In the ever-expanding realm of science, educators struggle to share new discoveries and techniques with their students. Keeping abreast of recent advances can be daunting, even for the most motivated teacher. Fortunately, the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program helps educators keep up with the fast-moving research community. The RET program enables K-12 science teachers to perform research projects in NSF-supported laboratories and brings the excitement of cutting edge science into the classroom. In this article, the author describes his RET-supported experiences working in a laboratory that studies the ecology and evolutionary biology of fungi, and provides advice on how teachers may find RET opportunities in their own communities. (Contains 3 figures.)