DENVER, CO—Teach Plus, a national nonprofit that empowers teachers to lead improvements in policy and practice, has selected nine highly-effective teacher leaders as Fellows of its fifth Colorado Teaching Policy Fellowship. Throughout the program, the Fellows are trained in policy and advocacy and develop the skills to advocate for changes for Colorado’s students. Fellows are selected through a rigorous application process which requires them to demonstrate effectiveness, commitment to equity, and pursuit of excellence and innovation in their teaching. In the next nine months, they will focus on the school, district, and state response to the COVID-19 pandemic and work on other state-level issues, such as teacher preparation and the recruitment and retention of teachers of color.
“The new cohort will build upon the outstanding work of the 2019-20 group of Fellows who worked on legislation to support teacher recruitment and retention of teachers of color, collaborated with the Colorado Department of Mental Health Services to create on-line toolkits for teachers to use to identify neglect and abuse during remote learning, and published a policy brief on best practices for clinical experiences for student teachers,” said Mark Sass, Teach Plus Colorado Executive Director. “Having excellent teachers from around the state bring their perspectives to bear on Colorado education policy is vital to ensuring that teachers are charting the course of our students’ education along with other stakeholders.”
“For years, I have wanted to have a voice in how education policy is made. I’m ecstatic about the ability to impact change and share what the reality is for early childhood educators and elementary teachers,” said Kathryn Quinn, who teaches early childhood education at the Denver Center for International Studies at Fairmont in Denver Public Schools and is an incoming Teach Plus Colorado Policy Fellow.
The new Fellows come from across the state and teach in a variety of urban and rural districts and in charter, innovation, and non-charter public schools, and across all grade levels. Many of the Fellows are leaders in their schools and communities and have been recognized for their outstanding instruction. In addition to the new Fellows, three outstanding Teach Plus Fellow alumni will collaborate and support the cohort
The 2020-21 Colorado Teaching Policy Fellows are:
Samantha Agoos, Denver Public Schools
Jaclyn Ballesteros, Denver Public Schools
Juan Diaz, Denver Public Schools
Gene Fashaw, Denver Public Schools
Alexandra Medrano, Denver Public Schools
Suzannah Mikol, Roaring Fork School District
Kathryn Quinn, Denver Public Schools
Catie Santos de la Rosa, Aurora Public Schools
Peggy Wallace, Woodland Park School District
Senior Fellows are:
Karen Amidon, Boulder Valley School District
Sara Jean Banks, Denver Public Schools
Sarah Seaman, Denver Public Schools
About Teach Plus
The mission of Teach Plus is to empower excellent, experienced, and diverse teachers to take leadership over key policy and practice issues that affect their students’ success. Since 2009, Teach Plus has trained thousands of teacher leaders across the country who are driving policy changes and improving the instructional practices of teachers to create an education system driven by equity, access, and excellence for all students. teachplus.org
