Local teachers form network

Former and present recipients of the competitive Christa McAuliffe fellowship grants officially convened last week to start the formation of an exclusive group dedicated towards the professional development of local teachers.

The Christa McAuliffe Fellowship is a federally-funded award granted every year to a selected number of teachers in support of their classroom or staff development projects.

Some 19 past, present and aspiring McAuliffe fellows showed up for the network meeting held at the Pacific Islands Club.

The networking efforts highlighted discussions among members to lobby for the increase of the fellowship award level from $2,500 to $5,000.

In prior years, the Public School System used to give out $25,000 to $30,000 awards per fellow, which was more than enough to develop a program.

Teachers also agreed to set quarterly meetings among fellows in order to devote discussions on concerns and programs relevant to the group.

Fellows also floated a proposal to set the CNMI Education Day as the venue for an official awarding ceremony for teachers fortunate enough to land McAuliffe grants.

Further, group members also expressed desire to provide technical assistance to potential fellows in the Commonwealth through inter-island travels to Tinian and Rota, in a bid to orient interested McAuliffe fellows on upcoming grant cycles.

The federal government granted PSS last year additional funding to create a network of former, current and future Christa McAuliffe Fellowship recipients.

The Washington-based funding agency awards every year 10 Christa McAuliffe fellowships to PSS teachers worth $2,500 each to support various educational programs of their choice.

According to Federal Programs Officer Bill Matson, the additional funding received can not be used to further award fellowships as the monies were savings generated by efforts to reduce the administrative costs of the program from the amount awarded solely for administrative overhead.

“The PSS last year, for instance, was able to reduce administrative expenditures by hundreds of dollars below that authorized for our use, and now these funds can be used to support the fellows,” said Mr. Matson.

Although all programs require funds to administer them, PSS generally holds the administrative expenditures of federal funds to even a stricter standard of necessity than for the funds intended for program use, he added.

Meanwhile, the priority areas that teacher recipients can opt to pursue include research on school improvement using standards development, assessment design, learning technology for classrooms, or development of innovative programs and partnerships between the business community and the schools.

The school system will be holding award ceremonies and workshops to establish an actual “fellowship” among former, ongoing, and future McAuliffe scholars in the development of their applications and programs.

The Christa McAuliffe fellowship for teachers is applicable for teachers with at least eight years of classroom teaching experience. Applicants must be able to document these years of service. The fellowships should be for development expenses with little or no equipment or materials being purchased.