be placed into their House (and earn house points throughout the year). “Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind, either. There’s talent, oh yes. And a thirst to prove yourself.  But where to put you?”–The Sorting Hat
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Photo opportunity with robe and house scarf, plus Make Your Own Wand MakerSpace project.
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Write a handwritten letter to J.K. Rowling and a tweet using our schools’ library Twitter accounts.
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: House competitions in which students compete for points answering questions based on the first four books read using Quizizz. (if you haven’t used this app in the classroom, check it out, it’s tons of fun for students, they will beg you to use it again and again).
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Use Google Slides or TouchCast to write or report on their favorite characters. (Write Ups will be showcased on the library “Hogwarts: Heroes and Villains” bulletin board display.
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Using MovieMaker or other video making app or program, make a promotional video to entice new readers. Special screenings to occur live during Morning Announcements.
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Discover the most popular title in the series. Provide students with a ballot which they will cast at the end-of-the-year Harry Potter Party where students can have a magical time talking and sharing their favorite parts, books, characters, scenes, the list goes on and on. The House Winner will be announced and photographed! More photo ops such as “Have You Seen This Wizard,” Platform 9 and ¾’s and anything else the students come up with!

J.K. Rowling said it perfectly,  “The stories we love best do live in us forever, so whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.“ So again, thank you Fund for Teachers and a big thank you to our blog readers for following us on this magical exploration of all things Harry Potter!”

On their blog, which they maintained throughout their fellowship, Vilma and Christina also offer Harry Potter resources for students, parents and teachers.

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Vilma Martinez is the Library Media Specialist at Boone Elementary in Alief, TX. She is an instructor for both online and face-to-face professional development courses for her district and also presents at the state Technology Conference and Support Staff Association Conference. Christina Stark is the Library Media Specialist at Albright Middle School, also in Alief.  She, too, presents professional development in her district, teachers an online course as an adjunct professor at the University of North Texas, and has received two grants from the National Endowment for Humanities. 

Frank Mangan and Brandon Hubbard-Heitz (The Howard School – Chattanooga, TN) are assessing the past and present effects of people’s interaction with the Alaskan wilderness to empower students to embark upon future conservation work in their contexts.

You can follow their learning on Twitter and read more about their adventure below…

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“Late in life, noted naturalist John Muir traveled to Alaska. As he sailed along Alexander Archipelago, he wrote,“To the lover of pure wildness Alaska is one of the most wonderful countries in the world. No excursion that I know of may be made into any other American wilderness where so marvelous an abundance of noble,newborn scenery is so charmingly brought to view…”

Today especially, Alaska stands out for its 54 million acres that have been set aside as national parks, a vast expanse of wilderness that can only be appreciated by the naked eye. Even so, Alaska’s history is also a decidedly human tale of exploitation as much as conservation, abuse as much as preservation. From the migration of humans across the Bering Strait to the gold rush to the ExxonValdez, Alaska is a microcosm of the human-nature relationship within American history. Thus, it offers itself as an excellent starting point for an exploration of this dialectic that has defined the American people’s relationship with their land.

Unfortunately, this relationship often goes unexplored by students at the urban high school in which we teach. The school primarily serves children of color, many of whom lack the resources to explore the local,state, and national parks near their neighborhoods. According to the Outdoor Foundation, only 8% of black adolescents and 12% of Hispanic adolescents participated in outdoor activities in 2015, miniscule numbers compared to 71% of their white peers.As America grows increasingly diverse, this gap portends significant consequences not only for communities of color, but for the earth itself. The damaging effects of human-caused climate change are increasingly manifest and necessitate an “all hands on deck” response – one that is only possible if all people, including our students, become advocates for conservation.

Our self-guided fellowship into Alaska’s wilderness will enable us to report back to our students not only its beauty, but also the imperative to preserve that beauty. As a U.S. history teacher and an English teacher who teach juniors, we will equip our students to step into the wilderness – Alaskan and local, past and present – in order to experience the wonder of the earth and the need to preserve it for future generations. Like Muir, we are documenting our adventure, in writing and digitally, in order to create a meaningful experiential unit that transports students to the Alaskan wilds with the aim of inspiring students to seek out such experiences for themselves while also advocating for the preservation and protection of the natural world.”

