The 2017 Class of Grosvenor Teacher Fellows

Ali Farlow-Troy teaches science and physical education to middle and high school students at Branksome Hall in Toronto, Ontario. She believes the best lessons are drawn from multiple subject areas and experiences. This type of learning allows students to draw connections, which helps them understand the complexity of world issues and concepts. Ali is passionate about engaging girls in science and developing their confidence as leaders. She takes every opportunity to share her love of the outdoors with her students.

Anita Graffius is a third-grade teacher at Crocker Highlands Elementary, a public school in Oakland, California. A Fund for Teachers Fellow and former environmental educator, she uses her background to develop thematic units focused on fostering environmental stewardship among her students. She prioritizes culturally responsive teaching practices that empower students to discover ways they can positively impact their communities and the environment.

Anne Lewis is the special projects director at the South Dakota Discovery Center in Pierre, South Dakota. She has a master’s degree in natural science and environmental education from Hamline University. Anne believes we can all be explorers through hands-on, knees-dirty, feet-wet learning and experiences. She is a trainer for the National Geographic Educator Certification Program and a 2016 Walton Sustainability Science Center Fellow.

Breigh Rhodes teaches gifted students in pre-kindergarten through third grade in the Zachary Community School District in Zachary, Louisiana. Breigh also works within her district and with organizations such as LEGO Education to support fellow educators through teacher trainings and curriculum development. She is dedicated to exploring innovative pathways for inspiring and empowering students through student-centered, authentic experiences.

Bryan Johnson is a National Board-certified fifth-grade teacher in Tacoma, Washington. He uses filmmaking in the classroom to provide students with a powerful platform for sharing their learning with others. He has developed innovative uses of Google Earth that enhance students’ understanding of and connections to the planet. Bryan encourages his students to think beyond what they want to be in this world, and toward what they want to solve.

Brynn Johnson is a middle school math teacher at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans, Louisiana. She challenges her students to be critical thinkers, problem solvers, and creators. As a two-time Fund for Teachers Fellow, Brynn has developed engaging, cross-curricular lessons. She is also an explorer, whose appreciation for the interconnectedness of the world increases with every adventure. She seeks to instill this same love within her students.

Caitlin MacLeod-Bluver teaches high school history and English through the English for Speakers of Other Languages program at Boston International High School, a Boston public school. Her students are all recent immigrants, hailing from nearly 20 countries and speaking over 12 languages. Caitlin uses both fiction and nonfiction to study race and power, oppression and resistance, and membership and community. She hopes to empower her students to use their voices to advocate for justice, and to recognize the interconnectedness between human action and our world.

Claire Trainer is a seventh- and eighth-grade science teacher at Sauganash Elementary School in Chicago, Illinois. She is passionate about integrating conservation and social justice within the science curriculum. For the past few years, Claire has helped facilitate professional development focused on the Next Generation Science Standards within her district. She loves working with her students as they engage with science and build connections to their natural world.

Elisabeth Gambino is an artist, educator, and mentor teacher at Bard Early College Baltimore, a public high school in Baltimore, Maryland. A global educator and curriculum writer, she is passionate about engaging students in taking action to positively impact the world beyond the school walls. She enjoys crafting innovative hands-on learning opportunities such as social justice poster design, vertical gardening, habitat construction, upcycled murals, and international environmental art classroom exchanges.

Puerto Rico native Emilia Odife is a high school biology and anatomy teacher at Gulliver Preparatory School in Miami, Florida. She strives to provide students with the skills and knowledge necessary to promote change and develop conservation awareness. Emilia is a project adviser for the Field Studies Program with a focus on coral ecology and restoration. A passionate scuba diver, she travels with students to the island of Bonaire to work on coral restoration projects.

Ian Devlin teaches earth science and ecology at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. His goals as a teacher are to develop stewards of conservation and sustainability, and have each student leave the classroom with an understanding of the interconnectedness and importance of the Earth. He earned a master's degree in educational leadership at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a bachelor’s degree in secondary education and earth science at Central Michigan University.

Jackie Grannis-Phoenix teaches pre-kindergarten and kindergarten at the Children's House Montessori School in Camden, Maine. For 25 years, she has encouraged her students to fall in love with the world through extensive studies of landscapes, peoples, and cultures. She believes that  for people to feel moved to preserve the Earth, they must first recognize their connection to it and develop an enduring affection for it.

