Fund for Teachers - The Podcast

Teaching is a family business for this mother and daughter. When Daneé Pinckney was a student, her mom, Gail Bowers-Craig, enrolled in night school to earn a degree in education. In fact, Daneé says much of what she learned about teaching was from watching and listening to her mother in those years of study. It was Daneé, however, who blazed the Fund for Teachers trail.

Last summer, Daneé used her $5,000 grant to research the ancestry of Black America through Benin, Ghana, and the Togolese Republic to produce an expansion of the depth of knowledge of Western Africa that also strives to dismantle discriminatory perspectives that will deepen student connections to literature, art, culture, and self-identity. Along for the ride, and on her dime, was Gail – who used the time to do a little of her own research for her middle school science students.

Upon returning to Ohio, where they live and teach 30 minutes apart from each other, Gail decided to follow the example set by Daneé and apply for her own Fund for Teachers grant. And this summer, with Daneé as her “plus one,” Gail and two teammates from Euclid Middle School in Euclid, OH, will explore the Galapagos Islands in the tradition of Charles Darwin to tangibly demonstrate for students how science is valuable in shaping community and deepening the understanding of ourselves and the people around us.

Today, we’re learning from this mother/daughter team about who inspires whom, how, and lessons they’ve learned from years together at home and at school.

Virigina Hall studied at Radcliffe College and Barnard College (the women’s colleges of Harvard and Columbia) and spoke three languages. She served as a consular clerk in Poland and Turkey, where a hunting accident required an amputation below the knee.

Noor Inayat Kahn studied child psychology at the Sorbonne and music at the Paris Conservatory. The daughter of Sufi Muslims, she was described as quiet, shy, sensitive, and dreamy.

Josephine Baker was an American-born French dancer, singer and actress and the first Black woman to star in a major motion picture. She was a school drop out who ascended to international stardom in France and befriended the likes of Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso.

A studious amputee, a shy artist, and a flamboyant entertainer. Who also happened to be secret agents during World War II and integral to the Resistance movement against the Axis powers. Could these women, who confronted sexism, ableism, racism, who refused to speak under Nazi interrogation and bamboozled German officials while extracting secrets also convince West Texas high school students that history is not about “the dead, old and irrelevant.” It was a mission two teachers chose to accept when they also accepted a $10,000 Fund for Teachers grant.

Today we’re learning from Renee Parson and Cory Cason, history teachers at Alpine High School in Alpine, Texas, set in the high plateau of the Chihuahuan Desert between the Glass and Davis Mountain Ranges. When not in adjoining classrooms, these women are coaching track and field, sponsoring History Club and supporting students involved in Future Farmers of America and UIL academic contests, among other activities. While the small school environment is rich with opportunities, exposure to the world beyond Brewster County – not so much. Cory and Renee leveraged their interest in female spies to craft a fellowship that researched Virginia Hall, Noor Inayat Khan and Josephine Baker throughout Europe to expand students’ mindset of what can be accomplished when ordinary people employ the courage to defy rigid societal norms in the name of humanity and justice.

A 2022 piece by National Public Radio cited Anne Frank as “the most famous young author of all time,” as her diary, translated into more than 65 languages, is one of the most widely read books in the world. One such reader was Nikia Garland. Now a 24-year veteran teacher at Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis, she was once a sixth grader at nearby Farrington Elementary Shool where she picked up the autobiography – never thinking that Anne wouldn’t survive. That surprising conclusion would inform Nikia’s future – rooted in education and social justice.

Today we’re learning from Nikia Garland, a native Indianan who earned both an undergraduate and master’s degree from Indiana University and currently teaches British Literature and AP Language and Composition. She has taught a wide range of secondary and college-level classes in the U.S. and internationally. In addition to being a Fund for Teachers Fellow, Nikia is a Terry Fear Holocaust Educator in Actionrecipient, a Mark Schonwetter Holocaust Education Foundation grant recipient, a Lilly Endowment Teacher Creativity Fellow, and a Grosvenor Teacher Fellow. In all of her free time, she is a chair for the Indiana Teachers of Writing conference, president-elect for the Indiana affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of English – and mother of two sons.

When seeking resources to support her Holocaust unit, Nikia realized that Indiana had a Holocaust Museum, founded by Auschwitz survivor Eva Kor. She ALSO found Fund for Teachers through a Google search and, last summer, used a $5,000 grant to document historical sites in Germany and Poland related to the novels The Book Thief and My Forgiveness, My Justice to expand student comprehension of significant events in world history and inspire them as social justice advocates and global citizens.

We caught up with Nikia two days before International Holocaust Remembrance Day (also commemorated in Indiana as Eva Kor Education Day), to hear about the learning she experienced and why feels it was vital for her students…

After listening, read Nikia's article “A visit to Auschwitz changed how I teach about the Holocaust" published by Chalkbeat Indiana on Friday, January 26th.

