In Search of the Golden Fleece: Professional Development and Grants for Classics Teachers

I know it's early right now, but planning for exceptional professional development experiences is always at the forefront of my mind. It's NEVER too early to start planning. Some of the really good programs have application deadlines of mid-November or December. Be on the alert, teachers!

I've done some incredible programs through the years including the summer schools of both the American School of Classical Studies at Athens and the Classical Summer School of the American Academy in Rome on a Fulbright Grant. I've also just finished my two-year fellowship as a Grosvenor Teacher Fellow with National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions. 

If you're a teacher of classics, please check out this presentation I did for the North American Cambridge Classics Project. This wonderful organization does MONTHLY free webinars. Some of them are specific to the Cambridge Latin Course, but others, like mine, are more classics general. You can see their Website here, and their YouTube channel here.

All of my PD experiences were educational cornerstones in my teaching career, but none was better than a trip that I planned myself! In the summer of 2022, I received a scholarship from the National Latin Exam to visit the Romano-British sites of England and Wales. I still think of the marvelous experiences I had on that trip! When I returned, I created a Website of resources and pictures to share with other classics teachers. You can see it linked here. When I presented for this most recent webinar, one of the attendees stated that she used my Website to apply for a scholarship to do the same trip! In addition, the Latin teacher who inspired me to plan that trip reached out recently. At the summer institute of the American Classical League of 2019, James Watson, a Latin teacher and Cambridge Latin Course contributor, had presented on a few Roman sites in England that are mentioned in the course. Inspired by that presentation, I planned my trip, adding a lot more locations including Hadrian's Wall. James and I are friends on social media, and he recently contacted me to ask if he could use my website for a conference he was presenting at. He added that he thought it was so helpful and needed to be known more widely! I'm so glad my sharing is helpful to others.

Start thinking ahead to the summer of 2027, y'all! Where will YOU go?

Resources:
YouTube Link to this webinar
Link to the presentation with links to programs, scholarships, grants, etc.