Charlotte Teachers Institute

Author Archives: Scott Gartlan

CTI Fellows Named Teachers of the Year

June 26, 2014 – 7:10 pm

by Matthew Strohl, CTI Summer Intern

Each year, Charlotte-Mecklenburg teachers are recognized for their outstanding achievements. This year is no different, with a plethora of teachers that have gone far and beyond for their students. Schools nominate teachers that have shown unparalleled ability to be considered for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) Teacher of the Year award. This award is given out on two levels: each CMS school nominates a teacher to receive a school-level award, and then the county selects a teacher from those to receive the county-wide award. Not only is winning these awards a great honor, but even being considered for one shows prowess and determination to help students succeed. Teachers from all over CMS take part in Charlotte Teachers Institute (CTI) seminars each year. From these teachers, there is a constant chance for there to be a few Teacher of the Year nominees. This year is no different; from the 98 teachers that completed seminars last year, five of them received Teacher of the Year awards from their schools. Two of these CTI fellows were also finalists for the county-wide award. “Charlotte Teachers Institute prides itself in helping teachers enhance their skills both within the classroom and without,” said CTI director Scott Gartlan. The five CTI fellows that received awards are Brad Baker, 10^th grade civics and economics teacher from William A. Hough High School; Lyndsay Burns, 4^th grade teacher from David Cox Elementary; Tara Lee, 7^th grade language arts teacher from Bailey Middle School; Jashonai Payne, 5^th grade teacher from Clear Creek Elementary; and Emily Wegener, Specialized Academic Curriculum (SAC) teacher from Albemarle Road Elementary. These five teachers of the year had plenty of positive feedback for CTI in regards to its influence on their achievements. “CTI sparked my love for learning and made my lessons more engaging and exciting for my students,” said Lee. “This created a productive learning environment which led to being recognized by my colleagues.” Wegener, one of two CMS-wide Teacher of the Year award finalists that were CTI fellows, stated “CTI gave me the level of professionalism and depth of discussion that I was looking for.” Sean “Brad” Baker was the other finalist. ”CTI is great because you are getting quality detail and education in your seminar leader and having detailed professional discussions between educators,” said Baker. “I have worked hard to improve myself every year as a teacher and CTI has helped in that process. “It meant so much that my kids and my type of teaching were valued by my coworkers,” stated Wegener about her award. “I loved that I was getting a ‘normal’ teacher award, even though my area of teaching is not that normal at all!” Both Baker and Wegener’s accomplishments are incredibly notable and reflect their success with the help of CTI. Baker and Wegener, alongside Payne, Lee and Burns, are incredible teachers that show exceptional promise in their respective academic fields.

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Discovery Place and Gantt Center to Host 2014 CTI Seminars

March 14, 2014 – 5:05 pm

The Charlotte Teachers Institute (CTI) is proud to announce two new cultural partnerships aimed at enhancing teachers’ experiences in the 7-monthlong seminars. Discovery Place and the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture will host five CTI seminars in 2014. “We are beyond excited to have the opportunity to work with icons of the scientific and cultural scene in the greater Charlotte community,” said Scott Gartlan, CTI Executive Director. “These partnerships will provide full access for our teachers to explore artifacts in innovative ways to improve their curriculum.” Teachers, known as “Fellows,” participating in 5 seminars (listed below) will meet together for each of the 12 seminar meetings at either Discovery Place or the Gantt Center from April through November 2014. Additionally, all 104 Fellows (13 teachers in each of the eight seminars) will receive a free yearly membership to Discovery Place, Discovery Place Kids, Charlotte Nature Museum and the new Education Studio in the STEM Center for Professional Development. Click here to learn more about all eight 2014 CTI Seminars.

Discovery Place Seminars

Artificial Intelligence
The Global Energy Challenge
Metamorphosis: Transformative Experiences
Intersections of Science, Technology and Culture

Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture Seminar

Visual Storytelling in Children’s and Young Adult Literature

Discovery Place’s website Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture’s website

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CTI Recognizes CMS Classroom Teachers as Leaders

February 20, 2014 – 9:07 pm

Charlotte Teachers Institute Recognizes CMS Classroom Teachers as Leaders

CHARLOTTE – Feb. 24, 2014 – Charlotte Teachers Institute (CTI) recently announced leaders who will guide its 2014 seminar season. These educators, K-12 through the university level, represent the inclusive and creative focus that distinguishes this unique professional development initiative. Fifty-four CMS Teachers and eight UNC Charlotte and Davidson College Faculty will lead the 2014 CTI Seminars.

