Teacher Leader Community
Interested in taking your science knowledge and teaching skills to the next level? Join an elite group of educators from across the country!
The Nourish the Future national leadership experience is a year-long cohort program designed for middle and high school science teachers who want to advance their expertise in the classroom, increase their influence as teacher leaders/mentors, and enhance professional development presentation skills—all while exploring solutions to real-world problems and the connection between science content/skills and potential careers.Program objectives and competencies
- Enhance your professional development capacities to fit diverse audiences and venues
- Become skilled in inquiry based lesson design
- Become a leader in exploring solutions with your students on issues affecting sustainability, climate, environment, food production
- Expand your professional network to include teachers and industry experts from different states
- Become a career coach for your students
The leadership experience begins in January 2024 with a virtual celebration and introduction to the Nourish the Future program. You will participate in these growth experiences:
- Attend the Nourish the Future Community Conference held in Houston on February 29-March 2, 2024 at the George R. Brown Convention Center. (Travel stipend and hotel accommodations provided by National Corn Growers Association. Plan for travel on 2/29 and 3/2.) This 3-day event includes time for collaboration with peers and industry experts, hands-on workshop sessions, a dinner with industry representatives, and an industry tour.
- Attend at least four out of five bi-monthly virtual leadership meetings 90 minutes in length, plus up to 30 minutes of “homework” as preparation (schedule TBD). These sessions will include information on modern agriculture, developing and creating your curriculum piece, how to design inquiry-based curriculum (create phenomena, storylines, and design challenges), and incorporating problem-based learning challenges in your classroom.
- We’ll provide mentoring and guidance to help you complete at least one presentation in your home state for science teachers (teacher workshop, district/state science conference, etc.) and create one lesson to share on the NourishTheFuture.org website.
Outcomes
- Up to 55 hours of seat time / 5.5 CEUs, or 4 hours of Ashland University graduate credit (priced at $185 per hour)
- Certification as a Nourish the Future Teacher Leader
- Ongoing participation in national leadership training as part of the Nourish the Future Teacher Leader Community
- Access to teacher resources, tool-kits, and mini-grants