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Armed with a 360 degree camera, Frank and Brandon are capturing experiences for their students, including:

• Observing the impact of the ExxonValdez oil slick and climate change on Kenai Fjords National Park;
• Witnessing the human-nature relationship on Reeve’s Field, the airstrip used to support the Pacific Theater during World War II;
• Exploring in Denali National Park and Preserve the Kantishna Mining District;
• Flying above the Arctic Circle to tour Simon Paneak Memorial Museum,
  which documents the natural, geological and cultural history of the Nunamiut people;
• Backpacking in lands preserved by the
  Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act

In addition to incorporating images and experiences into U.S. History and English III classes, the teaching team plans to collaborate with colleagues to create an experiential interdisciplinary unit that promotes outdoor engagement and conservation. They also believe their experiences will help grow the school’s Outdoor Leadership Club, which Brandon founded last year. Lastly, students will visit a local tract of land managed by the National Park Service, interviewing rangers about local issues that interact with what their teachers learned in Alaska. Students’ research will culminate in a joint English – U.S. History research and advocacy project they’ll present to peers, teachers, parents, community members and park rangers.

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Brandon is dedicated to preparing his students for active citizenship in the world by infusing his classes with authentic reading and writing. In 2016, he co-founded the school’s Outdoor Leadership Club in an effort to diversify the outdoors and expose students to the beauty of nature. In addition to being a Fund for Teachers Fellow, Frank has received a Teaching American History grant and studied the Civil Rights Movement at Cambridge University through the Gilder-Lehrman Institute.

Think The Magic School Bus meets a bookmobile and you have the classroom on wheels changing students’ lives in Chattanooga, TN.

Brittany Harris (2013 FFT Fellow) and her colleague Colleen Ryan re-purposed and “tricked out” a short school bus they now take to students’ homes on the weekends to extend lessons and connect with working parents. Brittany, a teacher at Hardy Elementary, bought the bus with her own money, so committed was she to students’ success. Ultimately, the red bus, affectionately called “The Passage,” has been underwritten by local businesses and philanthropies, as well as a T-shirt fundraiser.

Watch local news coverage of The Passage here.

“Enabling our students to succeed, despite where they come from, was oneof the major reasons I used a Fund for Teachers grant to attend the “Teaching with Poverty in Mind” and “Tools for Maximum Engagement seminars” said Brittany after completing her fellowship.“Our students come from a background of poverty and we want them to have maximum engagement in their academics.”

The vehicle for engagement is now actually a vehicle. Since last November, Brittany and Colleen spend every weekend rolling into neighborhoods and swinging open the doors for their students, who eagerly enter for math and reading tutorials.

“Fund for Teachers granted me the opportunity to learn, serve and infuse strategies that have built a better and stronger community,” said Brittany. “I learned how to teach with students in poverty, and make a positive impact on student growth. I also gained knowledge on how to engage every child daily. What truly opened my eyes during that innovative week was that the teacher holds the greatest percentage of student achievement. With that information, I created plans and goals to strive for my students to reach their greatest potential.  Fund for Teachers allowed me to build on previous knowledge and make a  powerful impact. I appreciate that amazing ability to create a strong influence for teachers to persevere and seek more.”

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UPDATE: Watch Brittany win $10,000 on The Ellen Show as part of 2018 Teacher Appreciation Week!

As I think about my teaching practice, I believe it is important to provide my bilingual second grade students with a well-developed and engaging science curriculum. I recently read a study that showed only 10% of workers in science and engineering fields were African-American or Latino. As a teacher of students who are 98% Latinos, I want my students to see opportunities in these fields and I believe it is my responsibility to provide them with a strong base in early childhood to empower them to pursue scientific careers.

To that end, I decided to model for them scientific inquiry by designing a Fund for Teachers fellowship to explore the unique geography and biological diversity of the American Southwest. For two weeks last summer, I investigated geological formations and desert habitats to develop an integrated unit that references Southwestern literature and folk tales.

Before my fellowship, I was struggling to find meaningful ways for my students to connect to our science unit about rocks and pebbles. The curriculum felt stale and boring to me, so it was understandably difficult to get kids enthusiastic about something that I was finding dull. By exploring the parks and learning about the formation of canyons and rock formations, my excitement flourished and in turn reinvigorated the unit with some fresh lessons and demonstrations. I learned that, like my students, real authentic experiences deepen my knowledge.

During my fellowship, I was able to learn extensively about our national parks. I visited 8 national parks, 2 state parks and 2 parts of the Navajo Nation.  I collected information from both Park Rangers and locals about the region and its treasures. Since I couldn’t take my students with me it was important for me to bring my learning back to them. Through photos, artifacts and stories I was able to find ways to incorporate my leaning and experiences back to our work in the classroom.

I attended a number of presentations given by park rangers. It was truly inspiring to see the wide variety of topics that individual rangers and researchers are currently studying. I attended programs that varied from evidence of dinosaurs found in the Grand Canyon to the formation of the Rocky Mountains. One of the biggest lessons for me was how the rangers were definitely looking for more questions than answers. When I questioned different rangers for ideas for my own classroom, they often returned to the idea of encouraging student questioning. This pushed me to incorporate more inquiry into my lessons.

