The Kenan Fellowship program has been an amazing experience thus far! This program has introduced me to so many wonderful apps and programs that can easily be incorporated into the classroom! I have been introduced to amazing teachers that have their own powerful store of knowledge, classroom experience, and “tricks of the trade.” This program has truly provided the building block necessary to reach your goals, but more importantly, it provided me with the tools to surpass my goals and create new ones that I had not even thought about before! When you are surrounded by exceptional teachers who are inspired, encouraged, and striving to truly make a difference, it provide the greatest support system that a new teacher could ask for!! Through the professional advancement sessions, I learned that there is amazing instruction going on throughout North Carolina, and I wanted to tap in as well. I feel very confident about the Chemistry curriculum and the way that I teach it, but I new that I was not giving my best efforts in Earth Science and our professional advancement institute presenters and my fellow Kenan peers provided me with some wonderful ideas. Not only were actual suggestions provided, but it is the fact that everyone was supportive and encouraging- promoting you to push forward, try new things, and get excited about all of the possibilities!!

I want to be clear, the Kenan Fellowship summer experience and professional advancement institutes provided so much for me as a person, teacher, and leader. All of this support and information culminated together to make me feel encouraged, inspired, and excited about the upcoming year! I am positive, I plan to continue to be positive, and I plan to be positive about new methods of instruction, different activities that I have never completed before, and anything else that comes my way! Unfortunately you can get easily get down on yourself or a class, and my goal is to be positive; a self-fulfilling prophecy for myself and my classes that it will be a great year!