Destination inspiration: Teacher takes trip of a lifetime

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Vigo County School Corporation teacher, Carlee Sluder, was awarded a Lilly Endowment Teacher Creativity Fellowship grant in 2023 this summer the grant afforded her the trip of a lifetime.

“I wish everyone could have this kind of opportunity,” Carlee Sluder, a literature and writing teacher at Woodrow Wilson Middle School.

In a journey bridging the worlds of literature and travel, Sluder and her husband embarked on a transformative month-long adventure, made possible with Lilly Endowment’s Teacher Creativity Fellowship Program.

“Within the grant, the whole point is to create renewal and rejuvenation for teachers,” Sluder said.

“We knew going into it, that was the intent,” Sluder said. “But we had no idea the impact that it would really have on us,” she added.

Loading up their “Stay-Puft Marshmallow Camper Van, Sluder and her husband set off to travel the East Coast, visiting literary landmarks pairing landscapes and stories.

“So when we were in the Stephen King area we were listening to Stephen King stories or watching a movie that was based off of a Stephen King book,” Sluder said.

The destination? Inspiration.

“We left, just expecting to go on these amazing travels and then we came home with this appreciation for the Midwest and our home,” she said

“It made us appreciate living in Indiana and made us not really want to leave Indiana. And that is part of the grant as well. It’s to keep teachers in the classroom and keep them in Indiana. So, while I knew going into the grant, that was their intent, I didn’t expect it to work so well,” Sluder said while laughing. “And it did,” she added.

Returning to her classroom for a new school year, Mrs. Sluder is eager to incorporate her travel experiences into her curriculum,

“I think that these experiences and excitement and passion that I have again for writing because of this is going to play into how I teach in my classroom,” she said.

By bringing fresh perspectives to her literature lessons Sluder says she’ll encourage her students to appreciate the world around them.

“So what I would like to show a lot of our students, especially the ones who don’t have the means to travel, or their families don’t have the means to travel, that there’s a lot in our own backyard that they can experience and they can still find the beauty in where we live. And you don’t have to travel thousands of miles to be able to do it,” Sluder said.

Since its inception in 1987, more than thirty-six hundred Indiana educators have received the grant. 104 grants were awarded in 2023.

In a statement, Lilly Endowment said,

“Beginning with the Teacher Creativity Fellowship Program in 1987, Lilly Endowment has funded opportunities for teachers, pastors, artists, human service workers and youth workers to take time away from their work for reflection and renewal. Our grants to help rejuvenate their professional commitments stem from a belief in the power of sabbatical – a time set aside to replenish physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual resources.”

Judith Cebula, Communications Director – Lilly Endowment Inc.

“I am an English teacher and a lot of times I am extremely verbose… and I have no words… There are not enough words to express the gratitude that I have, that we both have toward the Lilly Foundation and being part of this fellowship,” Sluder said.

The September 9, deadline for eligible educators to apply for the next round of $15,000 fellowships is quickly approaching. For more information on how to apply or to learn more about the fellowship, click here.

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