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Back in the classroom as a result of my fellowship, students are now:

• Conducting investigations on how rocks can be classified in different ways.
• Simulating erosion, weathering, and glacier’s effects on lands.
• Reading folktales from the region.
• Writing creative legends to describe natural phenomenon in my photographs.
• Studying the unique characteristics of the desert habitat and what adaptations are needed to survive there.
• Creating maps and travel logs that recreate my fellowship practicing map skills and elapsed time.

Participating in my own self-directed learning experience revitalized my teaching with fresh perspectives. As I enter my sixteenth year in the classroom, this fellowship provided me with time and space to reflect upon my teaching practice, as well as how it has changed over the years. By designing my own learning plan, I was able to focus on some of the elements that brought me to teaching in the first place. I am excited to recommit myself as an educator to curiosity and questioning.

I did not anticipate how much the level of autonomy would effect my learning in this fellowship. I knew that I would learn more about land forms and geography; I didn’t realize how much I would be influenced by how we learn. The education system has been moving to a more test based, data based, linear view of education. This fellowship reminded me to push back on this and allow space for questioning and curiosity. By exploring my own topics, I was able to connect to ways my students can explore in our classroom. By seeing various researchers explore their own topics and connect with
others in novel ways, I was able to see how intellectual sharing is able to deepen one’s own understanding.

This fellowship helped bring me back to center in my educational philosophy which has in its own way eroded over time. When I have spoken with other FFT Fellows, I think that this is one of the key components that makes this fellowship successful. I was able to create a fellowship that met my needs and as a result I was able to reflect on what the fellowship meant to my professional practice. This
time that I was able to study something of interest helped me connect to myself as a learner. This experience is personal for each grant recipient as we pursue topics of interest, but also immensely professional as we develop as educators.

To me, it is very powerful that as a veteran teacher I can speak about how my fellowship helped me to
develop as an educator. There are few learning experiences that I have that focus on my professional development; instead they are more frequently about analyzing data sets and adopting new methods. My Fund for Teachers fellowship let me step back and take a big picture view of what I want to do as an
educator. I went to study sand, rocks and land forms and left recommitted to fostering intellectual curiosity.

Mary Beth Werner (Telpochcalli Elementary School – Chicago, IL) is a second grade teacher who is passionate about bringing hands-on experiences to her classroom. She is a Drive Award winner, as well as a two-time FFT Fellow.

Today mark’s the third annual Mindfulness Day, but an increasing number of FFT Fellows use their grants to incorporate mindfulness into EVERY school day.

Deborah Howard and Judith Fitzgerald (Naubuc Elementary – Glastonbury, CT) spent a week this summer at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Stockbridge, MA.

“When we arrived at Kripalu, we were bubbly, excited and couldn’t stop talking, much like our students on the first day of school. Then, we immediately cringed when we noticed the ‘Quiet, please’ and ‘Enter mindfully’ signs posted everywhere,” said Deborah. “Through the techniques we learned and practiced, we can now help our students learn better emotion regulation leading to less stress and reduced impulsiveness.”

Although strangers prior to their fellowship, Shannon Kephart (Roberto Clemente Community Academy High School – Chicago) and Jodie Lang (Mary T. Murphy Elementary – Brandford, CT) both sought mindfulness practices at the same Buddhist monastery. Shannon teaches Algebra to special education students with various learning and emotional disabilities while Jodie teaches fifth graders at a Title I school. Independently, they observed students lacking focus, patience and cognitive flexibility. At Plum Village Mindfulness Retreat Center in Bordeaux, France, the teachers learned how to bring mindfulness into their own lives through learning sessions, meditations and the integration of mindfulness into daily chores on the working farm.

Shannon says her FFT fellowship completely shifted her mindset about how best to work with students to help them achieve as much success as possible.

“It has given me a new approach for helping students overcome anxiety, low confidence, and concentration difficulties and feel more connected to their school and schoolwork,” she said. “Often, students’ emotions and anxieties get in the way of them being willing to work and put in their best effort. By practicing mindfulness, students can begin to build their comfort level with themselves and grow into the strongest, most courageous, and thoughtful learners possible.”

Additional FFT Fellows research strategies for implementing yoga into their classrooms, like this team from Hinojosa Early Childhood/PreK in Houston who completed Yoga for Classroom Teachers training in the United Kingdom to promote teamwork, healthy living and improved concentration. See how other Fund for Teachers Fellows pursued mindfulness education by visiting our Project Search and enter the key word “mindfulness.”

