EL and FFT are pleased to announce this year’s Fund for Teachers fellows from Expeditionary Learning Schools.

32 teachers – 18 proposals - were funded in 2011, with a total contribution from FFT of just over $120,000, to pursue a great range of exciting experiences. Take the time to read through these project descriptions – you will be inspired.

Out of a total of 64 individual and team applications, the following were awarded:

1. Rayna Dineen from the Santa Fe School for the Arts & Sciences in Santa Fe, NM.
To study the heritage and strategies of service at India's renowned Riverside School and Gandhi's ashram to enrich her school's service learning program.

2. Sydney Chaffee from the Codman Academy Charter Public School in Dorchester, MA.
To witness post apartheid-era restorative justice efforts in South Africa to inform her school's Fairness Committee and justice-centered curriculum.

3. Jessica Bruck from the Validus Preparatory Academy in the Bronx, NY.
To study Peruvian arts, architecture, and the mathematical systems of Incan culture to enrich and enliven mathematics instruction.

4. Wilson Boyd from the LEAD Academy High School in Nashville, TN.
To participate in a month-long NOLS wilderness training seminar, earning Wilderness First Responder certification, to lead a student outdoor club and its overnight wilderness trips.

5. Seth Rader from the James Baldwin School in New York, NY.
To observe human rights and education programs in Cuba to enrich a learning expedition centered on the global economy and human rights.

6. Suzanne Shakespeare from the Santa Fe School for the Arts & Sciences in Santa Fe, NM.
To observe the world-famous preschool in Reggio Emilia, Italy, that focuses on high quality art studio environments for young children to encourage creativity and expressive cooperation.

7. Christopher Dolgos from the Genesee Community Charter School in Rochester, NY.
To traverse Europe researching Neanderthals, afterwards participating in a U.S. institute on stone-tool making, to establish a learning expedition for young students on Neanderthals.

8. Kylee Shipp from the Silverton School of Expeditionary Learning in Silverton, CO.
To study southern Mexico's visual arts and culture to enrich artistic and design activities for a student body with strong Mexican-American presence.

9. Jane Doherty from the Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School in New York, NY.
To participate in a training institute at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Stockbridge, MA, to support yoga instruction for urban students living in a high-stress, high poverty environment.

10. Ann Rybak from the Health Science School in Beaverton, OR.
To participate in artistic/environmental workshops in Colorado and Washington State to support an arts program connecting arts to the Pacific Northwest.

11. Valerie Sloane from Kettle Falls Elementary School in Kettle Falls, WA.
To enroll in the New England Conservatory of Music's Kodaly Music Institute, enhancing her musicianship and music teaching skills, to create an effective schoolwide music program.

12. The team from Springville ES in Beaverton, OR comprised of Debra Duffe, Kimberly Bakanec, Cynthia Pawlowski, Rhonda Carpenter, and Penny Patrick.
To attend a week-long Library of Congress Summer Institute in Washington, DC focused on the use of primary source documents in K-12 education.

13. The team from the Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School in New York, NY comprised of David Lenzner and Isabel Estrada-Jamison.
To study Cuba's hip-hop music and culture to enrich a learning expedition centered on music as cultural expression.

14. The team from the World of Inquiry School No. 58 in Rochester, NY comprised of Bridget Maio, Catherine Henzel, Lisa Tilley, and Kristen Burgmaster.
To research the fusion of arts, music, and movement in Ghana to enrich the student-led, schoolwide community meetings

15. The team from Kettle Falls 5-12 in Kettle Falls, WA comprised of Jonathan Esvelt and Alicia Whitney.
To travel to Alaska's Denali National Park for workshops on wolves and outdoor research/writing to support students' research of the wolf problem in their rural community.

16. The team from the Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School in New York, NY comprised of Susan Shiney, Kimberly Scher, and Melissa Glantz.
To travel to Mongolia to study the life and heritage of Genghis Khan to create a learning expedition on invaders through history, ancient and current.

17. The team from Cooperstown Middle School in Cooperstown, NY comprised of Jennifer Rightmyer, David Peplinski, and Diana Pollock.
To study the lives of rulers and commoners in Ancient Egypt through on site research in Egypt, to enrich a learning expedition led by teachers in all disciplines.

18. The team from Tapestry Charter School in Buffalo, NY comprised of Geoffrey Schutte and Kelly Kroese.
To study the reconciliation process in South Africa to strengthen the school's Restorative Justice program and justice-centered learning expeditions.