GREENFIELD — A counselor at Harris Elementary School discovered she was one of 100 educators in Indiana to receive a $12,000 Teacher Creativity Fellowship Grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.
The Teacher Creativity Fellowship Program gives teachers, principals, guidance counselors and school media specialists and librarians the financial support and encouragement to renew their commitment to the education profession, according to a press release.
“Each fellow will receive a $12,000 grant to support a project of personally and professionally fulfilling activities,” a press release states. “They plan to explore national parks in the U.S. and Australia; bicycle through Germany; immerse themselves in diverse cultures across Asia; and research their family trees through writing projects.”
Morgan’s $12,000 will first go toward learning a new skill — photography. She’s always wanted to learn more about photography, but she didn’t have the money to buy an expensive digital camera or take courses to learn how to use it properly, she said.
With her Teacher Creativity Fellowship Grant, Morgan will buy some camera equipment and take a few photography classes this spring before a trip through national parks of Australia and New Zealand this summer.
Once she returns, Morgan will attend educational conferences about how to incorporate art into counseling sessions.
She will also use part of the $12,000 to purchase DSLR cameras for a photography club at Harris.
There are many pieces to Morgan’s plan for the grant money, but she has a year and a half to complete the projects, she said.
She was overjoyed to learn she was one of the 100 recipients of the grant in its 30th year.
“I am beyond thrilled,” she said. “I could not believe it. It’s so exciting and amazing that Eli Lilly does this for educators, for the purpose of them finding personal renewal.”
Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private philanthropic organization founded in 1937 by three members of the Lilly family through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly and Co.