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:

1. Become a pilgrim walking one of the oldest Christian pilgrimage routes to reflect on his
   personal, spiritual and professional life, and
2. 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.”

by, Britnie Girigorie & Simone English – Brooklyn, New York

When Europeans first began to colonize Australia in the 18th century, the traditionally nomadic culture of the Aborigine people changed drastically. Under British rule, the Aborigines lost much of the land that they lived off of for centuries. They were subjected to removal of their children from their homes, racism and genocide, denied the right to vote and state benefits and segregated from the main population of Australians. Due to their dark skin the Australian Aborigine people were easily identified and discriminated against. In the 1920’s, the beginnings of a Civil Rights Movement in Australia began to emerge. However, it wasn’t until the 1960′s that the movement began to gain traction. Freedom rides and peaceful protest modeled after the American Civil Rights Movement led to a constitutional referendum allowing the Aborigine people equal rights as Australian citizens.

As English teachers at FDNY High School for Fire and Life Safety, we both noticed a need for units of
study to introduce our students to the diverse world to which they currently have little access. Studying the Aborigine Civil Rights Movement allows our students to connect with a culture across the globe and discuss similarities of the human experience, cultivating empathy and compassion for all of humanity. Therefore, we designed our Fund for Teachers fellowship to spent two weeks in Australia researching the Aboriginal Civil Rights movement to discover how it reflects the more familiar struggle of African-Americans in the United States and create a curriculum about how self-expression helps convey human experiences common throughout the world.

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We started our research in Melbourne, where we visited several Aborigine museums and cultural centers. Also in Melbourne, we visited the Worawa Aboriginal School and met with the director, Ms. Lois Peeler. Ms. Peeler and her three sisters are the subjects of the movie The Sapphires that was released in the United States last year. She is to the Aborigine Civil Rights Movement what Rosa Parks was to African Americans. She is also the first Aborigine Super Model in the world.

While visiting the girls-only school, we had a meeting with several heads of departments there and
were given access to class rooms, dorm rooms and other areas of the school including spending time with the students. Over lunch, we learned from Ms. Peeler and others about the Aborigine movement and the progress of the Aborigines in Australia. We discovered that many of the girls were deaf because they live in remote villages and didn’t have access to proper medical care. However, to help with that, all the classrooms have surround sound hearing aids and the teachers speak through a microphone hung from her/his neck.

Our initial question was “How did the American Civil Rights Movement influence that of the Aborigine People?” However, not long after we arrived we realized that we would have to first answer other questions, such as “Where are the Aborigine people now?” We were surprised to find that not
many Australians knew about the Aborigines or simply where they lived. Even when we visited the cultural centers, information about the Aborigine people was limited and sketchy. Visiting the Worawa School really enhanced our learning.

Our second week was spent in Sydney were we visited an Aborigine cultural center. We were privileged to sit with elders who told us stories and showed us how to create our own boomerangs. We witnessed
traditional dances and participated in a smoke ceremony.

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We developed the following essential questions to engage our students and school community:

How did the American Civil Rights Movement influence that of the Aborigine people?

In addition to looking to at the American Civil Rights model, we also study Aboriginal literature to discover what forms of self-expression the Aborigine people used to convey their challenges and triumphs? Our two texts for the unit are:

• Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington Garimara, a story about three Aboriginal girls of the “stolen generation”and their escape from a reserve in their attempt to find home; and,
• Dream Keepers: A Spirit-journey into Aboriginal Australia by Harvey Arden, who takes the reader into the minds, hopes and dreams of the Australian Aborigine people through mythical narrative about their traditional beliefs.

The poems we study include “A Song of Hope” by Oogeroo Noonuccal; “Word of a Ghetto Child” by Ray Sailor; and “What Becomes of us Now?” by Richard G. Kennedy. We also study poems from African American poets such as “Mother to Son” and “Too America” by Langston Hughes and “America” by Claude McKay. Through these books and poems, students experience the pain, the fears, the hopes, dreams, resilient spirit and the triumphs of the Aborigine people. We will seek to uncover what heroes or key figures emerged during this movement and how they use words to inspire change. Answers to these essential questions help our students understand the human struggle and human experience through the similarities in the fight for equal rights of Aborigines and African-Americans.

In addition, we developed an interdisciplinary curriculum unit with colleagues which will spark a culture of leadership, growth and learning among our school staff and we learned how two cultures so drastically different, used similar methods to gain equal rights. Students are learning about the Aborigine people through viewing photos, video footage and artifacts. They now know that African-Americans are not the only group of people who have had to fight for equal rights. This has cultivated empathy within our students, as well as a connection to another culture.

