Happy Veteran’s Day!

Happy Veteran’s Day!

In honor of our favorite veteran (and FFT founder, Raymond Plank) and all those who served, we proudly share several FFT Fellows’ pursuit of learning that  introduces the next generations to those who helped secured their freedom:

• Chicago teacher Dan Lundak, who retraced his grandfather’s participation in the D-Day invasion to give students a personal story they can relate to when facing similar decisions about personal sacrifice;
• Iraqi War veteran and FFT Fellow Scott Glew, whose research of the World Wars resulted in a new Global Studies course called Conflict & Cooperation;
• Alabama teachers Tracy Boland and Tammy Guthery, who learned about Pearl Harbor from a 98-year-old survivor of the attack; and
• Houston teacher Jeff Walker, whose documentation of “The Gipper” resulted in a published biography.

After graduating from Yale University in 1944 with a bachelor of arts degree, Raymond served with the U.S. Army Air Corps as a bomber pilot in the South Pacific Theater of Operations against Japan during World War II. Raymond compared his feelings for Fund for Teachers, which he founded in 2001, to standing on a hot Texas airstrip during World War II:

“It just makes me tingle with pride at being part of it,” he said. “I’ve always felt that teachers deserved considerably more recognition and respect. We need more balance in our society and you get that balance and added dimension by impacting teachers’ lives.”

Read this letter sent to Raymond from another FFT Fellow who researched our veterans’ sacrifice, thanking him for his service and for his legacy with Fund for Teachers.