Herb Kohl: Teacher Fellowship Program - Public School Teachers Grant

Herb Kohl: Teacher Fellowship Program - Public School Teachers Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Herb Kohl Educational Foundation Inc.
Amount: US $6,000
Last Updated: November 22, 2025

Summary

The Herb Kohl Teacher Fellowship Program supports Wisconsin's public school teachers by recognizing their excellence and innovation. Each year, 100 teachers and their respective schools receive $6,000 grants to help realize their professional goals. Nominees, who can be suggested by various community members, must continue teaching for at least 50% of the next school year. The program also serves as a pathway for recipients to be considered for the Wisconsin Teacher of the Year award.

Overview

Teacher Fellowship Program - Public School Teachers Purpose The Kohl Teacher Fellowship program recognizes and supports teaching excellence and innovation in the state of Wisconsin, USA. Our goal is to support Wisconsin teachers in the pursuit of their unrealized goals for their classrooms or professional development. The 100 Herb Kohl Fellowship recipients and the 100 Wisconsin schools of those teachers will each receive a $6,000 grant. The Herb Kohl Foundation annually selects 100 teachers and a maximum of 17 principals to receive awards. Funding If your nominee chooses to apply, he or she will be considered for a $6,000 personal grant and a $6,000 matching grant for his or her school. The Kohl Foundation suggests that the Leadership Award recipient's schools use the $6,000 matching grant to further the excellence of the principal and/or for innovation in education. ​Wisconsin Teacher of the Year Program Public school recipients of Herb Kohl Teacher Fellowships automatically become candidates for the Wisconsin Teacher of the Year (TOY) program, and a state selection committee selects five Teachers of the Year from the annual pool of Kohl Fellowship recipients. A review committee interviews the five selected teachers to determine Wisconsin's nominee to the National Teacher of the Year Program.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Teachers must be nominated for a Kohl Fellowship to be eligible to compete for the award.Teachers can be nominated by students, parents, other teachers, community members, or administrators.All PK-12 classroom teachers who plan to continue teaching in their current or similar capacity for a minimum of 50% full-time equivalency for at least the upcoming school year are eligible to be nominated and apply. Pre-school 4K teachers in community-based centers must teach in a 4K program that is affiliated with an elementary school or school district and must be a currently licensed teacher in Wisconsin. Special services teachers are also eligible. Special services teachers are those who serve in a PK-12 capacity other than that of a classroom teacher. Like classroom teachers, they must have daily face-to-face contact with students. Teachers employed as virtual school teachers associated with a school district are also eligible for nomination. Special services roles can include but are not limited to special education, gifted and talented (or other exceptional needs), instructional resource or interventionist, speech language pathologist, school counseling, school psychologist, school nurse, school social worker, or instructional media personnel.Teachers who have been nominated and applied in the past, but were not selected as a Fellowship recipient, may re-apply, if nominated in the current award cycle.

Ineligibility

Self-nomination is not allowed. Because the program's purpose is to recognize the contributions of Wisconsin classroom teachers, staff members whose assignments are administrative or supervisory are not eligible. ​Previous Fellowship recipients are ineligible to receive a second Fellowship, however teachers who received a Kohl student scholarship when in high school are eligible to receive a Fellowship if they are now teachers.