Learning about the struggle for human rights across the globe has fostered a sense of citizenship within our students, inspiring them to fight for themselves, as well as others, in the face of inequalities at the hands of the society. Students are also learning to value and understand differences among people. We help them begin to understand that the human experience is similar across many cultures. The Australian Aborigines, to which we may feel we have very little connection at the surface, faced inequalities and injustices similar to the family members of many of our students. This realization develops a tolerance for difference and a sense of advocacy for
others who may be suffering.

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Living, studying and traveling within Australia for two weeks allowed us to gain a deep understanding for the Aboriginal people. Consequently, we now teach our students about what we learned with a passion that stems from personal experiences. We serve as examples for our students to take advantage of learning opportunities and never be afraid to grow professionally or personally. This opportunity to learn and carry out our own professional development allowed us to cultivate our interests and think carefully and strategically about our skills, knowledge and curriculum development practice as well as to foster our curriculum development skills. Through our fellowship, we developed a
common core unit based on what we observed and lived is an unmatched once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that surely ignited a fire within us.

by, Jessica Mascle, Anthony Riccio, Nate Streicher & Eric Levine – Amherst, NY

On an early Sunday morning in July the Tapestry Charter School Civil Rights team traveled to Little Rock, AR for a truly unique experience. We designed our Fund for Teachers fellowship to attend an educators’ Civil Rights Institute to help students make important connections between historic events and challenges of modern society in a way that engages the question, “How can I make a difference?” Little did we know that casual conversations had with fellow educators, hotel workers, shop keepers and cab drivers would be engraved in our minds and retold in our stories of the battle for civil rights.

During the course of the week, we were students engaged in the investigation of primary sources, fieldwork, experts and assessment tools.  Our group traveled to several historic sights including the Arkansas State Capital and Little Rock Central High School.  During these experiences, participants read excerpts from Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals, which fostered a visual understanding of the author’s writing and therefore created an emotional connection that reading the text in a classroom would not foster.

The importance of the Little Rock Nine is incalculable. Perhaps the most compelling discovery was the idea of personal narratives of the students themselves and the community at large. During our time in Little Rock, we were surprised by the impromptu “narratives” we were told by cab drivers as we were given informal sight seeing tours of the city. We were inspired by working with other educators, learning how different schools teach social justice issues, learning from the people who were living in Little Rock during the school integration crisis, learning new ways to use protocols for writing and processing fieldwork, and gaining new ideas for writing projects and final products.

The zenith of the week was sitting down and speaking with our interview subjects. Our conversations turned into our product:personal narratives telling the story of our subjects – their struggles, hardships
and ultimate ability to succeed in the South.

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Far north of the Mason-Dixon Line we returned with the reality that although the fight for Civil Rights has come a long way, we still have a long way to go. From conversations with other Institute participants, informal conversations with cab drivers and shop keepers, and the interview sessions, all those involved painted a vivid picture of how America is still not equal.

Our experiences during the Institute allowed us to reevaluate our teaching plans to focus on connections from the Civil Rights Movement to modern day civil rights efforts, including those in our own school community, and what they hope to achieve. Western New York is a very diverse place and being so lends itself to the stories, struggles and tribulations of those who live here. By examining Western New York and our own school, we will be able to create a personal connection with our students, making the content more meaningful.

Experiences on our fellowship taught us is that history is better told by listening to a story than simply reading it out of a textbook. We now teach our students interview and oral history recording techniques that we learned and send them out into the Western New York community to obtain first hand stories of community members that have encountered hardships and struggles trying to achieve equality and respect so that future generations will be able to read and partake in the local civil rights movement. Additionally, we:

• Revised and implemented a successful 11th grade curriculum to narrow the focus from the evolution of the American Ideals to the application of the ideals of Democracy in Buffalo, NY;
• Created a personal narrative project for his 12th grade Economics and Government students that is influenced by the techniques learned at the Civil Rights Institute. Students interview local business leaders, politicians,and activists to explore the meaning of “heroism.” They then write personal narratives based on their interviews, which are presented to the subjects in person;
• Created a 10th grade curriculum with a fellow teacher to broaden the focus from the tension between government oversight and individual liberties to a deep look at the importance of human rights and the violations of this basic idea. This includes the case study of the Little Rock Nine as a point of departure for rest of the expedition; and,
• Wrote a series of lessons to explore the ties between the search for civil rights and the use of restorative justice to create a strong community.

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The most memorable experience of our fellowship was a conversation we had with a cab driver named Owen. We asked him to reflect on his 60 years living in Little Rock and if life has changed for the better. He told us “you are naive to think that discrimination has ended. It has simply just changed its shape, color and stripes.“

Our job as educators is to make sure our society does not become complacent with injustices, and to make sure our students and children know that issues can not be changed if others do not know about them. Through case studies in classes and activities in crew, students will deepen their understanding of civil right and the importance of community.