Spotify annually sends out its wrap up of your listening habits for the year and Fund for Teachers received a similar one for our podcast. The most downloaded podcast of our year was with today's guest. Stephanie Ascherl is our chief of staff and has been a program officer, as well. Because that episode was SO popular, we're bringing Stephanie back for another edition of "Tips you need to know when completing your grant application." We wanted to produce this podcast at this time as teachers are winding up their chaotic end-of-semester programs and concerts and grading -- going into the winter holiday when they might have some time, after they catch their breath, to revisit their grant proposals and focus a little on themselves, what they want to learn and how they want to help their students.

The deadline for submission is January 18, at 5p CT. Access the online application at fft.fundforteachers.org, as well as our Online Learning Center and the recording of a national webinar (with ASL interpreter) for more information. The 2024 FFT Fellow cohort will be announced on April 4, 2024. Good luck!

Lhisa Almashy has amassed many accomplishments in her 28-year career teaching English as a Second Language (or ESOL): a master’s degree in education from the University of San Francisco; a doctorate in Leadership and Learning In Organizations from Vanderbilt; award member from and board member of Learning for Justice, the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education for the State of Florida and Hispanic Teacher of the Year Award for Palm Beach County among them.

But an accomplishment one won’t find on Lhisa’s LinkedIn is the fact that she’s the reason Andover High School in Bloomfield Hills, MI, instituted In School Suspension.

What changed Lhisa’s trajectory from not being permitted to graduate high school due to a 1.2 GPA to talking with me from her Fund for Teachers fellowship in Vietnam this summer? A teacher of course…

Today we’re learning from Dr. Lhisa Almashy – veteran teacher at Dr. Joaquin Garcia High School in Lake Worth, FL. Her passionate and engaging teaching style has earned her local, state, and national recognition. She believes that building relationships is key to fostering success and a sense of belonging. After not receiving a Fund for Teachers grant on her first try, Lhisa became a 2023 FFT Fellow and used a $5,000 grant to complete homestays throughout Vietnam to improve linguistic awareness and cultural competency and, subsequently, support her increasing number of English Language Learners from this country.

I caught up with Lhisa while on her fellowship last summer, and – frankly – it took me this long to synthesize our 90-minute conversation, filled with laughter and tales of poignant encounters, to create this episode. But throughout the editing process, I was reminded of the intrepid nature Fellows share and the vital role Fund for Teachers grants play in keeping them curious, inspired and in the classroom.

When preparing to interview Fellows for this podcast, I’ll do a little research to provide listeners with some context. Usually, that Google search yields LinkedIn accounts, local media coverage, and sometimes statistics from high school glory days. With today’s guest, I ended up on IMDB -- an online database of information related to films, television series, and streaming content online.

My curiosity was piqued.

Today we’re learning from Gabe Staino – who has taught for 12 years, both internationally and in the States. But before that, he was childhood friends with Chris Raab,  also known as Raab Himself -- a member of CKY crew featured in the MTV series Viva La Bam and Jackass.  Gabe and Chris roomed together and graduated from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. Afterwards, lure of Hollywood trumped law school for Gabe, who instead experienced the MTV life with his buddy, toured Europe with the CKY band, and then, with Raab, co-wrote, co-produced and starred in the film Borrowed Happiness (thus the IMDB page). 

Soon after, Gabe took the advice of a college advisor and turned to teaching, for the past decade that's been at Atlantic County Institute of Technology  in Mays Landing, NJ – where he  teaches US History, an African American History elective, coaches the mock trial team he founded a decade ago, and is a member of the Global Leadership Professional Learning Community. In addition to film credits, Gabe also earned two graduate degrees – one in Secondary Education for History/Social Studies from Stockton University and a Masters in History with a Global Concentration from Arizona State. 

I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with Gabe from Tanzania after just leaving Ethiopia where he researched Ethiopia's ancient and modern history and culture to more effectively teach about this only African nation never successfully colonized by a European power…

Iceland is known as the Land of Fire and Ice, the most peaceful country in the world 15 years running, and – unfortunately for Big Mac fans – has zero McDonald’s. And, this year, it’s the fellowship destination for seven Fund for Teachers Fellows. Ranging in topic from sustainability and geothermal energy to yoga and elves, grant recipients from Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, and Virginia will learn within the Arctic Circle this summer. 

Before Fellows begin embarking on their experiential learning, we connect them with other grant recipients who plan to be in the same region or conference. Just this week on our Instagram we shared photos of Fellows meeting up in Egypt, Dallas, Guatemala and Salamanca. However, a driving rain in Reykjavik (and five layers of coats) prevented two Fellows from recognizing each other this week. When one posted a picture, we spotted them both and reached out to coordinate a call and compare notes. And for the next hour, we finagled enough Wifi to enjoy a fascinating conversation with about divergent experiences and intended impact from these exemplary educators. Editing it down was a struggle.

