The year-long multidisciplinary program pairs electric cooperatives with chosen middle school and high school educators to be mentored on Science, Technology, and Math education through real-life experience at Randolph EMC.
The program is to build relevant relationships between real-life STEM professions and education.
"In education, there are not enough conversations happening both in and outside of education," Mark Townley, NCSU's assistant director of programs and 2012 Fellow himself said. "Industries are always looking for opportunities to get connected with the school system and so that's what we do."
Fellows are chosen through a competitive application process and interview.
Once selected to be part of the 2022-23 cohort, fellows spend three weeks on-site in a summer internship to make pertinent connections between their classrooms and professional STEM practices.
Over the course of the fellowship, educators develop a deeper understanding of local industries and workforce needs during additional training after the three-week internship.
Fellows also receive a $5,000 stipend.
The selected fellow for Randolph EMC will tour the Catawba nuclear plant, a microgrid, a solar community, and several warehouses to see how Randolph EMC functions as a rural electric cooperative.
The goal of the partnership is to create professional and educational opportunities that build meaningful relationships between residents, professionals, and students in North Carolina.
The knowledge gained from the fellowship allows educators to prepare Randolph County students for the future through electrifying lessons.
A curriculum will be created and tailored with information from the fellow, such as how electricity is produced and increased awareness of the various career pathways in the energy field.
"Improved opportunities and understanding of what pathways and workforce skills are really desired through the school system to have kids find success in job opportunities after high school," Townley said.
Finding jobs within the Randolph community is a need for young adults first entering the workforce.
"We're asking [students] to get serious early on and to dedicate themselves," Randolph EMC Communications and Public Affairs Manager Nicole Arnold said. "That level of seriousness helps them open up to a future career. We would love to help them think about those things."
Randolph EMC hopes the program will provide students an opportunity to learn about future jobs within Randolph County, instead of leaving to find work in larger cities.
But the Kenan Fellows also provides an especially exciting opportunity for rural communities like Randolph County.
"The best part of the electric cooperatives is they really help us to get into these rural communities because some rural communities don't have major industry partners that can help fund fellowships," Townley said.
Arnold said joining the partnership was the next logical step to expand their mission to encourage education in the Randolph community.
"This was an opportunity for us to put a bigger investment toward local education, and specifically toward educators," Arnold said. "This is a wonderful opportunity for an electric cooperative to be a sincere corporate citizen in our community."
The collaborative program works with 26 electric cooperatives across North Carolina each year and has been run successfully out of NCSU since 2000.
While Randolph EMC has used professional development programs for teachers in the Randolph community for over 30 years, this is the first time partnering with the Kenan Fellows program.
Randolph EMC is accepting Kenan Fellow applications until Feb. 4, 2022.
Fellows will be announced in May during National Teacher Appreciation Week.
©2022 The Courier-Tribune, Asheboro, N.C. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.