A New Me

I don’t know if I quite have the words to describe the impact the Kenan Fellowship has had on me personally and as an educator. Not only did Kenan provide me with opportunities to further my learning about STEM, implement new strategies into my classroom, and go hands on in a STEM career field- it has expanded my network. I have been privileged to work and collaborate alongside some of the greatest educators I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

Kenan provided a spark for me when I needed it in my professional career. It has has challenged me to grow and become better at what I do. I am more confident and find myself taking on more leadership roles in my school and on my team at school. I feel like I also have a deeper understanding of what STEM really looks like in the real world. So, I’m not just throwing words around, I know their implications. I know why the soft-skills we are using and developing in students in our classroom are vital for their future success because I’ve been in the workplaces where they will use them.

Kenan has helped me find new innovative ways to keep my instruction fresh. It has helped me keep my students more actively engaged and make their learning more relevant to their lives. This has been the greatest professional learning experience I’ve ever had.

students collaborating to design a structure that could hold weight and float in water.
Students used what they knew about reflection and heat absorption to design and build a pizza box solar oven to cook s’mores.
Students discussing the results of the surveys they created for the local community. Students created graphs to represent the data for their surveys.