Bringing it all together: Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship alumni discuss their experiences and developing the five-year strategy for STEM education

The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program is an opportunity for accomplished K-12 educators in in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to serve in national educational arenas in Washington, D.C. Throughout the 11-month fellowship, educators from all over the country apply their experience and knowledge in Federal agencies or U.S. Congressional offices.

Recently, three alumni of the AEF Program completed an interview on the ORISE Featurecast to discuss their time in the Fellowship. John Galisky, Chris Wright and Kelly McCarthy were members of the 2017 AEF cohort. As part of their Fellowship, the three educators participated in the development of the five-year strategy for STEM education, an effort to strengthen the government’s commitment in the STEM education ecosystem.

“Even though we were seated at different agencies, we had the opportunity to come together during our cohort and give some feedback on the five-year federal strategy for STEM education,” McCarthy explained during the interview. “That strategy was released in 2018 and it was an effort to strengthen the federal government's commitment in the STEM education ecosystem to equity and diversity, evidence-based practices, and engagement with the national STEM community. And it highlighted collaboration with learners, families, educators, community leaders, and employers. We were one of the many stakeholders that were included in the development of the plan, which really was focused on expanding and improving the nation's capacity for STEM education and preparing our future workforce. And it was definitely an exciting point and a critical effort of that year that allowed us to all come together and think through some feedback while it was still in its draft form.”

“I definitely appreciated and I feel like we all did appreciate the ability for us to go into that office and speak with the folks that were there about our input as current educators, as folks in the field, as leaders in the field,” Wright added, “and to be able to give them our insight and have them kind of take what actual educators in the D.C. area that year were kind of thinking. Not just from D.C., because we're coming from Pennsylvania, California, we came from Vermont. We came from all over. So for all of us to have that opportunity, I think that that was phenomenal and I applaud that effort for them to do that. I think that's powerful.”

One of the experiences the three educators agreed on from their Fellowship was how much they learned during their time in Washington, D.C.

“I was soaking in all sorts of different areas, areas of personal interest for my classroom that I was planning to return to, areas of interest where I thought I could incorporate things into the next draft of the bill when it came back,” said Galisky. “So, I was doing a lot of workforce development learning, a lot of climate and renewable energy learning, a lot of teacher leadership learning, just a whole lot of different things that have all kind of come together to give me a really rich experience.”

You can hear more about these educators’ experiences, including the AEF application process and what the Program looks like, by listening to the full podcast episode (.MP3).