A pair of Morgan Park Academy teachers are among this year’s winners of an Innovation Circle Grant Prize from the national non-profit Fund for Teachers, fueling a research trip to the American South that will allow them to develop new elements of the humanities curriculum for MPA students.
English teacher Sandra Burgess and history teacher Marymargaret Coakley traveled in June to Memphis, Tennessee; Jackson, Mississippi; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Montgomery, Alabama; to research the growth of the slave trade through civil rights resistance.
They will create a research project to be added to Morgan Park Academy’s curriculum in which students map how slavery contributed to the U.S. economy and how those who benefited from slavery opposed the system’s demise and equality for Black Americans.
Burgess and Coakley were selected for the $1,000 summer research grant based on their unwavering dedication to creating a transformative learning environment that positively impacts students.
Burgess, who also oversees Morgan Park Academy’s English curriculum for grades 7-12, also was recognized as a Fund for Teachers Fellow in 2022.
That summer, she traveled widely across eight European countries — Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and the Netherlands — to gather materials, impressions, and insights pertaining to the Holocaust to inform the creation of a student-led podcast series.
Congratulations to Ms. Burgess and Mrs. Coakley on this tremendous accomplishment! We look forward to seeing them bring this experience to life in their classrooms and our broader community.
