PEF Celebrates 2016 Fund For Teachers Fellows

For the fifth year in a row, Hamilton County public school teachers earned grants for summer learning experiences across the globe so they could come back and share what they learned with their students. The grants are made possible by the national nonprofit Fund for Teachers, administered locally through a partnership with Public Education Foundation.

“Fund for Teachers fellowships get to the heart of one of our strategic goals at PEF: to develop and advance highly effective teaching so that all students learn in classes that are engaging, relevant, and rigorous,” said Dan Challener, PEF president. “We know that when teachers return to their classrooms, their Fund for Teachers experiences help them create rich learning opportunities for our students.”

Fund for Teachers allotted $71,300 in grant awards for Hamilton County public school teachers this year. Teachers could apply for up to $5,000 as an individual or $10,000 as a team. Eighteen grant recipients (or fellows) from 11 schools visited 15 countries across four continents this summer. The 2016 cohort included:

·       Cara Stiles of Sale Creek Middle/High explored Iceland with a National Geographic team to pique student interest in global warming, geothermal energy, and space travel;

 .       Jessica Hubbuch and Sean Brown of The Howard School, who are environmental science teachers, trekked through Costa Rica, Belize and Guatemala to explore tropical rainforests, plate tectonics, and aquatic diversity as well as Central American culture and the Spanish language;

·       Christopher Raynolds of Signal Mountain Middle/High investigated the historical and cultural effects on Japan resulting from scientific innovation during World War II, to provide deeper perspective and context for history and science classes;

·       Sarah Lane of Woodmore (& now Ooltewah) Elementary and Zena Hanner-Buckley of Lakeside Academy are unlocking students’ imaginations as a result of their study of the origins of fairy tales in France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, and England;

·       John Echols, Elizabeth Bullard, and Melanie Collins of Center for Creative Arts attended the Boothbay Literacy Retreat in Maine to develop collaborative strategies and knowledge that will transform literacy teaching and school culture across 6th, 7th and 8th grade classrooms;

·       Michele Pesce of East Ridge Elementary and Reanee Jackson of Ivy Academy attended several Spanish language/cultural immersion programs in the US and in Central America to learn and evaluate different language acquisition strategies, and are employing those with the greatest potential to raise academic achievement;

·       Stevie Davis of East Ridge Elementary and Veronica McCuiston of North Hamilton County Elementary researched and observed endangered North American red wolves in several habitats of the Southeast US and are using this information to create wolf-study activity boxes and lesson plans available to all Hamilton County teachers;

·       Latanya Mason, Mary Avans, and Daniel Silva of Barger Academy of Fine Arts visited locales in Ecuador and Peru (including Machu Picchu and the Galapagos) to study landforms, wildlife, and indigenous peoples, and are using their findings and videos for environmental & cultural student projects; and

·       Kathryn Russell and Amanda Colvin of East Hamilton Middle/High traveled to Poland and Israel to gain insight into the experiences of Holocaust victims, bystanders and perpetrators, and to see how the lessons of the Holocaust are being applied to improve the modern world.

In partnership with PEF, Fund for Teachers has provided more than $450,000 in grants to 121 Hamilton County teachers over the last five years.