Teachers take to the road to study

Fifteen Los Angeles-area teachers from six schools have won grants to spend their summer studying in places around the globe.

The Fund for Teachers, a national foundation based in Houston, awarded nearly $2 million in grants to 489 teachers.  In Los Angeles, Fund for Teachers awarded nearly $42,000 in grants to 15 teachers.

“Teachers pass on knowledge and influence the lives of students on a daily basis by opening to them a world of possibilities,” said Karen Kovach-Webb, executive director of Fund for Teachers.

The teachers, named 2008 FFT fellows, receive individual grants of up to $5,000 and team grants up to $10,000.

These are the area grant recipients:
Heather Guay, Jeffrey Lee, Corey Elementary, for travel to Nepal to observe and learn how Nepalese teachers balance traditional values and Western influences.
Amanda Brownlie, Julianne Burke, Laurie Forster, Marisa Petersen, Lisa Savage, Mary Touscany, Viviana Villarreal, President Avenue Elementary, to attend an educators’ institute at Columbia University to develop the art of teaching writing.
Juan Castillo, Karin Figueroa, Monica Montoya, Camino Nuevo Charter Academy, to attend the Reading and Writing Project Summer Institute at Columbia University.
Robert Jeffers, Dorsey High School, to use film to explore and document urban
gardens across the U.S. and how schools and communities interact with them.
Ariel Neaderthal, New Community Jewish High School, to travel to South Africa to research the history and legacy of apartheid rule and challenges facing populations of both races.
John Kannofsky, Animo Venice Charter High School, to travel to Germany to explore the roots of the Bauhaus modern art movement to
learn its creative methods for art education and production.
-- Mary MacVean