Projects We’ve Funded
As of Spring 2025, we have supported the professional learning of over 550 Bay Area teachers as part of 115 funded projects.
Year Awarded
Level
Subject
County
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PLC Global Ambassadors – College Park Elementary
Our school aims to grow a generation of students from all backgrounds with a foundation in Mandarin Chinese language, literacy and knowledge of Chinese culture, which affords them to be multilingual global stewards . Establishing a global professional learning community (PLC) with those who share our vision and goals toward a student centered, social and environmental justice 21st Century Transdisciplinary Mandarin Dual Language Immersion (DLI) Curriculum will support our aim. The Light Award will be instrumental in cultivating a continuous, collaborative, cross cultural, cross linguistic learning community while also developing our leadership skills.
READ MOREEquity for SMHS Science Students
As SMHS science classes grow more diverse, our dedicated team aims to challenge and support all students, including language learners in college prep. Our goal is fostering a love for science and ensuring success for everyone.
READ MOREPBL for Newcomers: Language Development, Engagement and Empowerment
We are a team of interdisciplinary teachers committed to the equitable and engaging education of newcomer English learners. We seek to leverage our expertise as we create and implement Project Based Learning (PBL) units specifically designed for our students.
READ MOREImproving Instruction and Engagement through Spanish Professional Development
This team of reading teachers has been teaching in East Palo Alto for 7-20 years, and they want to become conversationally fluent in Spanish. Team members will each complete an intensive program of online Spanish tutoring through Verbalicity and attend trainings by the Center for Applied Linguistics to connect their language lessons to their teaching.
READ MOREFacing History’s Professional Learning Community for Ethnic Studies
- Alameda County
- San Mateo County
- Santa Clara County
- Social & Emotional Learning
- 2020
- High School
- Funded Projects
This team from across the Bay Area will launch a professional learning community focused on learning and growing in the area of Ethnic Studies.
READ MOREContent Area Literacy in the Digital Age
- Reading/Writing
- San Francisco
- San Mateo County
- Santa Clara County
- 2019
- Elementary School
- Funded Projects
This team of six teachers at 5 different school sites across the Bay Area aims to deepen teacher knowledge of digital literacy and adult learning while supporting each other in adapting instruction to support 21st century learning.
READ MOREVertical Alignment of School-Wide Advisory Curriculum
The goal of these five high school teachers is to strengthen their school’s Advisory program.
READ MOREOrchestra Teacher Professional Development
The team of five middle and high school music teachers will organize and take part in a twice-monthly Orchestral Methods class.
READ MORETransformational Teacher Mentoring
The team of five high school teachers and one middle school teacher at four schools across the Bay Area are part of the Trellis Mentor Fellowship, through which they have all made a five-year commitment to mentoring new teachers.
READ MORESpanish for Native Speakers Professional Learning Community
The team of six Spanish language teachers currently teaches Spanish heritage speakers without the support of textbooks, networks or pedagogical training aligned with their student populations.
READ MOREWorld Language (Japanese)
The team of four Bay Area Japanese teachers seeks to invest in more productive networking circles to overcome the limitations of the typically small, “one-man-program” Japanese language departments in their schools.
READ MOREPeer Coaching to Augment Literacy Content Instruction
The team of six teachers is using the LIGHT Awards grant to learn skills in collaboration and coaching.
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