11 WCPSS Teachers Named Kenan Fellows
April 25, 2008 - Eleven Wake County Public School System teachers were among the 29 named Kenan Fellows in a ceremony this week by NC State University.The 11 teachers include Daniell DiFrancesca of Wakefield Middle, Jennifer Elmo of Sanderson High, Debra Hall of Bugg Elementary, Lisa Hibler of Athens Drive High, Laura Lewis of WCPSS Special Education Services, Dail Midgette of Millbrook High, Crystal Patillo of Bugg Elementary, Celia Rowland of Enloe High, Jenny Rucker of West Cary Middle, Anna Smith of East Garner Middle and Corey White of Ligon Middle.
The teachers will take part in a two-year fellowship as part of the Kenan Fellow Program for Curriculum and Leadership Development where they partner with university professors and businesses from across the country to translate cutting edge research into exciting lessons for students.
As part of their two-year fellowship, Kenan Fellows will receive $10,000 stipends, six graduate credits and use of a laptop computer while they work with their university or corporate mentors.
DiFrancesca will be working with Alan Karr of the National Institute of Statistical Services on Critical Thinking in Science.
Elmo will work with Lisa Bullard of NC State University on an Integrated Approach to Teaching Chemistry and Algebra II.
Hall will be working with Sara Carrier and Eric Wiebe of NC State University and David Teachout and Patricia Gray of UNC-Greensboro on Bio-music: Project O.W.L. (Other Ways of Learning).
Hibler will be working with David Ollis of NC State on Making Chemistry Relevant to High School Students.
Lewis will be working with Karen Erickson of UNC-Chapel Hill and Patricia Porter of the Center of Literacy and Disability Studies on Technology Resources for Children with Special Needs.
Midgette will be working with Yufeng Li of UNC-Chapel Hill and Helen Zhang of NC State on Understanding Data Mining: Helping Students and Teachers Extract, Organize and Analyze Large Sets of Data.
Patillo will work with Sara Carrier and Eric Wiebe of NC State University and David Teachout and Patricia Gray of UNC-Greensboro on Bio-Music: H.O.O.T.S. (Hoots of Owl Organisms Through Sound).
Rowland will be working with Yufeng Li of UNC-Chapel Hill and Helen Zhang of NC State on Understanding Data Mining.
Rucker will work with Michael Minion and Laura Miller of UNC-Chapel Hill on Pumping and Moving through Fluids at Different Sizes.
Smith will work with William Hoffman of NC State on Ecology of the Savanna-Forest Boundaries in Central Brazil.
White will work with Chris Brown and Jobi Cook of NC Space Grant on Space Resource Center for Teachers.
The Kenan Fellows Program is an innovative model to promote teacher leadership, address teacher retention and advance K-12 science, technology and mathematics education. Kenan Fellows are public school teachers selected through a competitive process to participate in a two-year fellowship, while they continue their daily teaching duties at their school.
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