Snellville Middle Teacher Selected for National Fellowship Program

From the Hope Street Group:

Kenneth Mims, a Physical Science Teacher at Snellville Middle School in Gwinnett County, has been selected as a Hope Street Group 2014 National Teacher Fellow. He is one of only 13 educators nationwide to be invited to participate in this fellowship program and is this year’s representative from Georgia.

The National Teacher Fellowship program provides fellows, who are either classroom teachers or instructional coaches, with rigorous training, opportunity to network with teachers across the country, and participation in national conversations. Past fellows have written op-eds for major news publications, participated in state and national-level discussions with policymakers on education initiatives, and developed recommendations and solutions for enhancing teacher effectiveness systems as well as college and career ready standards implementation, as outlined in the Teacher Evaluation Playbook.

"Policymakers require better tools and information in order to make prudent decisions about how best to spend taxpayer funds and also serve the public in the best manner possible,” said Mims. “As a Hope Street Group Fellow, I hope to provide education solutions to policymakers and stakeholders to better inform and serve the needs of our society."

In addition to his work at Snellville Middle School, Mims is the President of the Nexus Academy of Atlanta Charter School and served as a KIPP Founding Teacher for the Freedom Academy Charter School. Mims received his Bachelor’s degree in Physics from Hampton University and his Master’s degree in Education from Georgia State University.

Hope Street Group, a national nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding economic opportunity and prosperity for all Americans, sponsors the fellowship as part of its larger Education program, which seeks to transform the teaching profession to improve outcomes for students.

Dan Cruce, Vice President of Education, Hope Street Group said, “Hope Street Group’s National Teacher Fellows Program provides educators the training, support and tools they need to connect policymaker goals with on the ground expertise. With improved educator effectiveness systems, implementation of rigorous college and career ready standards, and the need for better professional learning, such teacher voice input has never been more important. Our National Fellows stand ready to meet this need, partner with policy makers and drive collaborative decisions in the best interest of our students.”

Hope Street Group is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to expanding economic opportunity and prosperity for all Americans. Founded by a small group of young entrepreneurs on South Hope Street in Los Angeles, we are committed to helping further innovative and collaborative reform efforts in education, health and jobs and workforce. www.hopestreetgroup.org