I envision that the Kenan Fellows Program will help me be a more effective teacher by providing me with the opportunity to collaborate with other passionate and highly motivated teachers. In doing so, I will be challenged to build upon my communication skills, which are essential to teaching. In addition, it is often easy for teachers to forget what it is like to be a student. I believe that the Kenan fellowship experience will renew this perspective for me, which for me translates into being a better teacher.
As a teacher in the Biomedical Technology Academy, I believe that the Kenan Fellows Program will most benefit my students from the “real life” experience. It is often challenging to find relevant reasons of why a student should learn something. To be able to answer that question with specific industry examples would really excite my students. That excitement then lends itself to a better understanding of the content for students. Being able to bridge a student’s interest in the biomedical technology field with their core classes will be an invaluable tool. In addition, I think that it is important for our biomedical students to be aware of current and prospective research in the biomedical technology industry. Students often lack that “real world” connection to a possible profession and are often only exposed to dated research.