I am EXTREMELY EXCITED about my Kenan Fellowship. First, it is one of the best opportunities a teacher can have. The ability to work and learn in an industry, business, or research facility and receive hands on, real life training and experience translates into huge gains for our students. From learning about careers to learning new ways to engage with my students, this Kenan Fellowship will ‘renew’ my zeal for teaching. I am also looking forward to the opportunity to network with educators from across the state who are dedicated to making sure that the students we teach are ready to face the challenges that the real world will throw at them. It’s refreshing to be around people who are genuinely excited about the content they deliver to their students– its an excitement that is contagious. Many great conversations have already occurred, and I’m so excited for the ones that will occur in the future.

That excitement we feel this summer will carry on into the fall as we begin implementing our fellowship and nurturing our relationships with our mentors and each other. Students will be introduced to new ideas and careers they didn’t even know existed. I’ve been a teacher long enough to know that the greatest rewards in teaching don’t come from seeing my students get accepted to college, or even walk across the stage. The greatest rewards come when I see them around town YEARS later and they are working, and they have a family, and they are making good choices and being productive members of society. I want to push ALL students to reach their maximum potential– and that is extremely individualized. Only teachers and school staff who know their students can push those students, so I’m gaining strategies this week that help me connect more with my students and what help them figure out what they can do and what they want to do- to look more at the big picture and help them figure out how the steps they take to today get them closer to their goals for tomorrow. 

Finally, I want my students to understand that their path is their own. They have to decide what they want and go for it. But most of all, I want them to know that learning is a LIFELONG endeavor. I want to be able to share the things they’ll need in real life to be able to interview, land, and excel in any job they want– not just settle for whatever they get with a half-hearted attempt. I want them to have real skills and meaningful experience before they get to college, so they are equipped to excel there. And I’ll do whatever I can to help them any way.