Jennifer Burgin is a lifelong learner, co-author of A is for Arlington, and National Board–certified teacher. She educates second graders at Oakridge Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia, where she was named the county Teacher of the Year in 2016. Jennifer’s work is profoundly inspired by the diverse families she serves. Therefore, she creates every learning experience to show students “windows and mirrors,” or reflections of themselves and glimpses of others.

Jenny Bolch teaches second grade at Mackintosh Academy in Boulder, Colorado. When Jenny is not teaching, she volunteers on Boulder County's mountain rescue team. You can frequently find her climbing on the side of a cliff, camping in the mountains, or painting. Jenny often pulls from her travel experiences when teaching. She challenges her students to have a global perspective, connect with others, and take action to make the world a better place.

Kacy Lebby teaches third grade at TOPS K-8 School in Seattle, Washington. She is an avid backpacker, gardener, and Ultimate Frisbee player. She works hard to develop interdisciplinary curricula that inspire wonder, develop critical thinking, and get kids outside. Kacy’s goals are to help students become lifelong learners, environmental stewards, and global citizens.

Kavita Gupta, a veteran high school chemistry teacher in Cupertino, California, strives to develop a scientific view of the world and foster a love of learning in her students. Her success is evident in the accolades she has received from institutions such as Stanford University, MIT, the American Chemical Society, and Intel. She believes scientific literacy and global citizenship are essential for all students, not only for science majors. She has planned and presented at national conferences and written scholarly articles on these topics.

Kelly McCarthy teaches physics, environmental science, and mathematics to middle and high school students at Lourdes Regional School in Coal Township, Pennsylvania. She believes in the power of connecting students to real-world applications and strives to cultivate a love for learning and exploring in each of her students. As a 2016 PolarTREC teacher, Kelly leveraged her fieldwork with NASA’s Operation IceBridge to bring polar science into her classroom and create meaningful learning experiences for her students.

Kelly Meade is the director of the California Partnership Academy, Aspirations in Medical Services  Academy at David Starr Jordan High School in Long Beach, California. The program provides a combination of rigorous academics and career-focused technical education. Kelly empowers students to embrace a growth mindset in her chemistry, medical chemistry, and Advanced Placement seminar classes, and works to bridge the gap between students and the environment they live in.

Kimberly Young is a world history teacher at Weston High School in Weston, Massachusetts. This year, her students completed a year-long study of migration that included participation in National Geographic’s Out of Eden Learn platform. Expanding students’ global competence is her core source of passion in teaching. She is hoping to translate her Grosvenor Teacher Fellow experience back into the classroom in a way that inspires students to become engaged global stewards. Follow her on Twitter @9thWorldHistory and read her blog at educatingforgc.blogspot.com.

Kristi Neuroth teaches geography in Brentwood, Tennessee, where she encourages her students to become “GSIs” (Geography Scene Investigators). Students examine their local community to uncover connections to things they learn about in class, documenting and photographing the evidence. Kristi encourages her students to investigate their world like explorers, whether they venture to another part of the world through her geo-literacy travel program or simply view their neighborhood from a new perspective.

Kyle Tredinnick teaches 11th- and 12th-grade social studies at the Zoo Academy for Omaha Public Schools in Omaha, Nebraska. Kyle’s passion for expanding the worldviews of his students can be seen through his curricular inclusion of his experience living and teaching in China, as well as travel experiences from five continents. Active in both the Minnesota and Nebraska Alliances for Geographic Education, Kyle is a devoted proponent of geo-literacy and the use of geospatial technologies.

Layne Zimmers teaches sixth-grade world history at Lincoln Magnet School in Springfield, Illinois, where students are engaged in a challenging and innovative curriculum using a 1:1 MacBook environment. She has developed a paperless classroom that emphasizes global learning topics while bringing geographic awareness to the forefront. She participated in the Cross-Cultural Solutions program and traveled to Tanzania to work with students and help strengthen their education system.

Leon Tynes is the Technology Department head at the New Haven Public Schools’ Engineering and Science University Magnet School in Connecticut. Leon has flipped his classroom to maximize learning in his 3D Modeling, Digital Media, Mobile App Development, and Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles courses for the past five years. Dedicated to immersing his students in all aspects of technology, he has successfully integrated science and engineering concepts, which has facilitated numerous student awards. He has a passion for habitat and climate issues and wishes to develop authentic projects from the Grosvenor Teacher Fellow Program to broaden student global awareness in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).