2018 Update: Since submitting this story, Diego shared this story:

 

“FFT was transformative, probably the best PD I have done as an educator. My fellowship in South Africa included a visit with Christo Brand, one of Mandela’s former prison wardens who eventually became Mandela’s friend, confidant and served with him when he became president. It worked out beautifully, as Mr. Brand visited my school in Fall of 2015 and FFT allowed me to travel for my fellowship in December of that year, so we stayed in touch and I had the chance to learn first hand about what it was like to be next to Mandela. This picture of Christo and me is right after visiting Robben Island on a beautiful crisp morning in Cape Town.

 

I’ve continued to use what I learned in my fellowship with my classes. All of my students read a chapter from Mandela’s Robben Island: The Dark Years, his memoir of his imprisonment, in a class called LeadServe, where we think about citizenship and civics. 

 

Teaching this class led me to be selected as one of 20 national fellows working with Citizen University, based out of Seattle, to think of new ways of bringing citizens together and engaging the through public “Civic Seminaries.” I trace this work directly to my learning as an FFT Fellow.”

by, Diego Duran-Medina – Estes Park, CO

For most of my social studies students at Eagle Rock High School, social justice is perceived as very US centric, mostly revolving around American historical figures like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks. I designed my Fund for Teachers fellowship to expand students’ knowledge base to an international context by researching social justice in South Africa. For two weeks, I explored the history, impact and legacy of apartheid and Nelson Mandela to gather lessons for students as they begin defining their own path within our progressive, restorative-justice based alternative school. In doing so, I’m facilitating students’ understanding of issues around social justice movements by comparing and contrasting the Civil Rights Movement with apartheid and reconciliation.

My passion for this fellowship comes from having spent over a decade developing my own curricula around issues involving access, social justice, civil rights, definitions of citizenship and exploring what it means to belong and exclude in different contexts. I have never been a traditional teacher relying on textbooks; instead, I prefer to create learning experiences around current events, historical narratives and issues that my students are interested in. This has to do with my own development as a student who always enjoyed history, but found it to be a subject that can often be reduced to static dates, rote memorization and mythology of “great (white) men.” My passion is driven by the fact I want students to know I continue to expand my knowledge and to actively seek new answers with new questions by traveling to a country and culture that I have never visited, but has always fascinated me – South Africa.

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I chose to spend my fellowship observing and researching the Mandela Museum in Mthatha, the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, Mandela Square and the Mandela House in Soweto, because I believe that these places offer a perspective that can only be experienced by visiting and have become part of Nelson Mandela’s myth and legacy. By visiting sites over multiple days, I gathered detailed and thorough information to supplement my teaching and curriculum. I also interacted with educators and museum personnel to connect with those who were able to provide personal insight into Mandela’s life and legacy. As a result, I added an important layer of an international focus with an in-depth study of a historical figure beyond the usual pantheon of Civil Rights figures from the US context. My curricula will deepen with a specific example of social justice and a comparative model with apartheid for looking at slavery, oppression and freedom.

On January 6, I started a class called LeadServe, taking a hard look at what it means to work for democracy in different contexts: the two primary examples we will use are Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Students will learn though readings, historical context, connected facts and artifacts collected from my fellowship. They will develop a notion of history that moves beyond facts and moves from the impersonal to the personal (i.e.“What does this history mean for my own life?”) They will also develop skills in comparing and contrasting cultures, movements, societies and historical figures, specifically the U.S. and South Africa.

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Being awarded this fellowship solidified for me that I can be a teacher who focuses on social justice and that my work has real meaning and substance. These stories need to be told to students in a way that goes beyond the classroom or the textbook, and the example I am setting by
traveling to South Africa is much more powerful than just a lecture on apartheid.

There’s a certain inspiration and renewal of the spirit that happens when I pursue these personal passion projects and it helps inject my career with new energy and
focus. Also, as I advance in my career, I am committed to making sure that younger teachers understand the power of experiential learning for their practice and are able to implement similar experiences in their classrooms and curricula.

Learning through travel is the most powerful combination for connecting the classroom and community, the learning with the doing, and the present with the past. Therefore, I am extremely grateful for this opportunity and treasure the days I spent in South Africa, both learning and reflecting on my practice. I consider it an honor to have been selected as a Fund for Teachers Fellow and entrusted with representing myself, my school and my country.

Eagle Rock School is a full-scholarship high school for 72 adolescents who are not thriving in their current situations, for whom few positive options exist and who are interested in taking control of their lives and learning. Eagle Rock is also a Professional Development Center where educators from across the country learn how to re-engage, retain and graduate students. Diego plans to use his fellowship learning in both settings.

