Free week of learning at Harvard goes to these Muscogee County teachers. Here’s why

They already were celebrated for being excellent educators. Now, these 13 teachers in the Muscogee County School District have received another honor.

An all-expenses paid trip for one week of training at one of the nation’s most prestigious colleges awaits them this summer, so they can become even better teachers — and share what they learned with their colleagues.

At a news conference Wednesday in Wynnton Arts Academy, the Muscogee Educational Excellence Foundation announced its 2024 Harvard Fellows:

• Kacey Brown of Eagle Ridge Academy

• Tori Culverhouse of Clubview Elementary School

• Claudio Curbelo of Shaw High School

• Josh Evans of Aaron Cohn Middle School

• Maureen Girard of Double Churches Elementary School

• Charlene Greene of Richards Middle School

• Talia Hassan of Rigdon Road Elementary School

• Jamisha Harrison of Dorothy Height Elementary School

• Nick Jones of Hannan Magnet Academy

• Shea Lindblad of Britt David Magnet Academy

• Kristan Macphail of Northside High School

• Melissa McCormick of Carver High School

• Tasha Morman of St. Marys Road Magnet Academy.

MEEF selects MCSD’s Harvard Fellows from a pool of approximately 100 teachers who were among the 10 semifinalists during at least the past 10 years for the district’s Teacher of the Year award, which is another program the foundation conducts.

Harvard Mom now will be a Harvard Fellow

Morman, the 2023 MCSD Teacher of the Year, wore a “Harvard Mom” T-shirt to the news conference because her daughter, Kenashia Thompson, graduated from Harvard last year with a master’s degree in psychology and divinity.

Then she made a quick wardrobe change, putting on the Harvard T-shirt her fellow Harvard Fellows were wearing.

No wonder Morman gushed as she described what this honor means to her.

“It’s amazing,” she told the Ledger-Enquirer. “We have a constant challenge where we’re always trying to compete against each other. She said she one-upped me, but now I will be able to say that I also attended Harvard.”

Morman expressed her gratitude to MEEF for funding this opportunity.

“They are helping to equip us with the tools we need to continue to be change agents,” she said.

While attending Harvard, Morman hopes to learn “different ways to present information,” she said. “There’s never enough. We’re constantly perfecting our strategies.”

Investment in education

After paying for this new group’s professional development in what’s called Project Zero Classroom at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, MEEF will have spent more than $724,000 for 93 teachers to be in this fellowship program, according to the foundation.

MEEF executive director Marquette McKnight explained why the foundation board thinks that’s a wise investment.

“MEEF’s Harvard Fellows increase the capacity to improve learning for all children by bringing back what they learn at Harvard and sharing it with other teachers,” McKnight said in a news release. “Their classrooms become models, based on what they learned; they share with their colleagues at their own schools and others; and they are now the advisory council to Superintendent David Lewis.

“Their experience and input directly impact practical and powerful applications in MCSD, where they will now be seen as teacher leaders.”

Lewis thanked the foundation.

“MEEF consistently stands as a steadfast ally to MCSD, honoring exceptional teachers every year,” he said in the news release. “Alongside MEEF, Harvard contributes as a collaborative force, offering tuition aid and further chances for professional growth. The impact of this collaboration for MCSD is truly energizing.”

Shane Larkin, the 2017 MCSD Teacher of the Year, described the fellowship’s impact.

“Being a Harvard Fellow is professional development in its truest form and in new forms,” Larkin said in the news release. “Teachers hear the term PD, and they think they are going to get resources or the newest, coolest educational trend. Harvard’s Project Zero is not this. ... It is about a paradigm shift in education. Project Zero teaches educators to use holistic approaches to provide students with the tools needed to learn and succeed.”

What is Project Zero Classroom at Harvard?

Project Zero, founded in 1967 by philosopher Nelson Goodman, tries to understand and nurture human potentials, such as learning, thinking, ethics, intelligence and creativity. During their Project Zero week at Harvard, teachers from around the world learn how to:

• Enhance their knowledge and expertise to recognize and develop the multiple intellectual strengths of their students.

• Encourage students to think critically and creatively.

• Explore instructional methods that deepen student engagement, model intellectual curiosity and rigor, and make learning more visible.

MEEF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering educational excellence and honoring teachers who are innovative and exceptionally effective in the public schools of Columbus. In its 28-year history, the foundation has awarded approximately $3.2 million to such educators through the Teacher of the Year, Harvard Fellows and Buntin Scholars programs, as well as grants.