Mineola HS teacher connects with other countries through grant

The Island Now
Bette Sloane, a math teacher at Mineola High School, was one of nearly 500 teachers selected for a Summer Fellowship through a grant from Fund for Teachers. (Photo courtesy of Mineola Union Free School District)

Bette Sloane, a math teacher at Mineola High School, was one of nearly 500 teachers selected for a Summer Fellowship through a grant from Fund for Teachers. She was selected based on a proposal she submitted last fall, where she outlined how she could make learning more authentic and engaging for students by visiting the man-made structures of China and the artistic compositions of Japan. Ms. Sloane intends to utilize her trip to these areas to create real-world geometry problems for her students that connect engineering, architecture and the arts.

“The experiential learning and real world-based inquiry problem-sets I can create based on my fellowship experience have the potential to engage students on a deep level,” Ms. Sloane said. “This fellowship provided me an opportunity to bring a new and authentic approach to the interdisciplinary curriculum Mineola offers.”

Ms. Sloane has been a teacher in Mineola for the past 12 years and also serves as an adviser to the high school’s TedEd Club. The $5,000 grant covered her travel expenses and she just returned from the trip last week.

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