“Our teacher leaders from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) and our faculty leaders from UNC Charlotte and Davidson College are the lifeblood of our work,” said Scott Gartlan, CTI executive director. “They offer a depth and breadth of experience and knowledge that is critical to our efforts to strengthen teaching in CMS.”

CTI is a partnership of UNC Charlotte, Davidson College and CMS working to cultivate content knowledge, creativity, leadership skills and collaboration within and among CMS teachers.

One CTI Fellow and CMS Teacher will represent the Institute at the Yale National Initiative (YNI), of which CTI is an affiliate. Torrieann Dooley, David Cox Road Elementary School second-grade teacher and CTI Local Steering Committee member, will return to the YNI National Steering Committee as a teacher representative. Ms. Dooley will work with other teachers from across the country, including 16 school districts in nine states to plan the summer intensive sessions at Yale University in July.

Gartlan also announced leaders for CTI’s 2014 Local Steering Committee, drawn from CMS’ teaching force. “Classroom teachers are the driving force,” he said. “Teachers shape the direction of our programs and set goals based on their needs in the classroom.”

New members of the steering committee are: Gloria Brinkman, visual art, North Mecklenburg High School; Alexandra Edwards, social studies, Bailey Middle School; and Miesha Gadsden, 3^rd grade, Lansdowne Elementary School.

Returning Local Steering Committee members in addition to Ms. Dooley are: Matthew Kelly, Spanish, Independence High; Beth Lasure, visual arts, Mallard Creek High; Deb Semmler, physics, East Mecklenburg High; Barbara Wesselman, apparel/costume design, Northwest School of the Arts; and Cindy Woolery, science, Elizabeth Traditional Elementary..

CTI’s upcoming round of eight seminars for 2014 will be led by university faculty seminar leaders and CMS teacher seminar coordinators:

“Artificial Intelligence” – Raghuram Ramanujan, Davidson College assistant professor of mathematics and computer science; Phil Carver, James Martin Middle School eighth grade science teacher
“The Global Energy Challenge” – Durwin R. Striplin, Davidson College professor of chemistry; DeNise Gerst, Barringer Academic Center K-5 science teacher
“Metamorphosis: Transformative Experiences” – Amy Ringwood, UNC Charlotte associate professor of biology; Mary Fabian, Cato Middle College science teacher
“Intersections of Science, Technology, and Culture” – Alan Rauch, UNC Charlotte professor of English; Jennifer Thompson, James Martin Middle School seventh grade science teacher
“Human Agency” – Meghan Griffith, Davidson College associate professor of philosophy; Susan Jones, Steele Creek Elementary School first grade teacher
“The Art of Fiction: Close Analysis, Style, and the Novel” – Maria Fackler, Davidson College associate professor of English; Jennifer Ladanyi, Bailey Middle School seventh grade language arts teacher.
“Visual Storytelling in Children’s and Young Adult Literature at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture” – Paula T. Connolly, UNC Charlotte associate professor of English; Teresa Strohl, Barringer Academic Center K-5 visual arts teacher
“Heroes, Rebels and Rock Stars: Cultural Icons in Modern Europe” – Heather Perry, UNC Charlotte associate professor of history; Roshan Varghese, Butler High School history teacher

CTI also introduced a full cadre of school contacts. These school contacts are essential to the success of the initiative, acting as advocates and liaisons within each of the schools, Gartlan said. The contacts can be found on the website: http://charlotteteachers.org/2013/02/cti-recognizes-cms-classroom-teachers-as-leaders/ .

