The Public Education Foundation has announced receipt of a $415,000, three-year grant from an anonymous local donor to support TEACH/Here, a teacher residency initiative that is preparing highly skilled math and science teachers for hard-to-fill positions in Hamilton and Knox County schools.

“This donor has a strong commitment to high-quality math and science instruction, especially in light of the high tech jobs that are coming to our area,” said PEF President Dan Challener. “The donor believes that successful implementation of TEACH/Here will bring significant, far-reaching benefits to the children of Hamilton County and that it will become a model for improving public education systems all over the United States. We share that belief and we’re very grateful for this support to help us make it a reality.”

TEACH/Here operates through a partnership between Hamilton and Knox County schools, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and the Public Education Foundation. In its first year of operation, TEACH/Here has placed ten resident teachers to work alongside highly successful and experienced mentor teachers at Tyner Academy and Tyner Middle Academy. Knox County Schools has another eight residents working with mentors in Knoxville schools.

Residents are recent college graduates or mid-career professionals who specialized in math- or science-related fields and have become interested in teaching. Similar to a medical residency program that provides on-the-job training for doctors, residents are placed in a mentoring relationship with a master teacher for one year, where they will work side-by-side with the master teacher in the classroom four days per week.

On the fifth day, they will take classes from UT Knoxville to earn both a master’s degree and a teaching certificate by the end of the program.

“TEACH/Here is an important part of the district’s Teacher Quality initiative,” said Superintendent Dr. Jim Scales. “In a year we will have ten new highly-skilled math and science teachers who will be well-prepared to take over a classroom and become immediately effective. Over the next five years, we could have as many as 80 or 90 graduates of this program who will make a real impact on students all over our district.”

In addition to this generous anonymous contribution, funding to support the TEACH/Here initiative has been contributed by AmeriCorps; the Benwood Foundation; National Science Foundation (through the University of Tennessee at Knoxville); Tennessee Valley Authority; Hamilton County Department of Education and Knox County Schools.

Additional funding is being sought from national and local donors.