Grants, Awards & Freebies
UFT 'Feldman Fellows' aid refugees
Feb 1, 2007 4:21 PM
March 1 is deadline for applications to serve this summer
How will you spend your summer vacation? For UFTer Juli-Anne Benjamin, a literacy coach at IS 303 in Coney Island, last summer meant six weeks in broiling Phoenix, Ariz., teaching English to refugee families.
And she wouldn’t mind doing it again.
Why? Because when oppression and war uproot populations, kindhearted, visionary people step up to alleviate the suffering any way they can. Sometimes those people are UFT members like Benjamin, with the skills to help displaced adults and children adjust and thrive in strange, new adopted countries.
In summer 2007, New York teachers will again have the opportunity to step up, by joining a new fellowship program that puts educators on the front lines, where they can help.
The fellowship program was instituted in 2004, when the International Rescue Committee, a venerable human rights organization, joined the UFT in establishing the Sandy Feldman Fellowships for Service Through Education. Named for the late UFT and AFT president, the fellowship aims to aid war-battered populations while introducing teachers to the field of humanitarian assistance.
Last year’s fellows spent up to 10 weeks over the summer at resettlement offices in Phoenix, Dallas and San Diego, as well as at a refugee camp in Kasulu, Tanzania. Each of the five fellows were experienced curriculum developers, versed in teacher training and both adult and child education.
Those assigned to the three U.S. cities designed and ran refugee-oriented youth summer education and after-school programs. They also mentored volunteer tutors.
In Phoenix, with a burgeoning refugee population attracted to the southwestern megalopolis by its low housing costs and decent job prospects, the UFT’s Benjamin designed and implemented literacy programs for both youths and adults.
Her work didn’t end there.
She also taught English classes to Liberian, Cuban, Haitian and Somali-Bantu-speaking refugee families — teaching in the community rooms of the complexes housing the families, who frequently had limited or no access to transportation. She also worked with the Phoenix public school system pinpointing what teachers needed to know about their new student populations in order to be of maximal help to the children.
The experienced literacy coach, who had previously spent a year in South Africa designing a curriculum and teaching ESL to displaced village high school students, then authored an orientation manual on how best to teach and encourage refugee children now transplanted to a modern city. If that wasn’t enough, she also trained volunteers on best practices and practical approaches for teaching ESL to newcomers.
“It was a great learning experience. I loved it,” Benjamin said.
Meanwhile, those working in the Tanzanian camp trained primary and secondary school teachers, who would then go on to meet the schooling needs of children displaced by armed conflicts in Central Africa.
The IRC — the fellowship’s sponsoring organization — has been in the business of helping war-ravaged populations fleeing racial, religious, ethnic and political persecution for a long time. Its origins parallel the rise of fascism in Germany, though the group has long outlived the “Thousand- Year Reich.”
After Germany’s Nazi government enacted its 1933 Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, which barred those of “non-Aryan descent” from government work — the first in a series of increasingly punitive racist laws — the German physicist Albert Einstein understood that a wave of emigrants would soon be flowing out of Germany. That is, if they could leave at all.
Einstein — then a prestigious German academic who by an accident of history was at that moment a visiting lecturer at Princeton University, safely beyond the fascists’ grasp — was instrumental in setting in motion what would become the International Rescue Committee. The group’s first mission was helping targeted anti-Nazi leaders to escape.
Eighty-four years later, and the group is still around, functioning in 25 nations and offering emergency relief, rehabilitation, post-conflict development, advocacy and other forms of resettlement services for those displaced by oppression, war or other disasters.