Jennifer Aldridge, North Mecklenburg High School
Gifty Allen, West Charlotte High School
Lisa Ashworth, Barringer Academic Center
Tamara Babulski, Independence High School
Lucy Beaube, Barringer Academic Center
Bonnie Bosworth, Mallard Creek High School
Gloria Brinkman, North Mecklenburg High School
Sheena Burrus, Clear Creek Elementary School
Stefanie Carter-Dodson, Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School
Phil Carver, James Martin Middle School
Calen Clifton, Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School
Madalina Corneanu, Harding University High School
Jennifer Dalesandro, Bain Elementary School
Lew Davidson, Mallard Creek High School
Barbara Devine, Whitewater Academy
Torrieann Dooley, David Cox Road Elementary School
Alexandra Edwards, Bailey Middle School
Torrie Edwards, W.A. Hough High School
Lindsey Elkins, Providence High School
Mary Fabian, Cato Middle College High School
Nicole Fraser, Davidson Elementary School
Dawn Franchina, West Charlotte High School
Miesha Gadsden, Lansdowne Elementary School
DeNise Gerst, Barringer Academic Center
Jedidiah Gist-Anderson, West Charlotte High School
Cynthia Hicks, Steele Creek Elementary School
Ana Hummel, North Mecklenburg High School
Marva Hutchinson, Providence High School
Susan Jones, Steele Creek Elementary School
Deb Jung, Winding Springs
Matthew Kelly, Independence High School
Melanie Kirschner, Albemarle Road Elementary
Jennifer Ladanyi, Bailey Middle School
Beth Lasure, Mallard Creek High School
Tara Lee, Bailey Middle School
Angelina McCurry, Alexander Graham Middle School
Stephanie Misko, W. A. Hough High School
Jennifer Osburn, Myers Park High School
Jashonai Payne, Clear Creek Elementary School
Katelyn Quinn, Irwin Academic Center
Janet Raybon, Myers Park High School
Julie Ruziska Tiddy, Carmel Middle School
Deb Semmler, East Mecklenburg High School
Katherine Semmler, North Mecklenburg High School
Teresa Strohl, Barringer Academic Center
Jennifer Thompson, James Martin Middle School
Edwin Tranquilino, Harding University High School
Kory Trosclair, Bailey Middle School
Roshan Varghese, David W. Butler High School
Barbara Wesselman, Northwest School of the Arts
Lynne Wiesicke, Albemarle Road Elementary School
Megan Woazeah, Bradley Middle School
Tamara Wood, Albemarle Road Middle School
Cindy Woolery, Elizabeth Traditional Elementary School

CTI will host an open house on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 5:30 p.m. at UNC Charlotte Center City at 320 E. 9^th Street to introduce its 2014 educator leaders and its seminars. Details and registration information are available on the CTI website at www.charlotteteachers.org. Teacher applications to participate in the seminars are online and are due March 12.

About the Charlotte Teachers Institute

The Charlotte Teachers Institute is an educational partnership among Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Davidson College and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte that works to improve teaching in Charlotte-Mecklenburg public schools. CTI and its partners were recognized by the Council of Great City Schools with its 2013 national Urban Education Impact award (see link at http://www.cms.k12.nc.us/News/Pages/CMSandUNCCwinnationalawardforCharlotteTeachersInstitute.aspx).

An affiliate of the Yale National Initiative at Yale University, CTI cultivates content-knowledge, creativity, leadership skills and collaboration within and among Charlotte’s public school teachers. Programs include long-term seminars and special events for teachers, as well as community presentations. CTI’s “Exploding Canons” and “Teachers as Scholars” events engage and educate CMS teachers and the community-at-large, as CTI and a variety of partnering organizations produce forums for examining popular topics through multi-disciplinary lenses.

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 Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, the Belk Foundation, Piedmont Natural Gas Foundation and the Wells Fargo. The institute is housed at UNC Charlotte within the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

Each year about 100 CMS teachers in grades K-12 are enrolled in CTI’s eight, multidisciplinary seminars that began in the spring and continue until December. The seminars’ weekly meetings recess during the summer, while teachers immerse themselves in reading and research related to 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. For more information visit the CTI website at www.charlotteteachers.org.

