Oak Ridge High School student, Emilie Bordeau was recently selected to meet with Governor Bill Haslam, First Lady Crissy Haslam, and Commissioner of Education Candice McQueen as part of Governor Haslam’s Teacher Cabinet quarterly meeting at the Tennessee Residence.  She attended the meeting alongside Robertsville Middle School teacher, Cathy Ginel, who has served on the Teacher Cabinet for two years.  Emilie was selected as a member of the Oak Ridge High School Youth Leadership Development and Community Involvement Program (YLDCIP) where she works in Marti Overton’s 1st grade class at Willow Brook Elementary.  Emilie shared that the YLDCIP program and working directly with elementary school students has piqued her interest in pursuing an education degree upon graduation from Oak Ridge High School.

While at the Tennessee Residence, Emilie and Mrs. Ginel toured the historic rooms, had lunch in the grand foyer, and participated in discussion with Governor Haslam regarding increasing student enrollment in teacher education programs.  Teachers shared the highlights of the career, including seeing the “spark” that students had when they understood a difficult concept, to the challenges of helping students who have health, economic, and family situations outside of school that can make learning difficult.  The visit ended with Governor Haslam sharing stories of the residence, the reasoning behind retaining the punch bowl from the battleship Tennessee in the residence, and the origination of “Hail to the Chief” by President James Polk to announce his presence in a room.

Governor Haslam’s Teacher Cabinet will continue to meet quarterly for the remainder of his time in office, ending in January 2019.

Article submitted by Cathy Ginel, 7th grade science teacher at Robertsville Middle School

 

From the office of the Governor:

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and First Lady Crissy Haslam on Wednesday welcomed members of the governor’s Teacher Cabinet and students from across the state to an event at the Tennessee Residence to encourage middle and high school students to consider careers in education.

 

The Teacher Cabinet members each identified a student in their school system who either aspires to someday become a teacher or who shows the potential to make a positive contribution in the education field to attend the “Be a Teacher” luncheon and discussion with the governor, first lady and Department of Education Commissioner Candice McQueen.

 

“Teachers are so important and can have a significant impact on students’ lives,” Haslam told the group of students. “We need more young people to step into this honorable profession, so I encourage you to really think about teaching and hope you’ll encourage others to do so, as well.”

 

There will be an anticipated 20,000 additional jobs in education in Tennessee between now and 2024, according to SCORE (State Collaborative on Reforming Education).

 

Commissioner McQueen plans to continue this discussion throughout the school year by meeting with high school students to engage them in conversations about the teaching profession.

Two years ago, Haslam created the Teacher Cabinet to get feedback directly from teachers and connect policy to the classroom. The group of 17 teachers from across the state meets with Haslam quarterly to provide real-time information from the classroom and feedback on policy considerations, including educator support and preparation, assessment, teacher evaluation, response to intervention (RTI) implementation and the state standards review process.

Haslam has been visiting the Teacher Cabinet members in their classrooms over the past year on his “Capitol to Classroom” tour.

Photos from the “Be a Teacher” luncheon can be downloaded here. More information on Haslam’s Teacher Cabinet and a list of members can be found here.