Bread Loaf Teacher Network

By: Christopher McCurry

The Bread Loaf Teacher Network (BLTN) is a community of teachers, students, and administrators affiliated with the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College. Supported during the academic year by Bread Loaf staff and faculty, its primary goal is to encourage year-round collaboration among Bread Loaf teachers, faculty, and their students on innovative projects designed to promote culturally sensitive and transformative literacies. 

Kentucky BLTN, plans, organizes, and hosts bi-annual meetings that connect students and high school teachers with an international community of educators and peers, as well as showcases the collaborative projects designed by BLTN teachers and students. These projects are the heart of the network and the focus of the partnership between the C.E. & S. foundation, which provides generous fellowships to Kentucky teachers each year to attend the Bread Loaf School of English.

We are proud to say that several of our collaborations have received local, state, and national attention as innovative ways to teach standards and assess students. Brent Peters and Paul Barnwell of Fern Creek collaborated with their colleagues and the Navajo Nation to explore food literacy. Their ongoing partnership culminated in the creation of the Navajo Kentuckians. Other projects have included, student constructed community performances, and an online journal seeking to connect students through the idea of home.

BLTN is open to all teachers and students of literacy, no matter the subject or grade level. Educators interested in joining will find energetic, hardworking, student-centered network. Yearly projects are planned in the summer and implemented throughout the school year. The next Kentucky Bread Loaf Teacher Network meeting will be May 16th. If you’d like to attend contact Christopher McCurry: christopher.mccurry@fayette.kyschools.us.

This is a guest blog written by one of the teachers in our Innovative Teacher Leader cohort to share about an innovative teacher or practice from their area of the state. To learn more about the work happening in the Commonwealth from these Innovative Teacher Leaders, who are working to redefine teacher leadership in Kentucky, check back throughout the month of March. We’ll be sharing guest blogs all month long.