Stipend: $575

About the Fellowship

Unlock the power of maps and primary sources to transform your classroom and bring Boston’s rich history to life as a Lynch Fellow.

This year participants in the Carolyn A. Lynch Summer Teacher Fellowship at the Leventhal Center will engage with LMEC staff and educators from across greater Boston in conversation, collaboration, primary source exploration, and the development of accessible and meaningful learning resources for their students.

Over the course of the 2025-2026 school year, each educator will complete a project – a lesson plan, inquiry, unit plan, or DBQ – for their classroom on a specific time period or topic in Boston history, using maps and other resources from the Leventhal Center.

During the 2025 Lynch Fellows Summer Session and in two Saturday sessions during the school year, educators will receive instruction from LMEC staff on teaching with maps, designing instruction, and developing classroom materials, as well as guidance on accessing and using relevant resources from the LMEC collections. As a collaborative cohort, the Lynch Fellows and LMEC staff will explore and refine the best methods to integrate maps into their classroom teaching, provide access points for all students to work with primary source materials, and create structures to support students as they engage in rigorous discussions.

By the end of the 2025 Lynch Fellowship, Fellows will have:

• A project, lesson, or resource based on the LMEC collections that they can use with their students during the 2025-2026 school year
• New and expanded skills for teaching with maps and geospatial thinking
• A cohort of like-minded educators, including current Fellows and Lynch Fellowship alumni, with which to share ideas/resources
• A $575 stipend to support the development of instructional materials for their classroom

Eligibility

Any K-12 teacher or library media specialist who has an interest in teaching about Boston using maps and wants to create curricula in any content discipline area is invited to apply.

Boston Public School teachers are especially encouraged to submit an application, as are teams of two or more teachers from one school.

Expectations

Attend Lynch Fellowship Institute and Workshops

• Lynch Fellows will meet in-person as a cohort at the Leventhal Center for a three-day Summer Session in July. Breakfast and snacks will be provided. The dates for the Summer Session are:
  • Tuesday-Thursday July 22, 23, 24, 2025 (9:30am - 3:30pm)
• Lynch Fellows will meet in-person at the Leventhal Center for two additional Saturday sessions during the school year to share and reflect with their cohort. Dates will be confirmed and times added when the cohort is assembled.

Teach and Provide Feedback

• All Fellows should choose, teach and offer feedback on one lesson from the Leventhal Map and Education Center to their students.

Undertake Project Development and Instruction

• Before the Spring Workshop, all Fellows should develop, teach, and reflect upon a final project for the Lynch Fellowship.
• Final projects can take one of many forms, including (but not limited to) single lessons and activities, unit plans, long-term projects, structured inquiries, art projects, walking tours, or DBQs.

To apply

Deadline: Friday, February 14, 2025 at 12 pm ET

To apply, please use include the following:

• A current CV or resume
• Your choice of topic for a Lynch Fellowship final project:
  • Choose one of the following broad topics / time periods from the history of Greater Boston upon which to focus your potential Lynch Fellowship project work:
    • Boston on the Shawmut: Indigenous and early colonial era histories (17th century)
    • Revolutionary Times: Roads to revolution, and histories of the early republic (18th century - early 19th century)
    • Growing Pains: Histories of growth, expansion, and conflict (19th century)
    • Turning the Twentieth Century: Innovations, modernization, and progressive reforms (late 19th century - early 20th century)
    • The “New” Boston: Postwar histories from “the American Century” to the present (late 20th century - early 21st century)
• Application Statement:
  • In a few sentences, describe your choice of topic for the final project and how it connects to the students in your classroom.

Note: If applying as a team, please submit as a team.

Educators will be notified about their application status by February 28, 2025.

Apply online now