New London – Six New London teachers have earned grants that should make for some interesting summer travels, from a climate change expedition on the Hudson Bay in Canada to a trip to the mountainside city of Machu Picchu in Peru.

In partnership with New London Public Schools and the Dalio Foundation, which funds the initiative, the Fund For Teachers announced nearly $30,000 in grants Tuesday that will allow teachers from four different New London schools unique professional learning opportunities to help inspire students.

Three of the teachers work at Winthrop STEM Elementary School, where Superintendent Manuel Rivera joined with New London Education Association President Rich Baez, Fund For Teachers Executive Director Karen Webb and Barbara Dalio, who runs the foundation with her husband, billionaire hedge fund owner Ray Dalio, for surprise classroom visits Tuesday to announce the news.

Caught off guard by the entourage, fourth-grade teacher Andrea Mea smiled through tears of joy at the announcement. Like any good teacher would, she quickly turned the news into a lesson for her students – asking if they remembered lessons about Machu Picchu and the Amazon rainforest. Students recalled the Incas, pink dolphins in the Amazon and that the people spoke Spanish.

Mea will join second-grade teacher Marybeth Mann for two weeks in Peru, learning about the culture, the environment and developing lessons on engineering, science and literacy. Mea promised her students “lots of cool photos and artifacts,” upon her return.

Down the hall, English for speakers of other languages teacher Cathy Klein received the news with equal excitement. Klein, who said she speaks some Spanish, will travel to Peru for a month to immerse herself in an intensive Spanish language program.

“I’m hoping this will bring me to the next level and allow me to better communicate with students and their families,” Klein said.

The trips are all fully funded through the Dalio Foundation, which had encouraged teachers to design their dream professional learning opportunity and apply for a Fund for Teachers fellowship.

"I am inspired by the creativity and energy of this year's Fund For Teachers Fellows. I look forward to learning from them, and continuing to witness the wonderful difference they make for their students,” Barbara Dalio said in a statement.

Fund For Teachers annually awards grants to pre-kindergarten through grade 12 teachers to pursue self-designed summer fellowships for professional learning. This year, more than 200 Connecticut teachers applied to FFT for grant funding. Connecticut’s FFT Fellows were chosen by local selection committees comprised of teachers, administrators, union leaders, and community stakeholders.

In total, the local selection committees selected 118 Connecticut teachers to receive more than $475,000 in grant funding. The 2016 grant recipients teach in 76 schools and 37 districts across the state and will travel to 40 countries.

Karen Webb, Fund For Teachers executive director, said in a statement it was the largest statewide group of its kind.

“As Fellows, teachers will explore learning beyond the walls of their classrooms. They will surely inspire a passion for lifelong learning with their students,” Webb said.

Winthrop principal Michel Han called the grant recipients “go-getters who want to bring the best to their students on a daily basis.” She said Mann had been refreshing her emails on a regular basis waiting for news of the announcement.

Other grant recipients from New London include:

• Lisa Marien, a teacher at Nathan Hale Arts Magnet School who will study with professional musicians and leading music educators in the field of contemporary a cappella music.

• Rebecca Reyer Cipriani, a teacher at the Renzulli Academy who will participate in the Earthwatch Institute's "Climate Change at the Arctic's Edge" expedition in Churchill, Canada.

• Ruth Stewart-Curley, a teacher at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School will explore seismology in the Pacific Northwest, including visits to the University of Washington’s Seismology Lab, Mount St. Helens, California Academy of Science, and the Ghost Forest.

 g.smith@theday.com