Travel grants are awarded each year to up to three full- or part-time faculty who have completed five full years at LREI. A fourth grant is reserved for staff members (including Afterschool and Summer Camp) who have completed five years at LREI.

Approved grants connect to faculty/staff professional responsibilities and/or personal development, with the expectation that the recipient’s experience will enrich what he or she already does as a professional and member of the LREI community. The travel grant is intended to allow for the pursuit of an interest or passion. It may serve many purposes, including, but not limited to:

Exploring areas of personal or professional interest
Pursuing a personal goal or experiencing something new
Enhancing or extending what you already do as a professional and member of the LREI community
Refreshing and renewing your excitement for your work
For faculty, deepening your understanding of or connection to some aspect of your curriculum
Reinvigorating your professional practice

Please enjoy the various musings, insights and learnings from our travel grant recipients.

2019 Travel Grants

Reigniting Religion Through the Renaissance — Kellen Howell

It is not easy to be a practicing Roman Catholic in today’s world: the media often wrongly equates religion with political conservatism and scandals in the Catholic Church have rocked the very foundation of Catholicism, tainting my ties to the Church and...

A Pilgrimage to Wales — Stacy Dillon

“Wales? Well, that’s interesting.” “Where exactly is Wales?” These were the kinds of reactions I got when I told people about my travel grant for the summer. People couldn’t understand why I would go to Wales instead of England, or Scotland, or Ireland...

Learning to Lean In: Ceramics on Cape Cod — Kenna Mateos

When I submitted my proposal for this summer’s travel grant, I was filled with enthusiasm. In past summers, I would pick a coastal community, unplug from technology, and recharge. Being someone whose main work is done in an office, I always admire the lower school...

Eilean Shona, Scotland – Shauna Finn

As a teaching artist, I count on the summer months to reinvigorate my painting practice, and travel is a great way to find new inspiration. This year, I returned to Eilean Shona, a beautiful place that James and I discovered two summers ago when the LREI travel grant...

Elaine Chu: To Russia, With Love

This summer I returned to St. Petersburg, Russia, where I lived and traveled to regularly in the years between 1987 and 1997, first as a student, and subsequently for my work with the Soros Foundations. The last time I was there was about 13 years ago. Having a child...

Alaska: #1 Bucket List Item – Tema Tischler

My first cruise ever and I chose Alaska – the #1 item on my bucket list. The years at LREI have just flown by so fast and while I'm not thinking of retirement yet, this trip made me rethink my plans for the very near future. This travel grant has really changed my...

Michelle Boehm: Fire and Ice

I had the wonderful opportunity, through receiving one of this summer’s travel grants, to travel to Iceland this past August. Did you know that there are 30 active volcanoes in Iceland and that there are earthquakes everyday? One of the locals shared that volcanic...

Susan Glass: My Trip to Hungary

Kecskemet, Hungary, a small village 100 km from Budapest, is the birthplace of Zoltan Kodaly, the composer, ethnomusicologist, philosopher and educator whose work has inspired much of my teaching for my entire career. I was there, at the International Kodaly...

Joy Piedmont: “Make sure you do and see the things that interest you”

I was born in Seoul, Korea but until last month I had not been there since I was adopted as a four-month-old baby. I have wanted to visit Korea for some time now and the LREI travel grant made the trip possible. I visited Seoul, Busan, and Jeju and I loved the country...

Harriet Lieber: Finding Meaning in the Gap

Judith Gap Montana, population 126, has a school, a gas station, a cafe and a park. Right beyond the small cluster of streets with homes is a wind farm and beyond that, stretching out in every direction, are acres and acres of cattle. Nestled deep into this landscape...

Beth Binnard: The Solar Eclipse 2017 – Appreciating the Unexpected

This summer I generously received a travel grant to join my family in the Portland, Oregon area to see the total solar eclipse. My extended family all live in California: my brother, sister-in-law and two nephews live in the Bay Area, and my parents live in Southern...

Gabrielle Keller: Living and Learning in Lucca

My grandmother's family came from Lucca, Italy, an historic town in Tuscany, 30 miles from Pisa and Viarreggio. Lucca has pre-Roman origins and the old town is still surrounded by walls. It is also the birthplace of Puccini. Although I had travelled in Italy before,...

Joanne Magee: Inspired through Reconnection

My traveling took me back to London to visit with two of my college friends. Twenty-two years after we graduated together, both are still making drama and theatre in London. My time with Neil McPherson and Vishni Veleda Billson gave me an opportunity to reconnect with...

Susannah Flicker: Only a Small Portion

I traveled to Finland in June 2016 to visit my uncle, aunt and cousin. I had not visited Finland since 2004, so I had not had the chance to meet my cousin’s partner and two children. This was my kids’ first international travel experience. It was a really meaningful...

Diane Kidder: A Simple Pause

Last summer, I received a travel grant to attend a mindfulness workshop at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. Esalen is a retreat and education center that has been around since the 1960's, working with individuals to integrate the mind, heart, body, spirit, and...

Mary Shea: A Writer’s Work

In 2011, I received a travel grant and attended the Green Mountain Writers Conference in Vermont. I've returned to the Conference every summer since 2011 and I was grateful to receive a second grant in 2015. What is the Green Mountain Writers Conference? After years...

Elizabeth Gonzalez: Taking Flight

In the spring of 2015, I received a travel grant to study bird watching at my alma mater- Cornell University. It was an exciting opportunity to go back to school and experience Cornell at its best. After all, “Ithaca is Gorges” during the summer months. What could be...