Teachers in the classroom for 21st Century Education Enterprise sessions

The University Center of the Mountains was the host for middle and high school teachers in the region for Morehead State University's (MSU) 21st Century Education Enterprise (TCEE) in a 7-day Summer Institute to enable teachers to enhance their skills in the classroom. TCEE offered the professional development at the Hazard Campus of Hazard Community and Technical College. Our MSU partner has done a wonderful job in securing and implementing these professional development opportunities for educators in our region. Previous summers have featured professional development focusing on reading and mathematics, and I appreciate our UCM partner s continued outreach efforts, stated Dr. Deronda Mobelini, Director of the University Center of the Mountains Higher Education Center.

Training involved the Engineering Authentic Experiences in the Next Generation Science Classroom. Emphasis was on communications, critical thinking, and technology. TCEE focuses on project-based learning techniques and promotes the use of technology in the classroom, professional development, and educational leadership to improve teacher effectiveness and to better engage today's students.

Rachel Rogers Blackwell, professional development associate, 21st Century Education Enterprise at MSU, is the director of the project. Teachers involved in the project have already expressed an increase in self efficacy; they felt his/her teaching quality improved tremendously. When a project develops teaching quality in this way, you know it will have a profound effect on student success. I cannot wait to see the gains in student achievement via the student growth goals when teachers begin to implement what they have learned in the classroom this year, noted Rachel Rogers Blackwell.

Participating were: Jason Arnett and Melissa Lovely of Magoffin County High, Kenneth Bradley of Prestonsburg High, Travis Hacker of Stinnett Elementary, JoAnn Hall of Hazard Middle, Amy Howard of Prestonsburg High, Lucy Lovely of Jackson Independent, Cathy McCune of Breathitt High, Kiristen Webb of Leslie County High, Polly P. Wilson of Hayes Lewis, Brittany Wolfe of Hazard High.

The sessions, which ended July 21, were led by Rachel Rogers Blackwell, professional development associate, 21st Century Education Enterprise at MSU; Richard DeLong, Kentucky Department of Education (KDE); Rae McEntyre of KDE; Diane Johnson of University of Kentucky s PIMSER, Chris Lacy of Morgan County High School; Dr. Robert Boram of MSU, Diana Ashley Walters of Northwestern University's iLabs Central, Jen Stansbury Koenig of Northern Kentucky Univeristy, and Janna Norton and Miranda Woodall of Alltech, Inc.