Teach Tennessee Fellows begin summer training

A chemist, research scientist and physical therapist are among the group of over 25 individuals making a career change this summer to become a teacher through the Tennessee Department of Education’s Teach Tennessee program. Teach Tennessee is a statewide transitional licensure program created by Governor Phil Bredesen that addresses the need for classroom teachers by challenging mid-career professionals, retirees and others to teach.

Twenty-eight “Governor’s Fellows” from 20 Tennessee counties, Alabama and Florida will begin their training this week to earn certification to teach this fall.

“These types of focused, skilled, professional instructors are exactly what we need in the classroom as we move forward with implementation of the STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Math – initiatives of Race to the Top,” said Governor Phil Bredesen.

“Teach Tennessee has been producing well-trained math and science teachers for the last five years who provide our students with unparalleled instruction,” said Education Commissioner Timothy Webb. “I’m pleased to see the program thriving and encouraged to watch it grow this year.”

Teach Tennessee was expanded this year to include “Commissioner’s Fellows” who are recent college graduates. This year’s class of “Commissioner’s Fellows” will begin training next month.

For more information on Teach Tennessee, please visit www.TeachTennessee.org.

The eighth Teach Tennessee Governor’s Fellows class represents the following counties and states:

County/State	Number of Fellows	County/State	Number of Fellows
Alabama	1	Marshall	1
Anderson	1	Montgomery	1
Blount	1	Putnam	1
Cumberland	1	Rutherford	4
Davidson	2	Sevier	1
Fayette	1	Shelby	2
Florida	1	Sullivan	1
Greene	1	Sumner	1
Hickman	1	Washington	1
Knox	2	Williamson	1
Lawrence	1	Wilson	1

For more information, contact Amanda Maynord Anderson at (615) 532-7817 or Amanda.Anderson@tn.gov.