We live in a paradox, a society of consumption and waste paired with health concerns over rising obesity. The high prevalence of overweight children and unhealthy eaters within our student population highlights the importance of examining factors affecting their food choices. As educators with 27 years of collective experience in elementary education, we’ve witnessed positive changes to policies regarding school lunches and snacks, yet it is our belief that if students become more involved in the actual growing of healthy food while learning organic practices and sustainability, they are more likely to develop lifelong healthy eating habits and values consistent with sustainable living.

Hombre Farm, where organic cheese is produced and distributed locally

Therefore, we designed our Fund for Teachers fellowship to research the sustainable food movement in Italy by exploring organic gardens, specifically the first Zero-Waste town of Capannori, to influence organic gardening projects within the school community and influence students’ healthy food choices.

Italy is the European leader in organic farming, with approximately 45,000 operational organic farms – 2,300 in the Tuscan region alone. The demand for organic produce in Italy has grown significantly since World War II, thus sustainability has become a lifestyle, a culture among Italians countrywide. An essay written for NewFarm.org, states, “Italy is smaller than the state of New Mexico, but it has more land under organic management than does the entire United States.” We spent 14 days last summer researching organic farms in “the Green Heart of Italy” by:

• Exploring Rome’s role in shaping Italy’s Slow Food movement (the city is also the seat of the United Nation’s Food & Agriculture Organization)
• Interviewing owners of biological farmhouses and organic farms across Tuscany, the agricultural heart of Italy
• Touring an Anaerobic Digestion Plant to learn about the composting process
• Witnessing agriculture enhanced by a well-developed use of fertilizers and a wide net of irrigation systems in the Lombardy region
• Observing in Milan the largest collection program of organics on the planet, and,
• Experiencing the largest science and technology museum in Italy

The knowledge we acquired gave us the confidence and expertise to apply effective and efficient
teaching methods that will promote content-rich instruction. We now have the conviction and self-assurance in our understanding to share with and help other teachers, as well as our students, and to make their learning more meaningful.

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Although the impact of our fellowship in the classroom and community is just beginning, it mirrors this year’s school theme, “From Small Beginnings Come Great Things at USE,” inspired by our fellowship and new school-wide garden. T-shirts bearing the slogan were made for all the staff and sold to students and families by the PTA.  With information acquired through our meeting with the town council of Capannori during our fellowship, we are expanding our school-wide recycling program, as well as the program that donates unopened milk and food items to non-profit organizations. We are also implementing a school composting program, run by our student council, to facilitate student awareness of how prior waste becomes nutrient rich soil.

Other plans for the academic year involve students tilling and planting phases of our newly constructed organic garden. Each grade level has their own plot to tend. Students researched and identified an organic source from which to purchase different types of seeds for our soil and climate. The effort also involves collaboration with science, math and writing teachers to form lessons that incorporate:

• steps and phases of the gardening process to include research of beneficial insects
• composting and fertilizing the soil
• planting the seeds and tending the garden
• communicating and writing about patience and observations as students wait, watch and wonder, and,
• learning the significance of zero-kilometer and the slow-food movement.

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Teachers long to have first-hand knowledge and we know how important it is that our students have it, as well.  When students lack personal experiences, teachers need to be prepared to compensate and build connections. We know that with hands-on, direct and personal experiences, learning at any age becomes more evident and meaningful offering higher chances of retaining and applying the information. For teachers to be awarded the chance [through Fund for Teachers] to lend possibilities to all types of diverse learners from disparate backgrounds is an incredible gesture of graciousness and generosity.  We had ideas and plans and hopes, and we were able to live those out and return  with a renewed sense of passion and purpose ready to share, to offer and to engage with what will remain with us for the rest of our lives.

UPDATE

This month, the science team at Stephens Elementary won a $5,000 grant from the KatyISD Education Foundation for their school garden!

Stacy Slater and Becca White teach at Ursula Stephens Elementary in Katy, TX. You can follow on Twitter progress of the new school garden at @StacylSlater or using hashtag #useitaly.  

When the Ebola outbreak caught the attention of my students, I looked for ways to capitalize on that interest and help them look at the global issue through the lens of statistical modeling – but I felt ill prepared. Most of the educational materials I found online were focused on the biology of pathogens and how to spot the symptoms. One student said, “The person on the news told me not to worry, that chances of getting Ebola are low. How low is low? And isn’t there a possibility?” As a Statistics teacher, I answered, “There is always a possibility.”

