Fund for Teachers has awarded a $5,000 grant to Dr. Rita Baker for a self-designed fellowship to study the culture of Australia and its Maori people to broaden personal understanding of indigenous culture to help students recognize the power of art to transcend and unify individuals despite cultural and geographical differences. She will leave during the summer to visit sacred Aboriginal sites, collaborate with local artists and explore wildlife in the area caIled home to many indigenous communities.
"It is indeed an honor and a blessing to be a 2015 Fund for Teachers Fellow, and I am looking forward to learning about Australia and its various indigenous communities. It is my hope that by sharing my experiences, students will develop a more realistic perspective of Aboriginal life, and realize how we all are inextricably linked through the power of art."
Rita Baker, Ph.D.
Fund for Teachers annuallv awards grants to pre-K-12 educators to obtain both through self-designed summer fellowships. Dr. Baker was the only teacher from Georgia to recieve this award in 2015.