Teacher Appreciation Week is nearly here, and National Teacher Day is May 7. This is the time of year when everything is wrapping up, and it’s also the perfect time to offer a major round of applause for some exemplary educators.
Some teachers go above and beyond to engage their students and expose them to new types of learning. These educators often bring great things back from professional development sessions, many of which take place over the summer.
The national nonprofit Fund for Teachers has awarded 531 pre-K to 12 educators $2 million in grants to make their self-designed growth fellowships a reality this summer. The fellowships will take these educators all around the world, spanning 280 countries and every continent in the name of enriching educational experiences.
Fund for Teachers aims to improve teacher effectiveness by asking them what they need in order to succeed. Once teachers identify gaps in student learning, Fund for Teachers pays for their summer adventures, which are designed to inspire deeper learning for students.
The 531 educators who received grants are listed on Fund for Teacher’s website, along with details on the purpose of each grant.
The EdWorld Community staff picked 10 favorite educational odysseys to share with you. After reading, share what your ideal self-designed professional development/growth adventure would be. How would your students benefit from your summer experience?
Favorites from the List:
-Darla Schroeder, Holly Larson, Jenna Evans and Kyla Manske of Lawrence Lawson Elementary School in Sparta, Wisconsin will explore the inspiration, culture, heritage and landscape for Perrault and Brothers Grimm fairy tales across Germany and France, in order to ignite student interest in fairy tales and promote a passion for reading.
-Michael Lascovone of McKinley Technology High School in Washington, D.C., will sail with educators, artists and scientists in the Arctic Circle for one month, creating GPS-based mapping projects, an interactive travel log documenting the effects of climate change and video/online journals, in order to develop content for a new technology class.
-Melissa Schmitz of Spring Woods High School in Houston, Texas will examine the work of Israelis and Palestinians who are working together to resolve political, economic, social and environmental issues in Telaviv, Ramallah and Jerusalem, in order to show students how different peoples with a long history can coexist and collaborate to improve the lives of many.
-Beth McCoy, Amanda Lafferty, Jennifer Zeigler and Heather O’Brien of Normal Park Museum Magnet Lower School in Chattanooga, Tennessee will become field researchers in the Costa Rican rainforest and explore volcanic craters, cloud forests, wildlife sanctuaries and national parks, in order to enrich current curricula and prompt students to pursue conservation efforts in their hometown.
-Sherryl Johnson of Larkin Bailey Elementary School in Owasso, Oklahoma will research in Austria and Switzerland the pre-World War II kindertransport rescue of 10,000 children from the Nazis, in order to encourage and inspire students struggling to overcome the deterioration of their social/family structures.
-Melissa Fredericks of Genessee Community Charter School in Rochester, New York will follow the Oregon Trail through Wyoming and across the Continental Divide to explore America’s movement west during the mid-1800s, in order to help students better understand early pioneers’ struggles and accomplishments.
-Mary Morgan of Linwood Monroe Arts Plus K-3 in Saint Paul, Minnesota will participate in the ‘Artist in Italy’ workshop in Chiusi, Italy, then examine the art, monuments, museums and culture of Rome, in order to develop artistic abilities transferrable to an arts-infused curriculum that satisfies state and district mandates.
-Craig Wisniewski and Lauren Hotz of Springfield Renaissance School in Springfield, Massachusetts will participate in Teaching Shakespeare through Performance at Shakespeare’s Globe in London, in order to craft a performance-based curriculum that emphasizes the development of “soft skills” such as critical thinking/problem solving, communication, collaboration and creativity.
-Kim Goldsmith of Southside Occupational Academy High School in Chicago, Illinois will complete the National Outdoor Leadership School’s Yukon Outdoor Educator Backpacking and Whitewater Canoeing Course in Canada, in order to develop hiking, camping and canoeing skills and create an outdoor education course for students with autism and other developmental disabilities.
-Lancelot Reed of Francisco Middle School in San Francisco, California will research and document Peruvian and Incan architecture, blending history of ancient civilizations into a science curriculum on engineering in order to help students look into the past and find solutions for the future.
To learn more about Fund for Teachers, view the online application, or to see the complete list, visit http://www.fundforteachers.org.
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