It is March 22 and in exactly 80 days, I will get on a plane and head off on a 5-week adventure.
I cannot wait to spill all of the exciting details, but before we get to that, I need to fill you in on how this trip was made possible.
Last summer, I spent over 40 hours working on a Teacher Creativity Grant. I spent most of my time at the Avon Public Library where I got to know the librarians very well (And where I witnessed a couple of teenage boys setup Bluetooth speakers on the bookshelves and proceed to play the soundtrack of a few "adult films" LOUDLY. My poor librarian friends were scrambling after that one). Anyway, On August 22nd, I shipped my application off to Lilly Endowment Inc. And on January 7th, the foundation notified me that I had been chosen among the 100 educators in the state of Indiana to receive $12,000 to pursue creativity and inspiration.
Although I am certain that every one of you wants to read my 9-page application in its entirety, instead I will summarize my project in 50 words. Cue the cheesy title and overuse of buzzwords!
“Our Words at Work”: Turning Words into Impact!: This project aims to re-ignite my passion for harnessing the power of words! I plan to re-trace the steps of history’s greatest European word warriors, attend a TEDx event to study modern word-warriors, and grow my personal writing skills through a writing workshop in Tuscany, Italy, and blogging.
So that is my trip in a nutshell. I am going to be doing 5 weeks of literary-inspired traveling. I will be going to Italy, England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and Iceland. I will be chasing creativity, renewal, adventure, and inspiration. I cannot thank the Lilly Foundation enough for granting (see what I did there?) me a trip of a lifetime. I truly believe that when I return to the classroom in August, I will return an educator with renewed energy and passion.
I'll post more details about the trip soon!
-Kelsey
