Teacher Residencies at GilChrist

Applications accepted through April 16, 2025

In honor of those who educate our youngest students, the Nancy M. and Douglas M. Yeager Family Foundation sponsors summer teacher residencies at GilChrist Retreat Center in Three Rivers, Michigan.

Offered to teachers working at the preschool through fifth-grade levels, the residencies provide the opportunity to spend a quiet week of reflection, writing, reading, and planning for the upcoming school year and beyond. We are pleased to offer ten residencies in 2025.

Application Deadline: April 16, 2025
Notification: On or before April 25, 2025
Residency Dates: July 15-22, 2025

Eligibility: Individuals who are currently teaching an organized class or classes at the preschool through fifth-grade level in a private or public school.

Interested applicants who are not current teachers (such as school counselors, administrators, part-time instructors, or student teachers) may be considered based on potential benefits to students and availability of residencies.

Past participants are welcome to apply.

History: Offered annually since 2003, the GilChrist Teacher Residencies are rooted in Nancy Yeager’s lifelong commitment to childhood education. She was first an elementary school teacher and later a teacher/director of a preschool in Kettering, Ohio. Her love for teaching inspired her family to establish the residencies at GilChrist, a place she had visited a number of times and found to be a truly serene and beautiful setting.

With the passing of our founder, Douglas M. Yeager, on December 24, 2022, his family seeks to carry on the legacy he initiated to honor the memory of his wife and our mother, friend, and grandmother. Our family foundation is dedicated to continuing and furthering the vision that inspired our founding, which now includes the legacy of our father, friend, and grandfather. We sincerely hope to honor the lives and work of Nancy and Douglas Yeager with the utmost gratitude and love.

Residency Details:

• These opportunities are limited to selected teachers (no family members or guests) during the scheduled dates.
• Recipients stay in fully furnished cabins at GilChrist.
• Recipients are responsible for their travel expenses, materials, and meals (retreat spaces have full kitchens).
• Opening and closing community meals are provided, and participants are asked to attend these bookend gatherings.
• Several optional facilitated activities (and any related supplies) are offered throughout the week at no charge. These include practices such as guided meditation, yoga, writing and visual arts.
• Transportation from and to the Kalamazoo airport or Amtrak stations may be available, as well as assistance with grocery shopping for those arriving by air.

GilChrist Retreat Center is approximately 25 miles south of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and about five miles west of Three Rivers. Learn more about GilChrist here.

To apply: Please complete and submit the application form by April 16, 2025. 

Questions? Please email Deborah Yeager.