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For more information, contact CTI Executive Director Scott Gartlan, 704-687-0078, info@charlotteteachers.org

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools media contact: Tahira Stalberte, 980-343-0954 tahira.stalberte@cms.k12.nc.us

Davidson College Public Relations media contact: Bill Giduz, 704-894-2244, bigiduz@davidson.edu

UNC Charlotte University Communications media contact: Buffie Stephens, 704-687-5830, BuffieStephens@uncc.edu

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CTI wins national award given by the Council for Great City Schools

February 19, 2014 – 5:53 pm

CTI received the Shirley S. Schwartz Urban Education Impact Award given by the Council for Great City Schools at their Annual Conference in November 2013. This award is given annual to recognize an outstanding partnership between a university and an urban school district that has had a significant, positive impact on student learning. CTI is a partnership among Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Davidson college and UNC Charlotte to strengthen teaching and learning in public schools. Read the press release.

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Davidson Faculty and CTI Fellows Celebrate Another Successful Year in 2013

January 7, 2014 – 8:32 pm

Bill Gudiz, Director of Media Relations at Davidson College, attended the 2013 Fellows Finale Celebration at the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art and highlighted Davidson’s strong commitment to public school teachers. Click here to read the story.

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Wells Fargo Awards $50,000 to CTI

June 19, 2013 – 8:43 pm

CHARLOTTE – June 6, 2013 – Wells Fargo has awarded $50,000 to support the Charlotte Teachers Institute, an innovative partnership among UNC Charlotte, Davidson College and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) to strengthen teaching and learning in local public schools by cultivating content knowledge, creativity, leadership skills and collaboration among CMS teachers.

“Charlotte Teachers Institute provides a significant career development opportunity for teachers in our region,” said Jay Everette, community affairs manager at Wells Fargo. “By participating in the program, teachers create new, compelling classroom curriculum that is then shared nationally with other educators.”

Wells Fargo has supported the institute since CTI’s inception in 2009.

“Teachers and students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools have benefitted significantly from the visionary support of Wells Fargo,” said CTI Executive Director Scott Gartlan. “Wells Fargo and CTI share a commitment to excellence, collaboration and leadership.”

This most recent gift will support CTI’s general programming, including seminars that began in late April. Through these 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. More than 260 CMS teachers, teaching 50,000 students, have participated in the CTI seminars.

An affiliate of the Yale National Initiative at Yale University, CTI provides high quality teacher professional development led by expert university and college faculty. Programs include the seven-month long series of seminars and special events for teachers, and community presentations, such as the popular Exploding Canons cultural collaboration series.

Currently, 104 CMS teachers in grades K-12 are enrolled in 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 CMS, Davidson College and UNC Charlotte and through the generosity of private funding institutions such as Wells Fargo. The institute is housed at UNC Charlotte within the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

For more information, contact CTI Executive Director Scott Gartlan at, scott.gartlan@uncc.edu or 704-687-0078.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.4 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 stores, 12,000 ATMs, and the Internet (wellsfargo.com), and has offices in more than 35 countries to support the bank’s customers who conduct business in the global economy. With more than 270,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 25 on Fortune’s 2013 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially.

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Charlotte Teachers Institute Accepts 104 CMS Teachers as CTI Fellows

June 19, 2013 – 8:41 pm

CHARLOTTE – May 27, 2013 – Charlotte Teachers Institute has accepted 104 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools teachers into its innovative professional development program that kicked off this spring. These teachers come from 15 subject areas in 43 schools, in grades K-12.

The teachers will work with faculty from Davidson College and UNC Charlotte in a long-term effort that will challenge them to explore content areas and expand their own ideas for new curriculum, with guidance from the faculty. Seminars and their faculty seminar leaders include:

Charlotte as a New South City: Using the Collections of the Levine Museum of the New South, Shep McKinley, History, UNC Charlotte
The Nature of Energy: How We Use and Store It to Power Our Everyday Lives, Susan Trammell, Physics, UNC Charlotte
Math and Sports, Tim Chartier, Mathematics, Davidson College
Imagining Modern Bodies: Disability and Art at the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Ann Fox, English, Davidson College
Grammar for the Real World, Ralf Thiede, Linguistics, UNC Charlotte
Human Social Groups, Lisa Slattery Walker, Sociology, UNC Charlotte
Chemical Magic, Durwin R. Striplin, Chemistry, Davidson College
Urban Encounters: Hispanic and African American Literature, Brenda Flanagan, English, Davidson College

Teachers will discuss and research the topics and collaborate on ideas to teach new content to their students in engaging ways. Their study culminates with each teacher creating an original curriculum unit to be taught in his or her classroom and to be published on the CTI website. Each Fellow is enrolled in one of CTI’s eight seminars throughout the entire period.

