At its Oct 16 meeting, the Board of Education heard about the NC State University Kenan Fellows Program. Kenan Fellows are public school teachers selected to participate in a two-year fellowship with a university professor or corporate professional. Dr. Valerie Brown Schild, director of the Kenan Fellows Program, and Tom Knott, a former WCPSS teacher now working with the Kenan Fellows Program, talk about the benefits of the program to teachers and to Wake County students. The 2006 Kenan Fellows include WCPSS teachers Carrie Jones of Middle Creek High, Chad Ogren of Enloe High, Jodi Reidel of Wakefield High, Katherine Smyre of West Cary Middle and Susan Taylor of Panther Creek High.
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Proposal Builds on Congressional Efforts to Recruit New Teachers
U.S. Rep. David Price (D-NC) today introduced a bill to address one of the biggest challenges facing school districts throughout the country - the retention of qualified public school teachers. Today's move complements Price's ongoing efforts to expand teacher recruitment efforts at the national level.
Approximately one-third of teachers leave the profession within five years of being hired, according to the non-partisan Congressional Research Service (CRS). In some schools, the five-year attrition rate reaches 50 percent. This comes at a time when schools are hard-pressed to recruit enough teachers to fill the demand of the coming years. The National Education Association recently released an assessment revealing that American schools would need to hire an additional 2 million teachers over the next decade to keep pace with student growth.
Price's bill, the Keep Teachers Teaching Act, would help schools cope with these pressures by providing federal grants directly to states or school districts to develop innovative teacher retention programs. The Department of Education would identify the most promising teacher retention approaches, drawing from fully-operational programs as well as those in the pilot test phase, and share information about the success of the various approaches to states and school districts around the country.
"There can't be a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach to solving our teacher retention crisis," Price said. "Some of the best policy ideas generate at the state and local level. My legislation seeks to identify and support those programs that produce results and to encourage other states to draw on the experience of their counterparts and work toward their own solutions."
Price spotlighted the Kenan Fellows Program at North Carolina State University as an example of a promising state-wide effort. Kenan Fellows are public school teachers who partner with scientists and university faculty for two years to develop innovative math, science and technology curricula for use in classrooms all across North Carolina.
"We've got to encourage teachers to stay in the classroom," Price said. "Whether it's supporting their professional development, providing them with the tools to perform their work, or contributing to a more positive working environment, the states and local districts have the awareness to come up with solutions. And at the federal level, we should help spark the innovation."
Price has been a leader in Congress on legislation to address the impending teacher shortage. He has been working for years to build on North Carolina's success at recruiting qualified teachers through the Teaching Fellows program by proposing legislation to expand access to similar programs throughout the country. The House recently approved legislation that would provide incentives for students to become math and science teachers in the public schools while offering professional development opportunities through the National Science Foundation and the Department of Education. (Read more about 10,000 Teachers, 10,000 Minds Act)
Price has proposed his new teacher retention proposal for consideration during the upcoming reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (also known as No Child Left Behind). Last month, as the House Education and Labor Committee was preparing to consider the No Child Left Behind Act, Price testified before the committee on his ideas for teacher recruitment and retention. Read his testimony here.
Price Wants No Child Left Behind to Focus on Teacher Recruitment, Retention. Read his testimony here.
Over the weekend of April 27th and 28th Enloe sent 3 teams to the state Envirothon competition at Cedar Rock Park in Burlington. The Envirothon competition is a hands-on environmental education program sponsored by the NC Association of Soil & Water Conservation Districts and the Division of Soil & Water Conservation of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
These students study soils, forest resources, aquatic resources, wildlife, and current environmental issues during the entire school year. They go on field trips, have resource speakers give presentations, and study the Envirothon resource materials with their advisors.
There were 56 high school teams of five students from all across the state competing for the state championship. Enloe took 2nd, 3rd, and 12th place this year. Advisors Chad Ogren and Debbie Massengill are extremely happy with the work their students have put forth. Enloe High School has had at least one team if not two in the top 5 at the state competition for the past 6 years now including three state championships.
Sam Wheeler (2002, Franklin Academy) is one of 100 exemplary math and science teachers from across the nation. He will be on-hand at the May 4, 2006 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching in Washington D.C. to receive this great honor. The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) program was established in 1983 by The White House and is sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The program identifies outstanding mathematics and science teachers to serve as models for their colleagues and to be leaders in the improvement of science and mathematics education. At the awards event; each teacher receives a Presidential Citation; meets with leaders in government and education; attends sessions to share ideas and teaching experiences; and attends receptions and banquets. Each Presidential Awardee will receive $10,000 from the National Science Foundation and gifts from donors.
Randy Senzig (2003, Fuquay-Varina High) has earned the 2006 Environmental Educator of the Year award from the Environmental Educators of North Carolina.Senzig competed against members such as Museum naturalists, Park Rangers and nature educators from the geographic regions in NC.
At the Annual EENC Conference this month at Fort Bragg, NC, Senzig presented a workshop entitled Birds in the Schoolyard: Reconnecting Students to Nature. Senzig uses birds and the outdoors to teach students important lessons about the science curriculum and about life. At the annual awards luncheon Senzig was recognized for his years as Envirothon Coach, Big Sweep zone Captain, writing the Wake County Environmental Science curriculum, helping students in building and maintaining a Transcontinental Bluebird Trail at the Fuquay-Varina and Lincoln Heights campuses, supervising students in planting over 200 trees on campus and cosponsoring campus beautification each year.He is the school's teacher liaison to the Energy Savers Program and Feed the Bin Recycling Project.
Senzig has been a NC Certified Environmental Educator since 1998, serves as Vice President for the NC Bluebird Society, as a member on the NC Environmental Education Certification Committee, as the Cornell University Lab of ornithology's North Carolina Ambassador, and on the Wake Audubon Board.
Holly Hanrahan (2002, Carnage Middle) and Dr. Fred DeJarnette (NC State University) present in Lisbon, Portugal their joint project on Mars Tumbleweeds at the International Workshop on Planetary Probe Atmospheric Entry and Descent Traje ctory Analysis and Science. Holly is the first K-12 teacher to attend or present at the conference. As a result of their presentation, Holly has been invited to visit NASA JPL and share the project with NASA researchers. Holly and Dr. DeJarnette’s work is highlighted in several news releases and publications from NC State University and Wake County Public Schools (View).
Author: Briana Corke
School: Carrboro Elementary School
Project Information: Works to allow students to apply their understandings of magnets and electricity by designing or improving an existing invention.
