User:Cmorlan

Fund for Teachers (FFT) is a national non-profit organization based in Houston whose mission is to support the growth of teachers. The organization provides independent grant funding for teachers to pursue learning around the globe that they deem will have the greatest impact on their profession, their students and their communities. Since inception, the organization has awarded more than $10 million to 3,000+ teachers nationwide.

Fund for Teachers is the brainchild of Raymond Plank, the founder of Apache Corporation. Plank credits his early teachers as having a significant and lasting influence on his life. As a means of actualizing his gratitude, in 1998 Plank endowed a pilot program with $1 million in Minneapolis to reward teachers with summer sabbaticals they created to foster learning and exploration. Over the past decade, that program expanded to become Fund for Teachers, a national donor-supported organization that continues Plank’s vision of recognizing the power of teachers.

FFT gives grants to teacher to pursue independent study, usually during the summer months. The goal is to keep the best and the brightest teachers engaged in their profession and in the classroom to provide the most benefit to children in the school system.

“Fellows,” as they are called are teachers who work with students in grades pre-K-12, have a minimum of three years’ teaching experience and spend at least 50 percent of their full–time schedule in a classroom setting. Fellow selections are based on how the proposed summer activity will make the applicant a better teacher, how the knowledge acquired will be implemented in the classroom, and how the improved skills will benefit students, curricula and the school.

Teachers have embarked on fellowships such as:

• Excavating an ancient dig site in Israel to return and recreate the 50x50x6 dig on school grounds.
• Walking on the black sand of Iwo Jima on the one day visitors are granted access to bring to life the experiences of World War II hero and football legend Jack Chivegny.
• Kayaking the entire length of the Lower Mississippi River, during flood stages, to conduct scientific research and develop a river ecology unit.
• Lassoing and tagging the Hawksbill turtles off the Great Barrier Reef to assist The Earthwatch Institute scientists with ongoing research on the endangered species.
• Traverse Western Europe capturing the vitality of street art in Berlin, Paris, Rome and Venice and use this experience to empower her students with non-violent means of expressing their own struggles with art.

Fund for Teachers' reach has grown from offering the grant program in one city to now executing programs in cities across the country including:

• Atlanta
• Boston
• Chicago
• Houston
• Los Angeles
• Minneapolis
• New York City
• Oklahoma
• Washington, DC
• Rural Schools and Community Trust
• Expeditionary Learning Schools

• BP A+ Challenge
• ING Unsung Heroes
• Learning and Leadership Grants
• MetLife Foundation Ambassadors in Education Award
• NEA Innovation Grants

• Fund for Teachers [1]
• AchieveMpls [2]
• Atlanta Education Fund [3]
• Boston Plan for Excellence [4]
• Chicago Foundation for Excellence [5]
• Expeditionary Learning Schools [6]
• Marcus A. Foster Educational Institute [7]
• New Visions for Public Schools [8]
• Rural School & Community Trust [9]
• The Blake School [10]
• The Maynard Education Foundation [11]
• The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence [12]
• The Saint Paul Foundation [13]
• Tulsa Community Foundation [14]
• Christian Science Monitor “What Africa Taught a Teacher" (August 30, 2007) [15]
• Tulsa World “Teachers travel for summer” (August 31, 2008)[16]
• Boston Herald “Top Teachers Get Global Perspective” (September 4, 2008)[17]
• Oakland Tribune "Oakland teacher brings African experience back to classroom" (February 23 2009) [18]
• Fund for Teachers on Flickr [19]