The Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment has awarded 2010 Teacher Creativity Fellowships to a hundred and twenty Indiana educators to pursue "renewal experiences."

Launched in 1987, the program enables teachers, principals, guidance counselors, and school librarians from around the state to take time during the summer to pursue personal interests, explore subjects that interest them, or simply reenergize before returning to the classroom in the fall.

The recipients' activities will span at least thirty states and forty countries and range from studying sea turtles in Florida, textiles in Thailand, antiquities in Egypt, butterflies in Mexico, and bagpiping in Scotland, to volunteering at a shelter for domestic violence victims in Peru.

While the $8,000 fellowships are not considered funding for professional development, many teachers have said they were "very close" to leaving the teaching profession before their renewal experiences.