FUND FOR TEACHERS AWARDS $1.7 MILLION TO 396 TEACHERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY

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May 11, 2023, 06:00 ET

National nonprofit invests in PK-12 teachers through their self-designed summer fellowships to engage public/private/charter school students with relevant learning

HOUSTON, May 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Fund for Teachers has announced the names of 396 teachers to receive $1.7 million in grants to experience learning they proposed as vital to their students' success. Because the nonprofit places no limits on what is learned – or where – these teachers will pursue topics as diverse as cacao farming and Yiddish music in locales as far flung as Penland, North Carolina and the fragile Alpine ecosystem of Andorra.

A complete list of 2023 Fund for Teachers Fellows can be found here.

FFT Fellow Ariana Sanders (Cincinatti, OH) designed a fellowship to participate in the Witness Tree Institute's immersive educator experience in Ghana. She explored the impact of colonization, as well as how Africans protect their natural resources, to inform the development of learning objectives and course modules for Ethnic Studies, to be offered to Ohio’s high school teachers. (Pictured at the Assin Manso Slave River)

Since 2001, Fund for Teachers has invested $36 million in more than 9,500 educators, transforming grants into growth for teachers and their students.

"Teachers are the backbone of our society," said Karen Eckhoff, executive director. "They educate, encourage, and empower the children who will shape our future. And in our post-pandemic, school shooting society, their role is even more amplified. There can be no better investment."

At a time when large numbers of teachers are leaving the profession due to a myriad of factors, Fund for Teachers grants represent trust in teachers' professionalism and capacity for meeting the diverse needs of each classroom and student.

"The Fund for Teachers fellowship made me feel like I was good at my job, that I was capable of growth, and that I was willing to go the extra mile (or 7,468 miles) to get better at what I do," said Sarah Slack, teacher at The Montauk School in Brooklyn, NY. With her grant, Sarah researched physical and behavioral traits of gray wolves in natural and artificial settings to support the development of a Genetics, Heredity, and Evolution unit plan that uses the study of wild and domestic canines to anchor the curriculum and promote student engagement.

In addition to its summer fellowships, the organization also re-invests in its Fellows by awarding Innovation Circle Grants to deepen learning around a topic (this year "Centering Students") -- first independently during the summer, then throughout the fall with other Fellows and led by a Fellow. Over the past two decades, FFT Fellows have pursued new knowledge and insights in 170 countries on every continent, with the majority remaining in North America. Visit www.fundforteachers.org for more information.

MEDIA CONTACT
Carrie Caton Smith, Fund for Teachers
[email protected]

SOURCE Fund for Teachers