Nashville, TN – An engineer, a chemist and a math tutor are among the group of 27 individuals making a commitment this summer to become a teacher through the Tennessee Department of Education’s Teach Tennessee “Commissioner’s Fellows” 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.
Teach Tennessee was expanded this year to include “Commissioner’s Fellows” who are recent college graduates. Twenty-nine “Commissioner’s Fellows” from 18 counties began training Monday in Oak Ridge and Knoxville to earn certification to teach this fall.
“The expansion of the Teach Tennessee program is a great accomplishment for our state,” said Governor Phil Bredesen. “As a result, we are putting more math and science teachers into the classroom every day and taking the first steps in implementing our STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Math – initiatives of Race to the Top.”
“Teach Tennessee has been one of the most highly successful teacher recruitment and retention tools since its development five years ago,” Education Commissioner Timothy Webb said. “I’m excited to see the program growing and providing more well-trained teachers to change the lives of students in our state.”
For more information on Teach Tennessee, please visit www.TeachTennessee.org.
The 29 Teach Tennessee Commissioner’s Fellows class represents the following counties:
| County/State | Number of Fellows | County/State | Number of Fellows |
| Bedford | 1 | Meigs | 1 |
| Blount | 2 | Montgomery | 1 |
| Campbell | 1 | Rutherford | 2 |
| Cheatham | 1 | Sumner | 1 |
| Davidson | 3 | Union | 1 |
| Hamilton | 1 | Washington | 1 |
| Knox | 3 | White | 1 |
| Loudon | 1 | Williamson | 3 |
| McMinn | 3 |
For more information, contact Amanda Maynord Anderson at 615-532-7817 or Amanda.Anderson@tn.gov.
