Derek Dennis, an 8th grade teacher at Rugby Middle School in Hendersonville, has been selected as the first PARI/Cisco Kenan Fellow. Derek was selected during an interview process at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) that involved Kirsten Weeks of Cisco Systems and PARI President Don Cline on campus, and used PARI’s state-of-the-art teleconferencing capabilities to include participants from the Kenan Fellows Program.
Shown on the monitor are Danielle Seneschal, assistant director of program operations and Dr. Valarie Brown-Schild, director of the Kenan Fellows Program. The Fellowship will provide funding and assistance for Derek to develop teacher aids that will allow teachers from across North Carolina to access PARI scientific instruments remotely for hands-on classroom learning.