The National Science Board recently invited Jennifer Kennedy to speak on the distinguished “Beyond the Test Scores: Into the PreK-12th Grade STEM Classroom” panel.
Kennedy is the STEM Lab Specialist at the SPARK Academy at Cowart Elementary.
She participated in a summer roundtable discussion with the NSB about issues in STEM education.
“I represent a really unique viewpoint being that I’m Pre-K through three, and not many Einstein Fellows teach the lower grade bands,” Kennedy explained.
Her participation in this discussion and her unique viewpoint are what led to her participation in the upcoming panel.
The virtual panel, composed of four preK-12th grade STEM teachers, will take place on Feb. 15, 2023.
With the panel just around the corner, Kennedy has been doing a lot of reading and research in preparation.
“It’s really important to me to have research that backs up our instinctive observations, and I’ve been quite successful in finding real, actual instances where those groups of students and those groups of educators aren’t getting quite the same support and science education across the country as teachers at the higher grades,” Kennedy explained, explaining she doesn’t wish to disparage Alabama because “we do an excellent job of making sure that early elementary teachers have the resources to teach quality studies.”
“But when you look at it nationwide, and even some places in Alabama, we still don’t have that support for our very young learners, and it’s hard for those teachers to get the professional development they need to not only stay excited about teaching science, but also know what’s going on in science at the federal level,” she said.
Kennedy explained that many workshops offered for educators are geared for grades 6 and higher and that elementary educators can find themselves excluded from scholarships to attend professional conferences.
“I know so many colleagues who say it’s exactly those types of events that energize them and give them great new ideas to bring back to their classroom, and they just don’t have the opportunity to do it,” she said.
“I want the federal government to understand that if we really want to impact science education, got to do it from the moment our students enter the school building and we are leaving out half of the teaching population,” she said.
Kennedy will inform NSB members, Congress, the Administration, federal science agencies, science and education communities, and more on the STEM education needs of students and teachers in the PreK-4th grade levels followed by a Q&A session led by members of the NSB Committee.
The National Science Board is the oversight board of the National Science Foundation and an advisor to Congress and the President on science, engineering, and STEM education.
As previously reported by The News Courier, Kennedy is an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow and an awardee of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
Local teacher Jennifer Kennedy receives Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching
“STEM is an important part of the instructional plan at SPARK Academy, and Mrs. Kennedy’s expertise and leadership are invaluable in continuing the vision of Scientific Project-based Academic Research by Kids,” said SPARK Academy Principal Lorian Charles said.