THE GERMANACOS FELLOWSHIP FOR SHARING HISTORY
Since 2015, the VOW Education Program’s Sharing History Initiative has supported passionate and underfunded teachers, storytellers, and community leaders in bringing social justice-based storytelling into their communities.
Thanks to the generosity of the Germanacos Foundation, we are able to provide specialized support to select Sharing History participants through a fellowship established in 2016.
The Germanacos Fellowship for Sharing History allows us to help this small group of teachers, storytellers, and community leaders explore groundbreaking new projects, complete or enhance ongoing projects, and push the boundaries of oral history-based storytelling. Each year, five Fellows are selected based on criteria including classroom or community need, a demonstrated commitment to advocacy, innovation, and creativity, and the capacity for building empathy-based learning experiences.
Germanacos Fellows receive:
- $1,200 to cover project expenses
- 20 hours of direct support time from the VOW education staff and learning community
- Opportunities for collaborative learning and professional development within a small, tight-knit cohort of Germanacos Fellows
2018-19 GERMANACOS FELLOWS

As the demographics in Hayward continue to shift, Maria is keenly aware of how many of her students feel left behind and worry about finding space for their cultural identities. She plans on helping students amplify each other’s voices within their community, culminating in an event where students will share their stories in public readings and experiences with a wider audience.
Impact Academy of Art and Technology
Hayward, CA

Oliver works with a particularly diverse population in his community college, where new high school graduates and returning adult students mingle and share life experiences within his classroom. His California History course always focuses on the social justice side of history in this state, and Oliver plans on centering his students and their families within the curriculum through oral history. He also plans on collaborating with other educators within the San Joaquin Valley, to create curriculum that can be shared and utilized at other sites.
Bakersfield College
Delano, CA

Brian works solely with English language learners at his school, primarily with students who have the language level to communicate but struggle with authentically sharing their story in a foreign language. He hopes to use oral history to give them a tool to share their own stories and those around them, so they may see themselves as writers and creators first and foremost. He plans to host a podcast for students to practice their speaking and listening and narrative storytelling skills, while having a shareable product that other language learners in the district can listen to for inspiration and learning.
East Bay Arts High School
San Lorenzo, CA

Evan is a returning Fellow from the 2017-18 school year, but he will be working on a special collaboration with Oakland High this year as part of an initiative to increase college attendance rates in the Oakland school district. His students will be advanced English language learners, and he will continue using oral history as a language learning and cultural sharing tool. He hopes to host a podcast, led by students interviewing each other about their sense of community in Oakland and within their country of origin, and wants to share this podcast district-wide to highlight the diversity of Oakland and its student population.
Laney College & Oakland High School
Oakland, CA

Nooshi’s Advanced Oral Communication course contains a special unit on immigration, a topic that most of her students have experienced, as they come from a diverse range of countries and academic histories. Each year, they interview immigrants to the U.S. about their experiences and their unique perspective of the U.S. Nooshi hopes to use this Fellowship to share these stories more widely, and give her students more tools for representing their narrator’s story in creative ways.
Contra Costa College
San Pablo, CA
2017-18 GERMANACOS FELLOWS

Moreno Valley College
Moreno Valley, CA

Laney College
Oakland, CA

Leander Middle School
Leander, TX

San Benito High School
Hollister, CA

Las Lomas High School
Walnut Creek, CA
2016-17 GERMANACOS FELLOWS

Arroyo High School
San Lorenzo, CA

Amos Alonzo Stagg High School
Palos Hills, IL

Monte Del Sol Charter School
Santa Fe, NM

Clovis Community College
Fresno, CA
FROM THE FELLOWS
“…what we had to deal with was this idea of not losing the person for the sake of the issue. And to think about an audience, that if you’re trying to change someone’s mind or create the sense of empathy, you really have to keep that person central, not the issue central.”
—Lisa Thyer, Amos Alonzo Stagg High School, Palos Hills, IL
“When I think of the project at the end, you could just tell that the students were really invested. And really taking the chance in interviewing someone they may have not known before.”
—Von Torres, Clovis Community College, Fresno, CA
“No one actually said, ‘My family’s undocumented.’ They just talked about experiences. They were all aware of it, but they just got into it and were really proud of their stories and wanted to tell everyone where their family had come from. ”
—Elizabeth Tidrick, Monte Del Sol Charter School, Santa Fe, NM