Day 1: Tuesday,  July 30, 2013

The team left home at 4am. Mr. Kaiser, our supportive principal, gave us an escort to the Minneapolis airport. The plane ascended at 7:25am; descended into Boston, Massachusetts at 11:00am. We landed safely on land that looks much like Wisconsin, very green but hidden on the other side of the trees were beautiful beaches and the Atlantic Ocean. We rented a medium sized automobile and were surprised with a Toyota Rav4 to travel across the countryside in pursuit of our educational plans. First stop... Cape Cod and a seafood lunch. We collected treasures from the beach for our second and third graders. Next, we traveled to Plymouth, MA; checked into the Radisson hotel; and prepared for our first museum/monuments. The Plimoth Grist Mill was amazing! The history behind the mill intrigued us. We took numerous pictures and had a knowledgeable miller answer all of our questions so that we can accurately communicate this process to the community. Continuing to the original site of the first fort built in 1621, we were in awe with the heroes of the past. Finally, we viewed a 'tall', eighty one foot to be exact, Forefathers Monument that had intricate details and inspirational words about our country. We were delighted to observe the importance of education in Early America, along with law, liberty and faith as each of these words were etched in the monument. The night concluded with a late dinner and early to bed due to our exciting upcoming days at the Plimoth Plantation

Questions of the Day:
What material is the Forefathers Monument carved from?

What did Mrs. Bell and Mrs. K. have for lunch?

What did Mrs. Phillips and Mrs. Hellmann have for lunch?

What kind of grain was ground at the Plimoth Grist Mill?

*Answers available tomorrow!

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN TO US?

Here is a little history on how this fellowship came to be.......

Fund for Teachers 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, the academic lives of their students and on their community.

Fund for Teachers is the national donor supported organization that awards fellowships for self-designed professional growth to teachers who recognize the value of inquiry, the power of knowledge and their ability to make a difference.

In Wisconsin, teachers must be employed by a Wisconsin School of Recognition as determined by the state of Wisconsin. There are also several other criteria which our team had to meet.  A very lengthy online application had to be submitted. Our proposal was judged on the following areas: Rational and Purpose, Description of Project in detail, Teacher and Student Growth/Learning, Benefits to School and Community, Plan for Implementation, and Budget.

Our team actually wrote a proposal and submitted it last year. After months of waiting, we were told we did not receive this highly competitive fellowship. We were deflated with the news. The application was extremely long and time consuming to complete. We did however ask for our critique back and found out some very helpful information. So.......

We picked our selves up when we found out our school was awarded the Wisconsin School of Recognition again!  We started to work on another application with lots of changes from our first try.  As we worked through each of the areas on the application, we became more and more excited! We could envision changes to our current teaching and curriculum! We could predict the excitement from our students! We could feel growth as teachers!  Our team know we had to work in order to make this a reality. The application was submitted before the end of January and then the waiting began AGAIN! In a letter dated March 29, 2013, we received news from Tony Evers, WI State Superintendent with the WI Department of Instruction that we had been chosen to receive a $9225.00 Fellowship in order to pursue our proposed project. 

And so the real planning began!

We do feel truly fortunate to be selected for this wonderful educational opportunity. We look forward to bringing home may artifacts, pictures, stories, documents, games, crafts, reproductions, and increased knowledge about early American history. We plan to have our students become involved with all of these and more this fall when we are back in our classrooms.  We know we will make a difference! This Chinese proverb helps to sum up our philosophy on teaching and this fellowship:

"Tell me and I'll forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I will never forget"