Kenan Fellows Program for Teacher Leadership

Our director, Vance Kite. has a powerful piece in Education NC about his personal connection to the Kenan Fellows Program and our 26th anniversary.

Read Vance's full op-ed and then come find your people at our Reigniting Teacher Passion conference, Aug 3–4 in Chapel Hill.

Conference link in the comments.

Perspective | Where teachers become leaders: Celebrating 26 years of the Kenan Fellows Program Dr. Vance Kite, director of the Kenan Fellows Program at NC State University, shares his experience as a Fellow and a leader.

Congratulations to Kenan Fellow alum Derrike Black, Ph.D., an educator with Camden County Schools! Join us in celebrating Derrike on this achievement.

Congratulations to Camden County Schools Bruin Bridge Facilitator, Dr. Derrike Black, who was selected as a NC Department of Natural & Cultural Resources 2026 Teacher Ambassador!

These ambassadors will partner with DNCR to champion innovative, experiential, and place-based learning that connects classrooms with North Carolina’s rich cultural, historical, and natural resources, while also helping ensure that educators understand and can access the robust support DNCR provides for their critical work.

Our 2025-26 Kenan Fellows finished the formal cohort year with an impressive list of accomplishments. We pulled together this infographic showing their impact by the numbers.

Please join us one final time in congratulating this incredible group of teachers.

Thanks for sharing this great news!

We're thrilled to close out our 2026–27 individual fellowship spotlights with a milestone moment, welcoming the first-ever Kenan Fellows from Virginia!

Thanks to support from Hampton Roads Workforce Council, this cohort brings together four outstanding educators from Virginia and Eastern NC who will be immersed in Nucor Steel and Colonna's Shipyard, gaining firsthand knowledge and workplace perspectives to transform classrooms and open doors for students.

Give a warm welcome to our newest Fellows! 👇

Daphne McCoy, Hertford County Public Schools | Mentor: Nucor Steel
Amy Edwards, Bear Grass Charter School | Mentor: Nucor Steel
Zack Josker, VBSchools | Mentor: Colonna's Shipyard
Mi-che Lassiter, Hampton City Schools (Virginia) | Mentor: Colonna’s Shipyard

We can't wait to see the impact these teachers will make in their classrooms, their communities, and beyond.

We're thrilled to close out our 2026–27 individual fellowship spotlights with a milestone moment, welcoming the first-ever Kenan Fellows from Virginia!

Thanks to support from Hampton Roads Workforce Council, this cohort brings together four outstanding educators from Virginia and Eastern NC who will be immersed in Nucor Steel and Colonna's Shipyard, gaining firsthand knowledge and workplace perspectives to transform classrooms and open doors for students.

Give a warm welcome to our newest Fellows! 👇

Daphne McCoy, Hertford County Public Schools | Mentor: Nucor Steel
Amy Edwards, Bear Grass Charter School | Mentor: Nucor Steel
Zack Josker, VBSchools | Mentor: Colonna's Shipyard
Mi-che Lassiter, Hampton City Schools (Virginia) | Mentor: Colonna’s Shipyard

We can't wait to see the impact these teachers will make in their classrooms, their communities, and beyond.

Join us in welcoming Joshua Trujillo, a teacher at Cabarrus-Kannapolis Early College, in Cabarrus County Schools. Joshua is one of 34 North Carolina teachers selected for our 2026-27 cohort, along with two Virginia teachers.

Thanks to Duke Energy for supporting Joshua and their continued support of teachers and STEM education in our state.

Thanks to Duke University Marine Lab and NC State University Environmental Education Lab, Buncombe County Schools teacher Kerri Hampton will help expand the Ready, Set, Resilience Program in Western NC.

Ready, Set, Resilience is a middle school program that draws on lessons from nature to help students navigate personal and communal hardships, such as the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

Please join us in welcoming Kerri to our 2026-27 cohort of Kenan Fellows, and thanking Duke Marine Lab and the EE Lab at NC State for their continued support of teachers.

Each day for the past week, we have been spotlighting our individual Fellows, their projects, and their supporters.

Please join us in celebrating two teachers from opposite ends of the state who will be working to illuminate career pathways in their regions.

Emily DiNoto of Dare County Schools will collaborate with TCOM, L.P., a global leader in lighter-than-air platforms and elevated awareness solutions. Her project will give her an inside look at the many career pathways available to students in this specialized and growing industry.

Breanna Morris of Transylvania County Schools will partner with The Science House at North Carolina State University to develop PD and curricula. Her fellowship will also connect to the Kenan Fellows Program’s NC Resiliency initiative, which supports efforts to gather resources for a teacher support package in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

Special thanks to the Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology & Education Board of Trustees and the Kenan Fellows Program for Teacher Leadership Board of Advisors for their generous support.

Huge thanks to Meta - Forest City Data Center for supporting our program for the seventh consecutive year! 🎉

We're proud to welcome Rachel Culbreth of Polk County Schools and Shelby Lewis of Henderson County Public Schools to our 2026-27 cohort of Kenan Fellows.

Rachel will explore Biltmore Farms to connect students to wellness, educational enrichment, and sustainability values in their own community.

Shelby will spend three weeks this summer collaborating with the ASAP - Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project to learn about local food systems and create resources for after-school programs statewide.

Please join us in congratulating them.

🥚 Our Fellow spotlights continue, and we have so many amazing teachers to celebrate!

Charisma Lee from Nash County Public Schools is one of our 36 incredible 2026-27 Kenan Fellows, and her project might change the way North Carolina students think about breakfast.

She is partnering with NC Farm Bureau "Ag in the Classroom", N.C. Farm Bureau, Nash County Farm Bureau and North Carolina Egg Association to gain an inside perspective of the state's egg industry. Then, she will partner with egg producers to create a brand-new NC Eggs Ag Mag that will bring that knowledge into classrooms across the state.

A huge thank you to these sponsors for making this fellowship possible. Your investment in teachers is an investment in every student they'll ever teach. 💛

We're spotlighting every single Fellow project, so stay tuned. We have more to come! 🌾