The Asheville City Schools Foundation is proud to announce the continued partnership with Fund For Teachers.
The ACSF has been providing opportunities for teachers to dig deep and learn more through the Innovator Fellows program for five years. This program has breathed new life into experienced teachers, filling classrooms with their enhanced inspiration. “Imagine our joy, when through a new partnership with the Fund for Teachers we were able to award Fellowships for international travel, throwing the doors to learning wide open for teachers in ACS,” says Executive Director, Kate Pett. The ACSF will be granting to 5-6 teachers in Asheville City Schools (ACS) an ALL-EXPENSE paid learning experience ANYWHERE in the world to study ANYTHING they would like for next summer (2015).
FFT is a national nonprofit that understands how important it is for teachers to experience the world first hand so they can share their knowledge with their students. Grants of up to $5,000 per individual, and $10,000 for a team, cover the complete cost of travel fare, food, lodging, and experiences so that you and your practice are enriched. FFT Fellows will pursue knowledge around the world this summer and then work as a cohort throughout the following school year to bring their global experiences back to students in Asheville classrooms. “Fund for Teachers bridges the gap between what teachers have and what students need to advance academically,” said Karen Webb, Fund for Teachers’ executive director. “Fellows turn our initial investment into broadened perspectives and engaged learning – for themselves and their students. The result is a transformed career and classroom.”
What are previous projects by Fund For Teachers Fellows?
For the 2014-15 school year, ACSF awarded FFT Fellowships to five ACS teachers. Brian Randall and Kelly McCarthy of Hall Fletcher Elementary traveled to the Atacama Desert in Chile to conduct astronomical observations and to study the Mars-like geology of the area. Misty Theisen and Paige Duft of Isaac Dickson Elementary went to Thailand to research the Loi Krathong Festival and the culture of Thailand through art and music. Patti Evans of Isaac Dickson Elementary (IDES) used a multi-media approach to explore, record, and document the daily lives of school children in South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, and Zimbabwe.
Patti Evans (classroom pictured above) has been implementing a unit on Africa in her first grade classroom at IDES. She has been teaching her students about the countries she visited and the students have been adding these countries to their maps of Africa. Throughout the unit, her students will contrast and compare their community in Asheville to communities in Africa. Evans uses books, photos and videos from her trip to help her students make these connections. The class was able to virtually “meet” students from their partner class in Harare, Zimbabwe and wrote them a letter about their school. Evans said, “I’ve been teaching for 15 years and to be able to step outside my comfort level and experience another culture this summer was just extraordinary. I feel like it opened up my mind, seeing how different and how same classrooms were in South Africa compared to North Carolina. It also made me bring back a new awareness to my children. This experience gave me a first-hand knowledge I never could have used if I hadn’t made that journey.”
Evans chose to go to Southern Africa to break down the stereotypes of how kids in Africa live. She said that, while life in African villages may be very different from Asheville, the students who live in African cities actually learn very similar subjects to what her students learn in Asheville. Evans said through observing classrooms in Africa, she realized, “Kids are kids all over the world. They need time to be comforted, respected, and acknowledged for who they are.” Evans is very excited that she has already heard her first graders talking about which countries they want to visit with their families.
Who is eligible to apply?
Asheville City School teachers who are employed full-time as a PreK-12th grade, and spend at least 50% of the work week in direct instruction with students in a classroom/classroom-like setting; intend to continue teaching in the consecutive school year; have at least three years teaching experience as a PreK-12th grade teacher are eligible to apply.
How do I apply?
Program overview and application can be found on the Fund for Teachers website. Applications are due by January 29, 2015. The ACSF staff will host coaching sessions and provide support for ACS teachers.