As I reflect back on my first blog post written in the evening hours after our first day in the Mountains for NCCAT, I definitely remember the hopes that I described and also the expectation of those hopes evolving over time. I most certainly gained a heightened level of professional development that has been directly applied to my personal teaching style and regiment in my classroom. My summer externship was no doubt an amazing experience that bridged a large gap between theoretical science and real-world application. I received 100% support and encouragement not only fro the Kenan faculty, but also from my amazing cohort!! — A level of support that I could not imagine at the beginning of this journey– this is one area where my hopes were extensively exceeded! I continue to hope that the curriculum that I designed following my amazing externship and Kenan Professional Advancement institutes are effective and I definitely know that this is a continued endeavor as my lessons continue to be tweaked or largely changed with each instructional application. I do believe the blogging assisted me in reflecting over the course of the year, on curriculum development and the externship experience, but I don’t believe that I used the blog to its full potential. Blogging truly pulls from you what you put into it, and there were times this year that I could have reflected with greater depth.

This Kenan journey has been such an amazing blessing to me! I am constantly recognizing how my summer externship out in the field has become embedded in the way that I teach material and introduce real-world application into my classroom. Since I am from a very small community, my time at Wright Foods not only bridged a gap between theoretical science and real-world application, but it has also bridged a gap between me and my students and their parents! Several of the factory workers at Wright Foods have children at East Montgomery, and when I teach them, the parents and I have already developed a relationship that supports the growth of their child in my class even more! I have an understanding of the lifestyle my children have, and an understanding of the background of my students’ parents.

What an amazing journey this has been, and as clearly stated at our wonderful dinner last week, this is not the end, but the beginning of a lifetime of professional development, Kenan support, and friendships.