Lilly Endowment awards $1.2M for teaching fellowships

One hundred teachers throughout the state—including 44 recipients from the Indianapolis area—have been chosen to receive a total of $1.2 million from Lilly Endowment Inc. as part of the Teacher Creativity Fellowship.

The not-for-profit announced the recipients Monday morning. Each fellow will receive $12,000 to support a specific project.

Nearly a quarter of the fellows are from Indianapolis schools, with 24 teachers being selected from local public and private institutions. The northern suburbs also several recipients, including four in Carmel, four in Fishers, three in Westfield and one in Zionsville.

Four teachers from Greenwood and one each from Plainfield, Greenfield, Martinsville and Mooresville also were selected for the fellowship.

Many of the teachers will use the grants to travel and study a variety of skills, such as cooking, beekeeping, photography and environmental conservation.

The grants are awarded annually to teachers, principals, guidance counselors, school media specialists and librarians as a way to encourage educators to “renew their commitment to the education profession,” the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment said in a written statement.

“For three decades now we at the Endowment have learned how important it is for educators to have time and space to create and explore,” Sara Cobb, vice president for education for the Endowment, said the statement. “They have shared with us that they return to their schools with a greater commitment to their students and the vocation of education.”