Today we’re learning from Laura Nunn, teacher at Patrick Henry Elementary and Instructional Support Leader for Chicago Public Schools, and Frances Rivera, teacher at Ernie Pyle Elementary School in Indianapolis. Frances is in Iceland exploring issues of global warming, biological and cultural conservation, and sustainable development, to develop tools for teaching these issues in a Dual Language classroom. While Laura is there studying the folklore of elves and fairies said to inhabit and protect the Subarctic'snatural landforms and attending the Reykjavik Elf School, then walking sacred sites with scientists and storytellers. She plans to build a cross-curricular unit on what value stories have and how nature impacts the stories we tell.

For three years, I’ve started this podcast in the same way with the same question: Why did you become a teacher? This time, the three of us were so excited to connect that we didn’t get around to this question for a bit – but their answers are worth the wait…

According to a report published by Special Olympics and titled “National Snapshot of Adults with Intellectual Disabilities in the Labor Force,” only 44% of adults with ID aged 21-64 are in the labor force. This is compared to 83% of working-age adults without disabilities who are in the labor force. Furthermore, only 34% of adults with intellectual disabilities aged 21-64 are employed, and an approximately equal number work in a sheltered setting. Those are the statistics for the United States, anyway. 

The Japan Times reported that Japanese companies are required by law to hire people with disabilities. Fines are imposed if companies fail to achieve a proportion of such workers that meets the legally set threshold, while subsidies are paid to those that satisfy the requirement. And latest numbers show that more than 500,000 people with disabilities are employed in Japan.

For this reason, special education teacher Joey Cumagun set his sites on Japan when he designed a 2020 Fund for Teachers fellowship. He wanted to observe best practices in workplaces to design a simulated classroom environment that is both conducive and motivating for students with disabilities.

Then the pandemic happened. And that was just the beginning of the ordeal resulting in his distinction as our final 2022 FFT Fellow who completed their fellowship – in April. But his journey was worth the wait.

* Click here to watch Joey's interviews with his Community Based Instruction students at Deer Park High School in Antioch, CA. 

While Fund for Teachers has invested $30 million in teacher grants for summer fellowships since 2001, this marks only the second year that we’ve awarded Innovation Circle Grants. To extend the value of our traditional summer fellowships, we created this space for FFT Fellows to connect and collaborate around key priorities in education. Fellows propose innovative inquiries into a predetermined set of topics and, through a selective process, receive up to $1,500 to individually pursue summer learning experiences and then convene virtually with other Fellows to reflect and implement their learning in the classroom.  Today’s podcast is specifically about Innovation Circle Grants – what they are and what they can do – for teachers and their students.

Today we’re learning from FFT Fellow Pooja Bhaskar. In 2016, Pooja taught at the International High School for Health Sciences in Queens and used a Fund for Teachers’ grant to achieve intermediate proficiency in the Hindi language in Bombay, India, to better support students and their families emigrating from Tibet, India and Bangladesh. Last summer, with an Innovation Circle Grant, they researched the art, agriculture and history of Guatemala's indigenous groups to incorporate authentic, interdisciplinary artifacts into science curricula for recently immigrated students at the Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice.

Download Pooja's curriculum created on Food Activism and Plant Medicine with their grant here.

We’re winding down the month of February -- designated as Black History Month, first celebrated as Negro History Week in 1926 and expanded to a month in 1986 by the United States Congress. According to the Association for the Study of African American Life & History, the designation began in 1915 when University of Chicago alumnae Carter G. Woodson traveled from Washington, D.C. to Chicago to participate in a national celebration of the 50th anniversary of emancipation. And according to FFT Fellow Pratia Jordan, students need to remember that Black history didn’t start or end then, or with slavery.

I’m Carrie Caton and the goal of each episode is to elevate teachers as the inspiring architects of their careers, classrooms, and school communities. 

Today we’re learning from Pratia Jordan, teacher at O’Donnell Middle School in Houston, Texas. Last summer with a Fund for Teachers grant, Pratia retraced the Transatlantic Slave Trade through historical sites in Europe, Africa and North America to create multi-modal, 3D virtual learning experiences that allow students to deepen content knowledge and make personal connections to the past and its continued relevance to our present. Pratia is active on social media, producing her own podcast, and also active as the mother of two young children with another on the way. Since her fellowship, Pratia has been named Teacher of the Year at her school, for her district, and a finalist for her region. We were able to catch up with her to learn more about her fellowship and its epiphanies, sharing both with eighth grade students who have a lot of questions about how we got to this point in history, literally and figuratively.