CHARLOTTE – Aug. 24, 2012 – The Charlotte Teachers Institute has received a $50,000 gift from The Wells Fargo Foundation to support the institute’s work in strengthening teaching in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
“We are thrilled to receive this confident and sustained support from such a well respected member of our community as the Wells Fargo Foundation,” said Scott Gartlan, CTI executive director. “Our work is focused on making connections between public school teachers and university professors to meet the needs of students in the classroom. This gift will allow us to continue this work.”
An innovative partnership among the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Davidson College and CMS, Charlotte Teachers Institute brings together faculty, staff and other resources to engage teachers in academic seminars. The Wells Fargo Foundation presented its gift to the UNC Charlotte Foundation on behalf of CTI.
“The Wells Fargo Foundation continues to be impressed with the professional development Charlotte Teachers Institute offers our local teachers,” said Jay Everette, community affairs manager at Well Fargo, “Many participants say that this program helps them teach with more impact and passion. We also like the fact that curriculum created by these educators through their experience with Charlotte Teachers Institute is shared nationally with other educators via Yale University.”
The Wells Fargo Foundation has supported the institute since CTI’s inception in 2009. This most recent gift will support CTI’s general programming, including the 2012 round of seminars which began in late April. Through seminars led by UNC Charlotte and Davidson College faculty, CMS teachers learn new content, work collaboratively with other teachers, and develop new curricula for their students. Teachers serve as leaders in the institute and choose seminar topics they deem most important and engaging for current CMS teachers and their students. To date, more than 200 CMS teachers have participated in the Charlotte Teachers Institute seminars teaching more than 40,000 students.
An affiliate of the Yale National Initiative at Yale University, CTI cultivates content-knowledge, creativity, leadership skills and collaboration. Programs include long-term seminars and special events for teachers, as well as community presentations such as the popular Exploding Canons cultural collaboration series.
Currently, 102 CMS teachers in grades K-12 are enrolled in eight, multidisciplinary seminars that continue until December. The seminars’ weekly meetings recess during the summer, while teachers immerse themselves in reading and research related to the curriculum units they are developing for their students. These curriculum units generate learning beyond each teacher’s classroom, as the final units are shared with teachers’ school colleagues and are also published on the CTI and Yale National Initiative websites, making them accessible to teachers worldwide.
CTI programs are made possible by a joint commitment of resources from all three Institute partners and through the generosity of private funding institutions such as The Wells Fargo Foundation. The institute is housed at UNC Charlotte within the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.
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