I decided to apply for the Kenan Fellowship Program this year when I heard there were going to be fellowships at the North Carolina Science Museum.  I’ve had many great experiences with the science museum  both professionally and personally from student field trips to exploring the jungles of Belize with the Educators of Excellence Program .  Kenan Fellows have such an excellent reputation throughout the state so I couldn’t dream of a better partnership to help me grow as educator.

My excitement grew when I met my mentor , Dr. Julia Stevens, at the science museum on June 5th and learned more about our research project exploring soil microbiomes.  It was apparent to me that my summer  work in the Microbiology and Genomics Lab was going to be awesome!

I’m now at NCCAT in Cullowhee, NC participating in the Kenan Fellows Professional Advancement Institute.  WOW!  In just two days I’ve made  great connections with outstanding educators and experienced professional development unlike any I’ve had in my teaching career.  This program has already exceeded my expectations!

As I begin this journey as a Kenan Fellow, my hope is to improve my skill set as an educator. I want to  learn new strategies and tools that I can share with my students and colleagues that will engage the learner and rejuvenate the educator.

I’m very excited to be part of the citizen science intiative at the museum and take what we are doing in the classroom back out into the real world.   I hope to create lessons that can be used by teachers anywhere that will engage their students in participating in citizen science.  I want the students to be excited that the data being collected in classroom is not going to die in the notebook at the end of the year, but become part of the collective science.  We are going to KICK IT UP A NOTCH in the science classroom this year!