Margaret (Peg) Keiner is the technology and innovation lead for GEMS World Academy in Chicago, Illinois. She collaborates with teachers to integrate technology as a tool for student inquiry within the Pre-K–8 International Baccalaureate programs and manages local and global innovation partnerships. She is the curriculum writer for a global service learning program called Project Empathy and is a Global Goal Ambassador for the United Nations Association Chapter of Chicago. She believes students can be empathetic stewards of our landscape and works to empower them with tools to investigate their environment and advocate for change.

Mike Johnston is a science and drama specialist at Island Lakes Community School in Winnipeg, Manitoba. A national-level-champion slam poet and internationally touring spoken-word artist, Mike is dedicated to passing his art form on to students to help them find their voices, stories, and connections. He is also an experiential education expert, so his students constantly build, make, collaborate, and explore to find the poetry of science in the world they inhabit and share.

Mircea (Mitch) Arsenie teaches International Baccalaureate environmental systems and societies as well as AP environmental science, and coaches a successful Academic Decathlon team at Carl Schurz High School in Chicago, Illinois. A firm believer in experiential learning and using technology to empower students, he promotes a global perspective and environmental sensitivity by bringing students outdoors and inspiring them to never stop asking questions.

Monica Nuñez is a physical science teacher at Santa Teresa High School in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. As a former National Park Service Teacher Ranger Teacher, she understands the vital importance of bringing real-world experiences into the classroom. An ambassador for the New Mexico Teacher Leader Network, Monica advocates for students and teachers to improve education within her state.

Priscilla Zenn teaches middle school social studies in Allen Park, Michigan. Frequently teaching lessons focused on geo-literacy and global education, she is passionate about empowering students to work for change. Priscilla has taken on leadership roles in her subject area at district and state levels, and serves as an Advanced Placement world history table leader. The recipient of several educational fellowships, Priscilla has traveled to places such as China, Turkey, Germany, and the Republic of Georgia.

Rachael Rost is the education specialist at the Topeka Zoo and Conservation Center in Topeka, Kansas, where she teaches hundreds of environmental education programs each year. Having recently graduated with a master’s degree in biology from Miami University’s Project Dragonfly, Rachael’s mission is to increase environmental literacy throughout her community. Through hands-on citizen science, inquiry, and project-based learning techniques, Rachael connects zoo guests to conservation efforts around the world.

Shiona Drummer serves as the lead life science and gifted enrichment teacher to students at Rutland Middle School, located in the cherry blossom–filled city of Macon, Georgia. Her background in biology, ecology, and public health are all incorporated into her pedagogy. She has traveled to Senegal with Teachers for Global Classrooms and is committed to inspiring those around her to become globally competent, world-traveling, lifelong learners.

Sarah Harris is a middle school teacher and the K-12 social studies curriculum specialist in Portland, Connecticut. She enjoys using technology to bring the world to her classroom and has collaborated with teachers across the country to develop activities designed to promote critical thinking and inspire curiosity. Sarah is an avid traveler, and she plans to use virtual reality technology to share her expedition to Antarctica with her students.

Susan Koch, a first-grade teacher in Montpelier, Vermont, has been devoted to using an inquiry approach to learning for more than 20 years. Susan was named the 2016 Vermont Teacher of the Year. She is passionate about outdoor learning and creating community. Susan believes that developing a sense of wonder is crucial for the future stewards of the Earth.

Tanya Sulikowski is the manager of programs at Duke Farms in Hillsborough, New Jersey. She also serves as the vice president of the Alliance for New Jersey Environmental Education and was the 2016 recipient of the Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s Women and Wildlife Award for Education. Her true passion is getting students outdoors and inspiring them to discover their connections to the natural world.

Wendi Pillars, a National Board–certified teacher, Global Classroom Fellow, and teacher leader with the Center for Teaching Quality, has been teaching English language learners in grades K-12 for 21 years, stateside and overseas. She is currently teaching at Jordan-Matthews High School in Siler City, North Carolina. She is a regular contributor to EdWeek and author of Visual Note-Taking for Educators: A Teacher's Guide to Student Creativity. She believes exploring through another’s eyes, languages, experiences, and terrain is vital to making sense of our evolving world. Follow her on Twitter @wendi322.

Zach Creech is a social studies teacher at Western Guilford High School in Greensboro, North Carolina. He currently teaches Advanced Placement human geography and Advanced Placement world history. Zach has taught in a variety of environments and has brought his passion for learning to students from all walks of life. He wants to bring an emphasis on geography back to the forefront of learning at all levels of public education.