Two local teachers, including one from Broomfield’s Legacy High School, recently were selected for the Teach Plus State Policy Fellowship — a nonprofit that encourages teachers to be part of the legislative process.
Kirsten Johnson, a seventh grade science teacher, at the International School at Thornton Middle, and Patrick Hammond, a social science instructor at Legacy High School, were selected, according to a news release from the Adams 12 Five Star School District.
Hammond and Johnson were two of 19 “teacher leaders” from across the state that were selected for a state policy fellowship.
During the nine-month program, fellows will work on state-level issues such as teacher preparation, teacher evaluation, the “school to prison pipeline,” and students’ social-emotional learning.
Hammond and Johnson, along with 17 other teachers from around Colorado, beat out a competitive field to gain acceptance into the fellowship.
Johnson will be focused on policies around teacher preparation, and Hammond — with four other Colorado teachers — will be engaged with policies around teacher evaluation.
The group met twice over the summer and has started researching the issue. Members will reach out to teachers across the state through formal and informal surveys, which they hope to send out at the end of October.
“We’ll try to get a gauge of what’s working,” Hammond said.
They will also reach out to administrators, parent groups and other stakeholders to get a good view of the policies and give people the chance to make recommendations. They’ll then share that information with legislators and officials with the Colorado Department of Education to improve that process.
Hammond said the group meets virtually, outside of classroom time, the third week of the month for several hours.
“The thing I found appealing was talking to policy makers and trying to influence policy makers,” he said. “This could be a real educational experience for me. Going in, it’s like “if I want to make recommendations, how do I do that?'”
Hammond has been teaching for 18 years and would like to see more “teacher voice” represented.
“I want to make greater impacts in terms of improving the profession,” he said.
Over the summer, the fellows heard from a Colorado Department of Education professional talk about policies they have done in terms of interpreting the law, Hammond said, which was interesting to see from the state perspective. They learned about education funding and how complex it is in Colorado.
On its website, the fellowship group says its mission is to “empower excellent, experienced teachers to take leadership over key policy and practice issues that affect their students’ success.”
Johnson has been with the International School at Thornton Middle since the fall of 2011. She teaches seventh grade life science and currently serves as the instructional leader of the science department.
Jennifer Rios: 303-473-1361, riosj@broomfieldenterprise.com or Twitter.com/Jennifer_Rios
