Holland teacher to travel abroad, visit book setting to create lessons for students
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Holland teacher to travel abroad, visit book setting to create lessons for students
Joy Kooyer, a third grade teacher at Holland’s West Elementary, was awarded a $5,000 grant for self-guided professional development. Kooyer will “become immersed in the Scandinavian settings’ of the novel “Number the Stars” by Lois Lowry. The book is an historical novel about a Jewish family escaping from Denmark to Sweden during World War II. Ko Moyer is one of 357 teachers nationwide to be selected for a grant in 2025.
Joy Kooyer, a third grade teacher at Holland’s West Elementary, was awarded a $5,000 grant for self-guided professional development by Fund for Teachers.
Fund for Teachers is a national organization supporting teachers who “envision and enact change in their classrooms and communities, grounded in their students’ assets and needs,” according to its website.
Kooyer is one of 357 teachers nationwide to be selected for a grant in 2025, This year’s awards total more than $1.6 million. Projects include teachers traveling to 79 different countries.
This summer, Kooyer will “become immersed in the Scandinavian settings” of the novel “Number the Stars” by Lois Lowry, which Kooyer reads to students every year. She will create a project-based learning experience “that considers parallels between the World War II era of the book and injustices happening today.”
“Number the Stars” was published in 1989 and won a Newberry Medal in 1990. The book is an historical novel about a Jewish family escaping from Denmark to Sweden during World War II.
In a post on the district website, Kooyer said she’s “incredibly honored” to receive the grant and said “Number the Stars” is a particularly meaningful book for her.
“Years ago, I met Lois Lowry at a book signing in Holland,” Kooyer wrote. “I typically read this book to my students every May … they learn to identify social issues and read with a new lens and different perspectives.”
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“I am excited to follow the path of Annemarie, the main character, as she makes her way up the coast of Denmark and finally into Sweden,” Kooyer added.
Since 2001, Fund for Teachers has granted $39 million to 10,225 teachers across the United States. For more information, visit fundforteachers.org.
— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com.