Teach Plus Names 15 Educators as Fellows of Inaugural Statewide Teaching Policy Fellowship in Colorado

Teach Plus Names 15 Educators as Fellows of Inaugural Statewide Teaching Policy Fellowship in Colorado

DENVER, CO – Teach Plus, a national non-profit that empowers teachers to lead improvements in policy and practice, has selected 15 highly-effective teacher leaders as Fellows of the inaugural Colorado Teaching Policy Fellowship.  During the nine-month program, Fellows will look to magnify the impact they have in their classrooms through personal interactions with education leaders and opportunities to advocate for policies around key state-level issues, such as the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).  

“Through the Fellowship, excellent teachers from around the state will be able to bring their perspectives to bear on education policy and its implementation in Colorado. This is vital to ensuring that teachers are charting the course of out students’ education along with other stakeholders,” said Mark Sass, Colorado State Policy Director.

The new Fellows come from across the state and teach in a variety of urban and rural districts. Of the 15 educators, ten teach on the Front Range and five teach in rural areas around the state.  The Fellows come from elementary, middle, and high schools, and one Fellow works at the district level as a teacher on special assignment.  Fellows bring a wide range of years of experience and have entered the profession from a variety of teacher prep programs.  Many of the Fellows are leaders in their schools and communities and have been recognized for their outstanding instruction.  The demand for the Fellowship was highly competitive, with 63 applicants for 15 spots in the final cohort.

“It is an honor to be a part of the first cohort of Teach Plus Fellows in Colorado. I joined Teach Plus in order to expand my impact, believing that effective and lasting change in education must come directly from teachers.  I look forward to the opportunity to advocate for teachers and students while maintaining an active role in the classroom,” said Fellow Liz Fitzgerald, an elementary teacher at Sagebrush Elementary School in Aurora.

In addition to Colorado, Teach Plus runs highly-selective Policy Fellowships for teachers in seven states, including California, New Mexico, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Tennessee.  Fellows participate in an intensive course of study and learn to develop their voice in policy and advocacy.  They engage directly with key education stakeholders and policy makers, and work to shape and advocate for policies that meet the needs of their students and the teaching profession.

The Colorado Teaching Policy Fellows are:

Sara Jean Banks                                  Denver

Derrick Belanger                               Thornton

Ann Conaway                                    Palisade

Jennifer Coopman                           Monument

Matt Fegan                                        Denver

Elizabeth Fitzgerald                           Aurora

Rachel Harrison                               Northglenn

Maureen McGuire                          Grand Junction

Christina Medina                               Denver

Jessica Moore                                   Plateville

James Menter                                    Denver

Taylor Sack                                      Thornton

Tory Tripp                                         Denver

Anna Vick                                   Highlands Ranch

Karen Wagner                                    Denver

 

About Teach Plus

Teach Plus empowers excellent, experienced teachers to take leadership over key policy and practice issues that affect their students’ success.  Teach Plus programs are designed to place highly effective teachers at the center of improvements in schools as leaders of their peers and outside schools influencing policy decisions that affect their classrooms.  The programs develop excellent teachers into leaders who achieve change and mobilize others in their school, district, state, and across the nation to bring change to scale.  Since its inception in August 2007, Teach Plus has grown to a network of more than 22,000 solutions-oriented teachers across the country.  www.teachplus.org

 

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