January 26, 2024
Contact: Judith Cebula
317.916.7327 | cebulaj@lei.org
Lilly Endowment Honors More Than 100 Indiana K-12 Educators
Indianapolis – Lilly Endowment Inc. is supporting the renewal of Indiana K-12 educators through its 2024 Teacher Creativity Fellowship Program.
The Endowment has approved grants to 104 educators working in Indiana schools. The grants of up to $15,000 each will fund proposed renewal projects designed to help restore a commitment to the education profession and stimulate creativity, which promise to enhance the educational experiences of their students.
Created in 1987, the Teacher Creativity Fellowship Program offers encouragement and support to Indiana’s K-12 educators working in public and private schools. This year’s fellows are classroom teachers, principals, assistant principals, instructional coaches, school counselors and librarians and media specialists. They work in many different kinds of school settings, including traditional public schools, charter schools and private schools (both religiously affiliated and independent). These schools are located in cities and towns and in suburban and rural communities throughout the state. Learn about the 2024 fellows and their renewal plans here.
Influenced by various factors that take an emotional and physical toll on educators today, many fellows proposed projects to establish healthy habits through exercise, journaling or meditation. Other projects focus on intellectual pursuits, such as studying wildlife conservation, learning new languages and exploring the interplay between faith and scientific discovery. And several projects are devoted to creative pursuits, such as creating mosaics, mastering Italian and Peruvian cuisines, learning about varied knitting traditions, and discovering the art of Japanese washi paper quilting. Additional 2024 fellows will explore national parks across the United States, learn to pilot a single-engine plane, and practice astrophotography at various ‘dark sky’ parks. Others will travel to Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America to experience new cultures or investigate personal ancestries.
“Indiana’s K-12 schools employ talented and dedicated educators who work tirelessly to support the success of Hoosier students each day,” said Ted Maple, the Endowment’s vice president for education. “The renewal projects of this year’s fellows are compelling, and we believe their experiences will rejuvenate them and further strengthen the extraordinary contributions they make to the lives of their students and communities.”
Including the 2024 fellows, more than 3,650 Indiana educators have received grants since the inception of the Teacher Creativity Fellowship Program. It is one of five programs the Endowment funds to support renewal experiences for people working in various professions in the nonprofit sector. Renewal programs are available for individuals working in human services and in the arts in central Indiana and for clergy who pastor churches in Indiana and across the nation. Learn more about these efforts here.
About Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based, private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly and his sons, Eli and J.K. Jr., through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, the Endowment is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. Although the Endowment maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana, it also funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion.