Three local teachers were chosen as 2016-17 Kenan Fellows, a program designed to promote K-12 STEM education in the state by giving selected educators with professional learning and leadership development.
 
This year 41 teachers across North Carolina were picked from more than 130 applicants, according to the program.
 
“The 2016–17 Kenan Fellows will spend at least three weeks of their summer interning with local experts in nanotechnology, aquaculture, energy and other STEM fields,” according to the Kenan Fellows Program website. “Traditionally, teachers go from earning a college degree straight to the classroom and do not spend time working in business or industry. The Kenan Fellows Program internship gives educators the practical knowledge and application to better prepare students for college and careers.”
 
Kenan Fellows receive a $5,000 stipend and participate in 80 hours of professional development, organizers said.
 
Locally, Stephanie Titzel, Melissa Wise-Harris, Michelle Hafey and Maggi McKinley are part of this year’s group.
 
The fellowship project for Titzel, an eighth-grade science teacher at Roland-Grise Middle School, is “Surf and Turf: Oysters, Finfish and Horticultural Research.” Her fellowship is supported by New Hanover County Farm Bureau, one of several organizations that fund the program.
 
The project involves a three-week summer internship where Titzel will learn advanced research in the horticulture and aquaculture field. She then will create lesson plans using the knowledge from the internship, according to a news release from the farm bureau office.
 
“I am constantly looking for new ways to get students excited about science and STEM. I believe in a hands-on student-centered classroom, and this project … will help me to actively engage all students,” Titzel said in the release.
 
The fellowship project for Wise-Harris, of Brunswick County Schools, is “Students Discover: Symbiosis in the Soil,” sponsored by the National Science Foundation.
 
And the fellowship project for Hafey, a teacher at Penderlea Elementary School, and McKinley, a teacher at Burgaw Middle School is “Students Discover: Ants,” sponsored by the National Science Foundation.