Good news from the Fund for Teachers

On 29 March 2012 I was sitting in the Fort Lauderdale airport feeling like something the cat dragged in. I'm compulsive about being on time so I had a while to wait before my flight. It had been a rough trip all around. While the turn of events in Florida had been better than I originally expected, it wasn't good news. With nothing better to do, I begin checking my e-mail. My whole day changed when I read: "Fund for Teachers Fellows, Congratulations! Fund for Teachers is incredibly proud to call each of you a 2012 Fellow. We wait with anticipation to hear more about your incredible journeys this summer." I had been making plans to spend my summer cleaning house, but all that changed with that one simple message. I could clean house after I got back. I had received my third Fund for Teachers Fellowship! I wish I could show you in vivid detail how much the Fund for Teachers has meant to me so far. I'll give it a try, but I really can't do it justice. In 2002 I received my first Fund for Teachers Fellowship. I asked to go to Europe and see the artworks that I teach about first hand. I had been to Mexico before and I once went to Canada for about fifteen minutes, but that was the farthest I had traveled from home. The Fund for Teachers had said to plan my dream professional development and I did. I never believed that anyone would say, "Yes." I think the hardest part was realizing that now I really had to go! Lo and behold, off I went! I spent a month touring Europe, Amsterdam, London, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Nice, Venice, Orvieto and back to Amsterdam. I traveled alone. I purchased round trip airfare and a Eurail pass and off I flew. It was the most eye opening trip of my life. Traveling by train and booking a room through the tourist office in each city kept everything exciting. I returned home with a wealth of new experience and knowledge. I brought back souvenirs and materials to use in my art room. I brought back a new self-confidence. If I could undertake this trip and survive, I could do anything. Most importantly, I had a new found empathy for my Spanish speaking students and their parents. This first Fellowship opened the flood gate. I saved my nickels and dimes all the next year. The summer of 2003 I returned to Italy, spent time with a friend in Orvieto where she taught me to knit, and looked at art in Florence and Rome. My second Fellowship in 2007 is documented in this blog. I followed in the footsteps of Georgia O'Keeffe across the Texas Panhandle where she taught art and on to Santa Fe, New Mexico and beyond. The next summer, 2008, I received a Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Fellowship. I spent eighteen days with a group of American teachers as guests of the Japanese government. You can find that trip on this blog also. I want to thank Raymond Plank, the man who founded the Fund for Teachers, and all the donors who make these fellowships possible. You have no idea how much your contributions mean to the teachers who received Fellowships. The effects of your giving ripple out from teachers through their students and the community. From the bottom of my heart, thank you one and all.