“We kicked off this year with our interactive orientation at Discovery Place,” said CTI Executive Director Scott Gartlan. “The CTI Fellows will participate in three spring seminar meetings followed by independent summer study. We will pick up with weekly meetings again in September through November. This combination of collaborative work and independent research has proven quite effective in helping teachers explore their ideas.”

CTI is an affiliate of the Yale National Initiative to Strengthen Teaching in Public Schools and also links its Fellows’ units to the YNI website at Yale University as part of a national curricular resource bank for teachers.

“High quality professional development programs have common key characteristics,” Gartlan said. “They focus on content knowledge linked to pedagogy, teacher leadership, extended duration, collective participation and collaboration, and innovative and active teacher learning.” He noted these characteristics are the pillars of CTI’s professional development program.

Fellows in this year’s CTI seminars are a diverse group of new and experienced teachers with an average of 11 years’ teaching experience. They represent the full range of K-12 instructional levels and a wide variety of disciplines: art, bilingual education, biology, chemistry, drama, earth science, English, French, history, math, media, physics, social studies, Spanish, and special education.

Charlotte Teachers Institute is an educational partnership among Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Davidson College and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. CTI cultivates content-knowledge, creativity, leadership skills and collaboration within and among Charlotte’s public school teachers. Programs include long-term seminars and special events for teachers, as well as community presentations such as its “Exploding Canons” interdisciplinary discussion series. Resources come from the three Institute partners and private funding institutions, such as the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, the Belk Foundation, the Piedmont Natural Gas Foundation and the Wells Fargo Foundation. The Institute is housed at UNC Charlotte within its College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

For a complete listing of the 2013 CTI Fellows, visit www.charlotteteachers.org.

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For more information, contact CTI Executive Director Scott Gartlan, 704-687-0078, scott.gartlan@uncc.edu

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools media contact: Tahira Stalberte, 980-343-0954 tahira.stalberte@cms.k12.nc.us

Davidson College Public Relations media contact: Bill Giduz, 704-894-2244, bigiduz@davidson.edu

UNC Charlotte Public Relations media contact: Buffie Stephens, 704-687-5830, BuffieStephens@uncc.edu

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Mike Pillsbury, CTI Steering Committee Member, Led MATHCOUNTS Team to Victory

April 17, 2013 – 3:32 pm

CTI Steering Committee Member and Randolph IB Middle School Math Teacher, Mike Pillsbury, recently led his MATHCOUNTS team to win the state championships in Raleigh, NC. Mike emphasized the role that teamwork and collaboration played in his team’s success: “They catapulted from third to first because of teamwork, and that makes me proud,” Pillsbury said.

Mike will lead the North Carolina team in the national MATHCOUNTS competition in May in Washington, D.C.

Congratulations, Mike. Good luck in D.C.

Click here for a link to a story in the Charlotte Observer.

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CTI Seminar Leader, Joanne Robinson, Received Prestigious Teaching Award

April 17, 2013 – 3:18 pm

CTI Seminar Leader and UNC Charlotte Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Joanne Robinson, received the UNC Board of Governors Award of Teaching Excellence. The award will be presented formally by a Board of Governors member during the spring graduation ceremony at UNC Charlotte. Additionally, Joanne was the 2012 recipient of the Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence, UNC Charlotte’s highest teaching honor.

In 2011 Joanne led the CTI seminar titled, “Exploring Big Questions.” Fellows approached a variety of topics through the lens of philosophical inquiry addressing questions such as “What makes something true?”, “Are numbers and people real in the same way?”, and “Would it be good to live forever?”

Congratulations, Joanne! CTI is very proud of your accomplishments!

Click here for link to press release.

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