RALEIGH, N.C. — Three Kenan Fellows from different regions of North Carolina presented as a team at the 2013 Scaling STEM: Strategies that Engage Minds Conference in Durham. The event on March 11-12 focused on how to make STEM education more engaging and relevant for North Carolina students.
The Power of Partnership
Vance Kite, Kirk Kennedy and Carrie Horton discussed how their Fellowships shaped them as master teachers. They shared personal accounts of how the Kenan Fellows Program transformed them into leaders outside of their classrooms as well as demonstrated innovative classroom activities that inform students about STEM applications in local industry.
Presenting with them were Kenan Fellows Program Acting Director Susan Parry and Associate Director Lisa Hibler.
Scaling STEM
Participants who attended the conference session gained an understanding of how the Kenan Fellows Program creates partnerships between education and industry and collaboration among teachers to help energize STEM curriculum in North Carolina public schools.
This is the second year for the conference, which brings together educators, students, innovators and leaders from business and government.
About the Fellows
- Carrie Horton, a ninth grade English teacher at the Wake NC State STEM Early College High School in Raleigh, worked with Duke Energy Progress (formerly Progress Energy) during her Kenan Fellowship to connect her students and Duke Energy employees.
- Kirk Kennedy teaches Biology and AP Biology at East Duplin High School in Beulaville. During his Kenan Fellowship, he worked with BASF to create a Project Based Learning lesson on genetics.
- Vance Kite, a science teacher at City of Medicine Academy in Durham, has served on multiple teams tasked with creating innovative STEM courses. His Fellowship project was “Project Based Learning in North Carolina Health and Life Sciences.”