Burlington teacher Jana Fabri-Sbardellati (pictured) and six other Vermont public school teachers have been awarded 2025 fellowships by the Rowland Foundation to devise and implement projects that will positively change their schools' culture and climate.
These fellowships provide $125,000 grants (or $150,000 for teachers working in tandem) to cover the cost of hiring a substitute for the year, releasing the teachers from the classroom to research and implement their projects. Fabri-Sbardellati, a humanities teacher at Hunt Middle School, will focus on integrating financial literacy and career exploration into the academic core of middle-school education.
“We are thrilled for Jana and even more for students in the Burlington School District," said Hunt Middle School Principal Melanee Alexander. "Her project will improve the overall health of our young people as well as instill in them skills to change the world.”
In addition to Fabri-Sbardellati, other fellowship winners include:
- Julia Beerworth, a humanities teacher at Charlotte Central School in the Champlain Valley School District. Her project aims to create a school-wide shift toward project-based learning, aligning with Vermont’s Act 77.
- Danielle Berg, an art teacher at Spaulding High School in Barre Unified Union School District. Her project will revamp the school's advisory structure to increase engagement and build community.
- Matt Henchen (history and civics teacher) and Jonah Ibson (English teacher) at Harwood Union High School in the Harwood Union School District. Their joint project will establish an educational path designed to provide learners with the time, space, and support needed to explore their interests and passions.
- Anne Koplinka-Loehr, a social studies teacher at Brattleboro Area Middle School in the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union. Her project will implement restorative practices to transform the school’s system for responding to harm and repairing relationships.
- Rebecca Osborne, a sixth-grade teacher at Hartford Memorial Middle School in the Hartford School District. Her project will investigate how incorporating hands-on craft and practical life skills into middle school education would impact engagement, mental health, and sense of belonging.