Regional teachers picked for STEM Collaborative

Five teachers from Coffee County and two from Franklin County have been selected for the 2018-2019 class of the Tennessee Rural STEM Collaborative.

In Coffee County, Hickerson Elementary School’s Amy Hershman, Katherine Gable, Todd Reinholtz, Rhonda Prater and Erica Patterson were selected for the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) training, while in Franklin County, Sewanee Elementary School’s Lauran Godfrey and Donna Barnes were picks for the collaborative, according to a news release from the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network.

The training class is described by officials as “a yearlong, cohort-based training for rural educators designed to share promising practices in STEM education, seek solutions to local education challenges and encourage the development of a targeted STEM solution for each community or school represented,” the release states.

This year, 43 educators representing 18 counties across Tennessee were competitively selected for the collaborative, officials said.

“Rural communities have a great need for a prepared STEM workforce. We are excited to work with this geographically diverse group of educators to enhance STEM education for Tennessee students,” said Sandy Watkins, director of the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network.

In the collaborative, three regional cohorts map the STEM resources and potential partners unique to the educational landscapes in West, Middle and East Tennessee. The collaborative provides a stipend for teachers to engage with the program and implement their proposed solutions in their own communities, officials said.