That answer did not satisfy my students, nor did it satisfy me. I want my students to know that I am the kind of teacher who listens to their questions and who takes their curiosity seriously. I designed a Fund for Teachers fellowship to deepen my understanding of mathematical modeling and statistics in the context of Public Health and Epidemiology in two phases over a three-week period. For the first phase, I participated in the “Introduction to Infectious Disease Modeling and Its Applications” course at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; for the second phase I visited governmental,non-governmental, and academic institutions across the east coast of the United States.

Teaching, in many ways, is analogous to what Epidemiologists do: studying the spread of knowledge (instead of disease) and consistently planning and implementing intervention plans and measuring the impact of those interventions.

In London, I was introduced to this exciting and expanding area by professionals working on infectious diseases in both developing and developed countries. The emphasis was on developing a conceptual understanding of the basic methods and on their practical application, rather than the manipulation of mathematical equations. Back in the States, I met with experts at the Yale School of Public Health in New Haven, CT, Partners in Health in Boston, and National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. I sat down with people who use Statistics in their careers to better understand the world around them, and made videos of our discussions to expose students to careers in fields that are not often covered in the media.

Throughout  my fellowship, I was reminded that learning in context is important. In math, topics can often seem random and as though you are marching through a disconnected series of rules and procedures. The learning I accomplished this summer is in a beautifully real-world context, which motivates me to keep going. I wanted to figure out the formula because I wanted to know how the average age of infection has changed since a vaccination has been introduced. After this experience, I am recommitted to the importance of students learning mathematics because so much of our understanding of science and society has foundations in algebra and statistics.

Through the lessons and projects built on the foundation of my fellowship, students will learn about careers in health and research that they can pursue and what academic background they would need to be prepared for those fields. I am excited to implement my senior-freshman health and mathematics writing buddy program this fall. I am working with the ten 9th grade Health Writing teachers to develop an Infectious Disease unit for which my AP Statistics students will serve as student mentors. I foresee great benefits for the seniors learning about writing in the math content area who will be able to turnkey that knowledge and become more confident through their work with freshmen.

I used to think about a career change from teaching to working in public health, but through my experience this summer I realized that I do work in public health- I teach statistical literacy and help students be responsible owners of their minds and bodies. I am recommitted to my career in education, realizing that I am able to effect the change I would want to through a different career right where I am.

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Eleanor Terry Vierling has been teaching math at the High School for Telecommunication Arts and Technology (HSTAT) in Brooklyn, NY, for almost 10 years. She has taught everything form numeracy to AP Statistics. Five years ago, she also took on the role of college advisor.  In 2013, Eleanor was awarded the Sloan Award for Excellence in Teaching Science and Mathematics.

Boston Public Schools closed today due to -20 degree wind chills. Sounds like the schools need some geothermal heating that Fellows Kristen Cacciatore and Mandy Dillingham researched in Iceland last summer with their Fund for Teachers grant.

These East Boston High teachers spent a week investigating 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.

“We designed our Fund for Teachers fellowship to go to the world’s leader in renewable energy generation. We gained new insight into how best to combat climate change by using renewable energy sources that do not produce carbon dioxide emissions in the place of fossil fuels. Our goal is to use these experiences and new knowledge to develop curricula that empower students to develop new ideas to change current energy practices in our school and community,” wrote Mandy.

The teachers found that Icelanders take pride in their use geothermal energy to heat water used in everything from homes to public swimming pools. After renting a car, the explored Hellisheidi, the second largest geothermal power station in the world (pictured above), hiked the Hengill Volcano and explored Pingvellir, the national park where two tectonic plates meet. They also toured an innovative greenhouse that grows tomatoes using 100% of its energy from geothermal heat.

Back in Boston (although not today) Kristen and Mandy teach a newly-developed curricula that addresses climate change and the use alternate forms of energy to alleviate carbon dioxide emissions that will be delivered to hundreds of students this year alone. They are also incorporating their fellowship learning into climate change activities with the Science Club they co-lead after school. Students are in the process of developing a series of fun, informative, video clips about climate change in our local area, and ways to conserve energy, which will be delivered on school-wide TVs.

“On our fellowship, we learned how a large community was able to vastly reduce its amount of carbon dioxide production by using geothermal heat and how this heat is converted to electricity to significantly improve the quality of life of Icelanders,” said Kristen. “And our adventures in Iceland have inspired our students to try to prevent global warming by changing how the energy they use every day is produced.”

You can learn more about their experiences on the blog they developed and updated daily for faculty, family, and students to follow.

An additional BPS teacher, Alex Pancic (Brighton High) also used his FFT grant to research energy in Iceland. Specifically, Alex enrolled in Reykjavik University’s School of Energy program to learn how Iceland maximizes alternative energy systems and incorporate these solutions, along with photos and interviews, into an Engineering for the 21st Century curriculum.