National Book Foundation Teacher Fellowship

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The National Book Foundation (NBF) Teacher Fellowship supports and celebrates 6th-12th grade teachers using innovative methods to make reading for pleasure a part of their students’ school day experience. The NBF Teacher Fellowship aims to:

Support classroom activities that have a direct impact on the development of students as lifelong readers
Celebrate and highlight creative and effective models for independent reading instruction
Connect more young people with great literature through National Book Award-honored titles.

As part of the Fellowship, teachers develop or continue an initiative that promotes reading for pleasure in their classroom, incorporate National Book Award-honored titles into their curriculum, and collaborate with other Fellows through participation in a professional learning community, including an in-person convening in New York City.

Applications for the 2023/24 National Book Foundation Teacher Fellowship are now closed, and notifications have been sent.

Applications for the 2024/25 school year will open in February 2024 (date subject to change). Interested applicants may review the Program & Application Details; full details will be posted in early 2024.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Deputy Director Jordan Smith at jsmith@nationalbook.org.

2023/24 TEACHER FELLOWS | 2023/24 SELECTION COMMITTEE

2023/24 NBF TEACHER FELLOWS

Yesenia Caballero
Churchill High School
San Antonio, TX
9^th & 10^th grade English Language Arts

Danielle Carvil-Dardey
Tapp Middle School
Powder Springs, GA
6^th-8^th grade Reading

Timothy Foster
Oskaloosa High School
Oskaloosa, IA
9^th-12^th grade Spanish

Ardis Iverson
George McGovern Middle School
Sioux Falls, SD
6^th-8^th grade Special Education
(Photo credit: Brianna Keogh)

Carol Jones
Shawnee Middle School
Shawnee, OK
6^th grade English Language Arts

Larissa Pahomov
Science Leadership Academy
Philadelphia, PA
9^th-12^th grade English Language Arts

Raquel Reynoso
Bronx Park Middle School
Bronx, NY
8^th grade Social Studies

Rodrigo Joseph Rodriguez
William Charles Akins Early College High School
Austin, TX
11^th & 12^th grade English Language Arts
(Photo credit: Philip Goetz)

2023/24 SELECTION COMMITTEE

Andrew Donnelly

Becky Goetzinger

Randy Ribay. Photo credit: Stefania Curto) — Randy Ribay

The online application for the 2024/25 NBF Teacher Fellowship will open in February 2024 (date subject to change). Accompanying program and application details will be posted in early 2024.

RESOURCES

If selected as a Fellow, you will receive:

A $3,000 stipend upon completion of the program
A $2,000 book buying & shipping budget
Participation in a professional learning community with other Fellows, as well as professional authors, National Book Foundation staff, and others.
Round-trip economy airfare, two nights of hotel accommodations, and a daily travel stipend to attend the final in-person cohort meeting and the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 celebration in May/June (Fellows located locally in NYC or tri-state area will be provided with alternate travel accommodations, as appropriate)

Note: other than the May/June convening in NYC, all cohort activities will take place virtually.

EXPECTATIONS

If selected as a Fellow, you are expected to:

Attend all virtual cohort convenings
Watch the annual National Book Award Teen Press Conference with a group of students (livestreamed, recorded, or in-person if local to NYC)
Attend a one day in-person convening in NYC in May/June
Share a 15-minute presentation about your project with the NBF Teacher Fellowship cohort
Submit a mid-program report and a final report
Ensure that books purchased as part of the program become property of participating Fellow and/or participating students; Fellow must notify NBF if changing schools mid-project
Provide NBF with materials (eg, photos, videos, quotes) to support NBF Teacher Fellowship-related marketing efforts as requested
Maintain regular and timely email communication with National Book Foundation staff

ELIGIBILITY

APPLICANT

6th-12th grade teacher currently working in a US-based public school
Beginning their 3rd year of teaching (or more) by the start of the Fellowship
Able to receive sign off from supervising principal (following conditional acceptance)

PROJECT

In line with the overall goals of the NBF Teacher Fellowship, proposed projects should:

Make reading for pleasure a part of students’ school day experience
Include classroom activities that positively impact students’ development as lifelong readers
Model creative and effective approaches to independent reading instruction
Connect more young people with great literature through National Book Award-honored titles, and specifically, incorporate at least one title from the current year’s National Book Award Longlist for Young People’s Literature into classroom curriculum

Additionally: Activities must be offered at no financial cost to participating students.

NBF welcomes creative, innovative, and diverse approaches to engaging students with reading for pleasure during the school day; the National Book Foundation aims to support the excellent work of teachers, and therefore is not providing a prescriptive approach to projects. In your application, you should be sure to clearly explain how your project meets the overall goals of the NBF Teacher Fellowship, as outlined above, and articulate why it’s an effective approach for your students.