The fellowship pays a weekly $250 stipend plus a car allowance. DEADLINE: March 1. CONTACT: www.theirc.org.—Michael Hirsch
Summer seminars and institutes: The National Endowment for the Humanities’ division of education programs offers teachers opportunities to study humanities topics in a variety of summer seminars and institutes. Teachers will receive a stipend based on the length of the program ($1,000 for two weeks; $2,400 for three weeks; $3,000 for four weeks; $3,600 for five weeks; or $4,200 for six weeks). Funds will cover the cost of travel, lodging, books and other expenses. Full-time K–12 teachers can apply; some seminars may be open to librarians. First consideration will be given to participants who have not participated in an NEH-sponsored seminar or institute in the last three years. DEADLINE: March 1. CONTACT: A list of seminars can be found at www.neh.gov/projects/si-school.html.
Newton Fellowship and Newton Master Teachers Program: Nonprofit Math for America offers these two programs to recent college graduates and mid-career professionals interested in teaching who have a bachelor’s degree with substantial work in mathematics. Applicants must be willing to commit to a five-year program that includes one year of graduate study and four years of teaching math in New York City schools. The fellowship provides $90,000 over five years, in addition to a city teacher salary, full-tuition scholarship and support services. Master teachers receive a four-year annual stipend of $12,500 each per year, professional development and leadership opportunities. DEADLINE: Newton Fellowship, Feb. 9; Newton Master Teacher, March 30. CONTACT: www.mathforamerica.org.
Social studies teacher of the year: The National Council for the Social Studies offers this $2,500 award to recognize exceptional classroom social studies teachers for grades K–6, 5–8 and 7–12 who teach social studies regularly and systematically in the middle, or junior high, and high school settings. Anyone may nominate; self-nominations will be accepted. NCSS membership is required. DEADLINE: April 1. CONTACT: Outstanding Social Studies Teacher of the Year Award Subcommittee (indicate Elementary, Middle Level, or Secondary), National Council for the Social Studies, 8555 Sixteenth St., Suite 500, Silver Spring, MD 20910; Web site: www.socialstudies.org/awards/teaching/.
Inventions grants: The Lemelson-MIT Program for Invention and Innovation offers grants to support high school invention teams. Up to 23 awards of up to $10,000 will be awarded. For finalists, $500 project development grants are available. Public or vocational high school science, math and technology teachers can apply. Teams can be any size, and can be part of classroom or extracurricular activities. Collaborations within or between schools are encouraged. DEADLINE: Grant applications are a two-tiered process. Initial applications are available now and are due April 27. From these, finalists will be selected and asked to complete a final application due in September. CONTACT: http://web.mit.edu/inventeams/about.html.
ING Unsung Heroes awards: Banking, insurance and asset management company ING makes the “Education’s Unsung Heroes Awards” to recognize K–12 educators who pioneer new methods and techniques that improve student learning. One hundred finalists will receive awards of $2,000. Three finalists will then be selected to receive prizes of $25,000 (first place), $10,000 (second place) and $5,000 (third place). Awards must be used to further the winning projects within the school or school system. Educators should submit applications describing projects they initiated or have envisioned for the future. Applications are judged on project description, benefits to students and the proposed use of funds. DEADLINE: April 30. CONTACT: Education’s Unsung Heroes Awards, c/o Scholarship America, One Scholarship Way, P.O. Box 297, St. Peter, MN 56082; phone: 1-800-537-4180; e-mail: ing@csta.org; Web site: www.ing.com/us/about/connect/education/unsung_heroes.html.
GoGirlGo! awards: The Ambassador Team Awards, championed by Gatorade, recognize those who demonstrate community leadership by inspiring girls to get involved in sports and physical activities. Twenty teams will be awarded $2,500. Teams must select a captain to act as an ambassador and design a project to involve girls in sports. Projects must be original. Schools, amateurs, community and/or nonprofit affiliated teams whose members are female and in grades 9–12 can apply. Examples of projects include: hosting a sports clinic, leading an after-school fitness/dance group or helping coach a girls’ Little League team. DEADLINE: Feb. 16. CONTACT: Women’s Sports Foundation, c/o GoGirlGo! Ambassador Team Awards, Eisenhower Park, East Meadow, NY 11554; Web site: http://womensportsfoundation.org.
