Charlotte Teachers Institute Names Leaders; College Faculty to Guide Seminars

Photo: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools teachers present in a previous event.

Eight UNC Charlotte and Davidson College faculty – including four from CLAS – will guide Charlotte Teachers Institute‘s 2014 seminar season. Fifty-four Charlotte-Mecklenburg teachers also serve as leaders for CTI, adding to the inclusive and creative focus that distinguishes the unique professional development initiative.

“Our teacher leaders from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and our faculty leaders from UNC Charlotte and Davidson College are the lifeblood of our work,” said Scott Gartlan, CTI executive director. “They offer a depth and breadth of experience and knowledge that is critical to our efforts to strengthen teaching in CMS.”

CTI is a partnership of UNC Charlotte, Davidson College and CMS working to cultivate content knowledge, creativity, leadership skills and collaboration within and among CMS teachers. The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences houses the institute at UNC Charlotte.

Steering Committee Leaders

One CTI Fellow and CMS teacher will represent the Institute at the Yale National Initiative, of which CTI is an affiliate. Torrieann Dooley, David Cox Road Elementary School second-grade teacher and a CTI Local Steering Committee member, will return to the YNI National Steering Committee as a teacher representative. Dooley will work with other teachers from across the country, including 16 school districts in nine states to plan the summer intensive sessions at Yale University in July.

Leaders for CTI’s 2014 Local Steering Committee come from CMS’ teaching force. “Classroom teachers are the driving force,” Gartlan said. “Teachers shape the direction of our programs and set goals based on their needs in the classroom.”

New members of the steering committee are: Gloria Brinkman, visual art, North Mecklenburg High School; Alexandra Edwards, social studies, Bailey Middle School; and Miesha Gadsden, third grade, Lansdowne Elementary School. Returning local steering committee members are: Dooley; Matthew Kelly, Spanish, Independence High; Beth Lasure, visual arts, Mallard Creek High; Deb Semmler, physics, East Mecklenburg High; Barbara Wesselman, apparel/costume design, Northwest School of the Arts; and Cindy Woolery, science, Elizabeth Traditional Elementary.

CTI also has named a cadre of school contacts, described by Gartlan as essential to the success of the initiative, acting as advocates and liaisons within each of the schools. The contacts can be found on the CTI website.

Seminar Leaders and Topics

University faculty seminar leaders and CMS teacher seminar coordinators will lead CTI’s upcoming round of eight multidisciplinary seminars for 2014. Of the eight seminars, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences faculty will lead four. Each year about 100 CMS teachers in grades K-12 enroll in the seminars that begin in the spring and continue until December. The seminars’ weekly meetings recess during the summer, while teachers immerse themselves in reading and research related to curriculum units they are developing for their students. These curriculum units generate learning beyond each teacher’s classroom, as the final units are shared with teachers’ school colleagues and are also published on the CTI and Yale National Initiative websites, making them accessible to teachers worldwide.

• “Visual Storytelling in Children’s and Young Adult Literature at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture” – Paula T. Connolly, UNC Charlotte associate professor of English in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences; Teresa Strohl, Barringer Academic Center K-5 visual arts teacher
• “Heroes, Rebels and Rock Stars: Cultural Icons in Modern Europe” – Heather Perry, UNC Charlotte associate professor of history in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences; Roshan Varghese, Butler High School history teacher
• “Intersections of Science, Technology, and Culture” – Alan Rauch, UNC Charlotte professor of English in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences; Jennifer Thompson, James Martin Middle School seventh grade science teacher
• “Metamorphosis: Transformative Experiences” – Amy Ringwood, UNC Charlotte associate professor of biology in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences; Mary Fabian, Cato Middle College science teacher
• “Artificial Intelligence” – Raghuram Ramanujan, Davidson College assistant professor of mathematics and computer science; Phil Carver, James Martin Middle School eighth grade science teacher
• “The Global Energy Challenge” – Durwin R. Striplin, Davidson College professor of chemistry; DeNise Gerst, Barringer Academic Center K-5 science teacher
• “Human Agency” – Meghan Griffith, Davidson College associate professor of philosophy; Susan Jones, Steele Creek Elementary School first grade teacher
• “The Art of Fiction: Close Analysis, Style, and the Novel” – Maria Fackler, Davidson College associate professor of English; Jennifer Ladanyi, Bailey Middle School seventh grade language arts teacher.

An affiliate of the Yale National Initiative at Yale University, CTI cultivates content-knowledge, creativity, leadership skills and collaboration within and among Charlotte’s public school teachers. Programs include long-term seminars and special events for teachers, as well as community presentations, “Exploding Canons” and “Teachers as Scholars.”

The Council of Great City Schools recognized CTI and its partners with its 2013 national Urban Education Impact award.

Support comes from the three Institute partners and from private funding institutions such as the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, the Belk Foundation, Piedmont Natural Gas Foundation and Wells Fargo.