Carol Grams and Chelen Johnson

Professional Development

Breck is deeply committed to ongoing professional development for our faculty. A committee called Faculty Advisory accepts applications and makes recommendation for activities including the following:

Sabbatical Years

Two teachers each year are selected for a sabbatical to pursue a course of travel and study of their choice. Faculty members on sabbatical receive their regular salary plus a stipend.

Summer Grants

Faculty members are encouraged to apply for grants for study programs in areas of both professional and personal interest over the summer.

School Visits

Faculty members are encouraged to apply for assistance with mid-year school visits. Last year, for example, Middle School science teacher Viriginia Amundson visited four schools in the Atlanta area to observe and discuss interdisciplinary science programs.

Conferences

Every year, Breck faculty members are active participants and presenters at professional conferences, workshops and seminars. Funds for such activities are available, by division, to meet individual development needs.

Coursework

Faculty members who teach at least 50 percent time (or at least three classes) can apply for funds to cover the cost of coursework, both over the summer and during the school year.

For more information about employment opportunities at Breck, please contact employment@breckschool.org.

 

2009-10 Sabbatical recipients: Merrill and Pape

Sabbatical Years

In 2009-10 Upper School history instructor Lori Merrill will devote a year to the study of conflict resolution, a field that combines international relations, global studies and comparative politics. She will focus on Ireland and Lebanon. Lori’s plans include travel to England, Ireland and Lebanon, learning basic Arabic, and attending the Irish Peace Institute in Limerick and a workshop on peace and conflict resolution at Boston University.  She hopes that her study will be both personally and professionally renewing and will help her to better communicate the complexity of the world to her students.

Lower School instructor Karen Pape will undertake a wide-ranging study of national parks and the efforts to preserve these wilderness areas in the face of numerous threats. She plans to visit national parks in Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Montana, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, and she will maintain a blog on which she will post podcasts and digital photography. Karen will also connect with fourth graders via videoconferences from many of the locations. In doing so, she hopes to model experiential learning for her students and develop both informational and technological resources to bring back to them upon her return.