Fund For Teachers Fellowship
Overview
Fund For Teachers began in 2001 as a national foundation, based in Houston, Texas, that supports educators’ efforts to develop skills, knowledge and confidence to impact student achievement. Bradley Cleveland Public Education Foundation, in collaboration with PEF-Chattanooga, assists teachers in Bradley County and Cleveland City Schools to design unique fellowships for professionalism and leadership and submit proposals to Fund For Teachers competing nationally for awards. Since 2014, 25 teachers from Bradley County and Cleveland City Schools have received fellowships from Fund For Teachers enabling them to travel the world pursuing learning experiences and professional growth which impact their teaching practice on a daily basis. As a result of these fellowships, their classrooms have been forever changed.
The mission of the Fund For Teachers
strengthening instruction by investing in outstanding teachers’ self-determined professional growth and development in order to support student success, enrich their own practice, and strengthen their schools and communities.
Application Process Open – Fall 2023
Deadline – January 2024
Award Announcements – April 2024
2019
Kayla Rudy, German Language Teacher and Sara Pennington, Spanish Language Teacher, Walker Valley High School
France-to participate in a world language workshop in Agen, France to research and experience new techniques in teaching proficiency.
Charis Reagan, Math Teacher, & Kari Ivester, Chemistry Teacher Bradley Central High School
Germany-to travel to Burghausen, Germany to study the tested & proven German approach of the dual-vocational instructional model, to learn techniques to implement in our classrooms and train fellow teachers in STEM disciplines.
Kelly Hughes, Art Teacher, Cleveland Middle School, and Ginger Crouch, Science Teacher, Cleveland High School
Italy and France-to follow in the footsteps of Leonard DaVinci to investigate his connection between science and art.
2018
Gabriela Tallent, Chemistry Teacher, Cleveland High School
Utah, Romania, and Provence, France—to experience the challenges of producing lavender essential oil, analyze the harvesting and steam distillation processes of hybrid and genetically modified lavender plants and compare the farming customs and traditions in different countries and cultures which determine the qualities of the product.
2017
Siema Swartzel, Arnold Elementary School (CCS) and Cara Rogers, Michigan Avenue Elementary School (BCS), K-5 Elementary Music Specialists
Ireland—is to experience the music of Ireland through learning its dance and folk instruments gaining an understanding of the culture’s role in Irish music and its influence in Southeastern American Music.
2016
LeAnn Klepzig, Language Arts Teacher, and Renee Holman, World Language Teacher (French), Walker Valley High School
Hungary, Romania, Germany and France—to following the path of Elie Weisel and exploring the reconciliation of the events of WWII, its effects on both Eastern and Western European culture, relative to the cultures’ involvement and roles played; comparing the differences in post war France liberated by the Allies, and Eastern Europe, which was liberated by the Russians.
LuAnn Carey, CTE Agriculture Teacher, Bradley Central High School
Netherlands—to study their ecologically progressive horticulture practices including pest management, production methods, the organic agriculture and greenhouse systems.
Mary Ann Poplin, Art Teacher, Cleveland City Schools
Paris—to see and study original works of the Impressionists, experience the culture that encouraged these artists to leave behind traditions for a world of light, color and passion and to tour the museums of Paris and the locale associated with these artists.
2015
Athena Davis, Cleveland High School
Jerusalem—Participate in Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies’ three-week seminar on Teaching the Shoah and Antisemitism to increase personal knowledge of the Holocaust.
Stacey Wielfaert, Walker Valley High School
France and Spain—Retrace Hemingway’s experiences in France and Spain and enroll in a Paris-based workshop for high school writing teachers, to experience the connections between environment, historical moment and the act of writing during one of the most productive periods in American literary history.
Lisa Eulo, Walker Valley High School and Carol Dale, Cleveland High School, World Language Teachers (German)
Burghausen, Germany—conduct a site visit with two partner schools to lay the foundation for both school systems to engage in a German American Partnership Program (GAPP) which promotes cross-cultural experiences and friendships.
2014
Tonya Mullinax, Science & Social Studies teacher, E.L. Ross Elementary
Alaska—to study its wildlife, geology, ecology and native cultures.
Christian Mann, History/Social Studies Teacher, Walker Valley High School
France and Belgium—experience this first truly global and modern war—WWI—through both museums and battlefield experiences as well as through survivor and familial experiences in memorial services.
Victoria Pritchard, Homebound Teacher, Cleveland City Schools
Germany, The Czech Republic, Poland and Holland—examining, first-hand, the unthinkable past of the WWII Holocaust through the eyes of a survivor, Maude Dahme, by joining the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education on a trip through Germany.
Erin Hattabaugh, Science, Anatomy & Physiology, & Medical Engineering Teacher, Cleveland High School
UK—to study its lengthy history of successful social medicine and healthcare educational practices.
Sarah Garrett, English/Journalism/Language Arts teacher, Walker Valley High School
Boston area—to explore the lives, surroundings, and culture of the early New England writers to gain a deeper insight into their works.
Rachel Hicks & Elizabeth Pickens, History/Social Studies teachers, Walker Valley High School
Athens, Tinos, and Mykonos—to visit historical and archeological sites, collecting knowledge and resources to use in furthering our students’ understanding of the evolution of political thought.
Lori E. Tipton & Kerri D. Shrestha, Biology/Geography/Economics, Walker Valley High School
Andes Mountains and Amazon Rainforest ecosystems—studying the inter-connected of economics, geography, and biology to understand the physical and biological processes and the cultural characteristics that created and continue to change this region of the world.