January 10, 2019
Contact: Judith Cebula
317.916.7327| cebulaj@lei.org
Lilly Endowment Honors 100 Indiana Educators
With Teacher Creativity Fellowships
INDIANAPOLIS – They spend the school year inspiring their students to inquire, discover and grow. Next summer 100 of Indiana’s K-12 educators will have the chance to nurture their own curiosity and development through Lilly Endowment Teacher Creativity Fellowships.
Launched in 1987, the Endowment’s Teacher Creativity Fellowship Program has been giving teachers, principals, assistant principals, guidance counselors and school media specialists and librarians the financial support and encouragement to renew their commitment to the education profession.
Each fellow will receive a $12,000 grant to support a project of personally and professionally fulfilling activities. These educators work in a variety of Indiana schools – traditional public schools, charter schools and private schools (both religiously affiliated and independent). Their schools are in urban communities, small towns, rural areas, mid-sized cities and suburban communities. Find a complete list of the 2019 fellows here.
Many of the educators will use their fellowships to travel – across the United States and throughout the world – and to tap into interests as varied as filmmaking, mountain climbing and open-water swimming to photography, language immersion and environmental conservation. They plan to explore national parks in the U.S; bicycle through Canada; immerse themselves in diverse cultures across Asia and Latin America; and research their family trees.
“These dedicated teachers, principals, counselors and media specialists have designed inspirational projects that promise to strengthen them personally and professionally,” said Sara B. Cobb, the Endowment’s vice president for education. “For more than 30 years now we at the Endowment have learned how important it is for educators to have the time to create and explore. They have shared with us that they return to their schools with a greater commitment to their students and to the vocation of education.”
Including the 2019 class, more than 2,900 Indiana educators have received grants since the Teacher Creativity Fellowship Program began in 1987. The Endowment selected the 2019 fellows from a competitive pool of nearly 500 applicants. In addition to grants that support the renewal of educators, the Endowment funds programs that offer renewal grants to people working in the human service sector and in the arts in central Indiana and clergy who pastor churches in Indiana and across the nation.
About Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by three members of the Lilly family — J.K. Lilly Sr. and 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. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.