Hello! My name is Nick Kim, I am the project coordinator for VolsTeach for Appalachia. Our project is focused on recruiting potential STEM teachers from community colleges and providing them with the opportunity to gain teacher licensure when they transfer to the University of Tennessee- Knoxville. 

We are in our 3rd year of our project. We have had 2 recruiting STEM teacher internships and 1 Noyce Scholar internship with our Cohort 1. Cohort 2 will begin their internship in June. We strive to provide our participants with a professional learning community that is open and caring while also creating opportunities for Scholars work within the local community. The project is also focusing on enacting culturally responsive pedagogy strategies to make a greater personal impact of future students. I will be happy to answer any questions about the project. Thank you for viewing our video!

Hi all, I am Lynn Hodge, and I work with Nick Kim as part of VFA. Thanks for learning about our project!

I really enjoyed this video!  Thank you for sharing this.  How many are typically in a cohort?  Do they take all of their courses together during the two years of the program?

Your initial point about using culturally responsive teaching to help make an impact with both the future teachers and the students they have in the STEM fields is wonderful to hear.  Have all of the community college and UT-Knoxville students studying to become a teacher come from the Appalachia regions they will work in during and after the program or elsewhere across the state?  If not from the local area, have you seen any challenges that the teachers experience in knowing what is culturally responsive in that local area?  Thanks for sharing your program and ideas!

The opportunity to have tuition covered is a great incentive. I wonder what kinds of partnerships might help you to grow your own local teachers, who will be more likely to be retained in the area 

Nick - thanks for the nice introduction to the program and work happening at UT-Knoxville. I especially appreciated getting to hear the voices of scholars themselves describing the program! 

I have two wondering in watching the video. One of your scholars talked about appreciating "being thrown in (to teaching) immediately. I'd love to know more about the program design and how you scaffold early teaching opportunities with pedagogy and content learning opportunities in the last two year. Related, I'd love to hear more detail about the PLC, what it looks like in practice, and how you've seen that make a difference in preparing preservice teachers.

My second wondering is around your work with community colleges. I'd be interested in knowing more about what those relationships look like (are they formal, for example) and how they tie into recruiting for your 2-year scholarship program.

Appreciate the work that is being done!

Cathy

Hi Catherine, thanks for these questions. I will share some thoughts, and I would be interested in hearing Nick's thoughts too. We offer an intro to STEM teaching and learning course that typically includes some kind of field placement. This course is offered by our community college partner. We offer times for the scholars to gather, although this past year, we did not offer as many opportunities as we would have liked. We also offer opportunities to engage with the community through outreach events. 

Our partnership with Pellissippi State Community College has really made this project possible. We talk informally with each other, and we meet more formally for Steering committee meetings and interview panels. PSCC helps in terms of recruitment. We also reach out to other community colleges to publicize. 

Thank you for sharing your video.  Love the cohort model and the focus on CRP in your program.

Go Big Orange! Making a difference.