Indian Creek Teachers Sarah Allen '01 and Kelly Bryant Awarded Fellowship for Australian Study

Indian Creek School is proud to announce that first grade teacher Sarah Allen ‘01 and Pre-K 4 teacher Kelly Bryant have been named 2018 Fellows by Fund for Teachers. Ms. Allen and Ms. Bryant have been awarded monetary grants to fund travel to Australia for two weeks of professional study in August 2018.

The mission of Fund for Teachers is to provide motivated, self-directed professionals with opportunities to develop knowledge through experiences that will enhance their professional growth, directly impact student success, and strengthen their schools and communities. According to Fund for Teachers, Fellows are identified as outstanding educators, innovators, and change-makers who make learning relevant, meaningful and empowering for their students, inspire and lead professional growth of their colleagues, collaborate in sharing best practices, collective visioning, and solving shared problems, and whose input helps close the gap between sound policy and best practice.

The Indian Creek team’s grant proposal focused on studying the biodiversity of Australia to expand their own content knowledge with the goal to develop a blended learning course for young learners that allows students to develop a better global understanding, an in-depth understanding of the biodiversity of Australia, and an impassioned sense of environmental stewardship.

During their two weeks in Australia, Ms. Allen and Ms. Bryant will explore Sydney, visiting the Australian Museum and Toronga Zoo. From there, they will tour the Blue Hills Mountains, visit the Cairns Aquarium, Cape Tribulation and the Daintree Rainforest. They will study in the Great Barrier Reef, Crater Lakes, Millaa Falls and Zilliee Falls. The duo will also visit Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center – which Ms. Allen’s students have visited virtually each year – and explore Fitzroy Island, the Chillagoe Caves and Outback, Kuranda, and Falkland Island. Ms. Allen and Ms. Bryant look forward to sharing their experiences with the ICS community through a vlog during the trip, and of course, bringing their excitement back to their classes at Indian Creek. They also plan turn their experience into an amazing new BLinc course!

In the words of Fund for Teachers, “From thousands of applications from across the country, your proposal stood out from over 2,000 applications as one that will bring relevant knowledge and skills back to your students.” Congratulations to Sarah Allen and Kelly Bryant on this remarkable achievement.
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Indian Creek school is a co-educational, college preparatory independent school, located in Crownsville, Maryland.  Students in Pre-K3 through grade 12 receive a vibrant educational experience based on excellent academics steeped in strong student-teacher connections.