4 NPS Teachers Awarded Fund for Teachers Grant

Congratulations to Norwalk Public Schools' recipients of the 2025 Fund for Teachers Grant!

On April 3, Dalio Education joined Fund for Teachers to surprise teachers across the state with the exciting news including Brien McMahon High School's Melissa O’Donnell, Laura Bassler, and Michelle Amezzane, and Silvermine Dual Language Magnet School's Anna McCormick.

Fund for Teachers Fellows

Brien McMahon High School

• Melissa O'Donnell plans to travel to Spain this summer to learn more about how Spanish schools teach English learning classes to their native Spanish speakers. She'll also be visiting some International Baccalaureate classrooms. Her travels will take her to Barcelona, Madrid and Sevilla. Along the way, she plans to visit with some families of her Multilingual Learner students.
• Laura Bassler and Michelle Amezzane will be traveling together this summer to France as well as Spain. The IB teachers plan to visit several IB schools along with some significant heritage and cultural sites. The goal is to build linguistic connections for their students upon their return. Their travels will take them to Barcelona, Grenada and Madrid in Spain and Marseilles and Strasbourg in France.

Silvermine Dual Language Magnet School

• Anna McCormick will be assigned to stay with a family in Costa Rica for three weeks. Her goal is to strengthen her Spanish speaking skills and visit other dual language schools in the country. She's also excited to learn more about a compost program at one of the schools. Her principal, Yesenia Paredes, sang her praises:

Great teachers don’t just educate — they elevate, inspire, empower, and transform lives. Anna McCormick embodies the heart and soul of our Silvermine Swans, and we are incredibly proud of her well-deserved Fund for Teachers fellowship. Her commitment to growth and cultural immersion will ripple through our classroom and beyond. ¡Felicidades, Anna!”

Hear from Dr. Jeff Beckley, a former Fund for Teachers fellow, who had the opportunity to travel twice thanks to the grant.

About Fund for Teachers

Fund for Teachers is the only nationwide organization to invest in teachers' self-designed professional learning. We invite PK-12 educators to pursue any topic, anywhere. Our program values teachers as leaders, innovators and changemakers in their classrooms and careers, which simultaneously encourages them to remain in the profession.

About Dalio Education

The flagship Connecticut education initiative for Dalio Philanthropies is Dalio Education, led by Barbara Dalio.

Two of Barbara’s core values guide the work of Dalio Education. The first is that we, as a society, should not be leaving anyone behind; the approximately 119,000 young people who are currently off-track and disconnected deserve every opportunity to get back on track.

The second core value is grounded in the belief that listening is more important than talking and that the best solutions are those put forward by local leaders who are on the front lines at the community level. It’s a bottom-up philosophy, as opposed to a top-down model.

To that end, Dalio Education’s approach is grounded in direct engagement with public school communities — teachers, administrators, and students — and the leaders of local non-profits.