Wake Teachers Named 2006 Kenan Fellows

November 14, 2006 - Five Wake County teachers are taking part in the 2006 Kenan Fellows program working with NC State University professors on projects and developing curriculum to be used in classrooms across the state.

The five WCPSS teachers include Carrie Jones of Middle Creek High, Chad Ogren of Enloe High, Jodi Riedel of Wakefield High, Katherine Smyre of West Cary Middle and Susan Taylor of Panther Creek High.

The teachers were selected for the honor by North Carolina State University's Kenan Fellows for Curriculum and Leadership Development Program. The teachers engage in a two-year fellowship in partnership with distinguished scientists and university faculty to develop innovative curricula for use in North Carolina classrooms.

Carrie Jones teaches earth science and chairs the science department at Middle Creek High. Jones is also currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Science Education at NC State University. Combining science and social studies, Jones's project, Analyzing North Carolina Water Quality Using GIS Technology In the Classroom: A Game for Earth and Environmental Science, will allow students to analyze water quality and then use GIS resources to map their results. She is working with NC State University professor Dr. Hugh Devine.

Chad Ogren is a science teacher at Enloe High, where he was also the Envirothon Team Advisor of the year for 2003. Ogren's project, Entomology and the Environment - A Virtual Gaming Experience, will demonstrate to students the vital role insects play in an ecosystem. NC State University entomology professor Dr. John Meyer is Ogren's Mentor.

Jodi Riedel teaches agricultural education at Wakefield High. Serving as an advisor, she has helped both Wake County 4-H and Wakefield High earn first place at the North Carolina State Fair in 2004 and 2005, respectively. Riedel's project, Sustainable Forestry: Promising Silviculture for Centuries, will help students understand the importance of forestland and the impact of deforestation, especially for those students in urban areas where schools lack access to forests. Dr. Susan Moore, Director of the Forestry and Environmental Outreach Program at NC State University, is Riedel's Mentor.

Katherine Smyre teaches 7th grade science at West Cary Middle School. Through her project, A Day in the Park: Invasive Species and the Arts, Smyre will develop tools to help teachers take advantage of the North Carolina Museum of Art Nature Park and research the invasive plant species restoration that is occuring there. Students will learn about science as well as create art from their research. Dr. Rita Hagevik, NC A & T, and Joseph Covington, of the North Carolina Museum of Art, are Smyre's mentors.

Susan Taylor teaches civics and economics to tenth grade students at Panther Creek High School. Taylor was the 2004-2005 Teacher of the Year at Leesville Road High School and the 2005 BB&T/NCEE Economics Educator of the Year. Taylor also co-wrote the Wake County Public School System Curriculum Guide for civics and economics. Taylor will seek to provide students a better understanding of how the US economy functions, as well as the role North Carolina plays in the global economy, through her project North Carolina's Role within the Global Economy: A Resource for Economic Education. Taylor's mentor is Dr. Daniel Phaneuf, Associate professor of economics at NC State University.

As part of the two-year fellowship, the teachers will collaborate with the NC Department of Public Instruction in the development and distribution of curricular resources statewide, work closely with distinguished university faculty or research scientists in developing their projects, participate in research to develop inquiry-guided instruction to be used in the classroom, talk with state leaders at events that encourage professional development, train to be teacher leaders and present findings at state and national conferences.

The Kenan Fellows for Curriculum and Leadership Development Program, established in 2000, grew out of a community effort to address teacher retention and recruitment. Community consensus supported an effort to elevate the classroom teacher and provide resources to support the findings of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future 1996 report, "What Matters Most: Teaching for America's Future."

You can read more about the Kenan Fellows at http://www.ncsu.edu/kenan/fellows/

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