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Barr Middle School teachers selected for Fund for Teachers fellowship in Cameroon
Three Barr Middle School teachers have been awarded a Fund for Teachers two-week fellowship in Cameroon, Africa, at the end of July and early August.
Barr Middle School Social Studies Teacher Denise Pedersen said she and teachers Geri Pagel and Kari Ekberg submitted the application in December 2010. They were notified in March that they were selected for the fellowship and a grant worth $10,000. Ekberg is a math teacher, and Pagel is a language arts teacher. All three teach sixth-grade students.
The three teachers will stay in the northwest region of Cameroon near the Banso and Fulani tribes. They will teach an English reading class. Through this learning experience, they will then create an integrated curricular unit promoting global citizenship.
The Barr teachers will explore how people’s interaction with society is affected by where they live, how Cameroon’s environment affects development of reading and math skills, and how the perception of education in a developing country compares to the perception of education by low-income students at Barr.
The purposes of the fellowship are to learn about ethnic groups and to observe how culture influences learning.
Fund for Teachers is a national organization that enriches the personal and professional growth of teachers by recognizing and supporting them as they identify and pursue opportunities around the globe that will have the greatest impact on their practice, students’ academic lives, and their communities. Fund for Teachers fellowships have occurred in 113 countries on every continent.
The Malaika Foundation sponsors the Fund for Teachers in Nebraska. Malaika Foundation’s mission is to add an international dimension to learning in Nebraska schools and libraries with the goal of building greater understanding among young people from different global cultural traditions. This summer, Nebraska teachers will travel to Peru, Nepal, Ghana, Madagascar, Cameroon, Colombia, Eastern Europe, Alaska, and Philadelphia through the Fund for Teachers program.
Since 2001, 4,000 teachers have been awarded $14.2 million in Fund for Teachers grants of up to $5,000 for individuals or $10,000 for teams.
The Grand Island teachers have established a website within the school district’s website to document their learning adventures at: www.gips.org/teachers/teacher-travel/about-teacher-travel
For more information, contact: Denise Pedersen, Social Studies Teacher, Barr Middle School, 602 W. Stolley Park Road, (308) 385-5875, dpederse@gips.org; Brian Kort, Principal, Barr
Middle School, 602 W. Stolley Park Road, (308) 385-5875, bkort@gips.org
It is the policy of the Grand Island Public Schools not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, handicap, religion, or marital status in its educational programs, activities or employment policies as required by Title VI, Title IX, &Section 504.EOE/AA.