Photo caption: CEHD representatives Susan Ogletree, Gwen Benson, Toochi Enworom, Benjamin Smith and Gladys Yarbrough meet with Hart Thompson (third from right), legislative assistant for Rep. Buddy Carter, during AACTE's annual Day on the Hill event.
story by Claire Miller
As part of its annual Washington Week, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) hosts Day on the Hill, a two-day event inviting faculty and staff from colleges and schools across the country to Washington, D.C., to meet with their congressional representatives and discuss educational policy.
This year, a small delegation from the College of Education & Human Development met with staff of several congressional leaders, including Rep. Rick Allen, Rep. Buddy Carter, Rep. Drew Ferguson, Rep. Karen Handel, Sen. Johnny Isakson, Sen. David Perdue and Rep. David Scott.
The CEHD delegation included Gwen Benson, associate dean for faculty development and partnerships; Susan Ogletree, director of the college’s Center for Evaluation and Research; Gladys Yarbrough, Collaboration and Resources for Encouraging and Supporting Transformations in Education (CREST-Ed) project director; Keith Morrison, vice president of Van Scoyoc Associates; and Toochi Enworom and Benjamin Smith, two CREST-Ed teacher residents.
“During the two-day AACTE Day on the Hill event, CEHD delegates had the opportunity to speak about the recurrent success of our Teacher Quality Partnership grant – currently called CREST-Ed – which has been funded by the federal government since 2009,” Yarbrough said. “Overall, our AACTE Day on the Hill meetings with the congressional staff members were successful.”
As part of the meetings with congressional staff, Enworom and Smith discussed their experiences as teacher residents and how continued funding for residency programs can have a positive impact.
“Day on the Hill is an opportunity to have your voice heard as a teacher,” Enworom said. “I enjoyed getting to know that my representatives heard my thoughts and concerns towards affordable higher education and how it will directly impact me and future educators alike. I’m hoping the representatives will be reminded of the power of the people and how a decision in education affects all careers.”
For more information about Day on the Hill, visit https://aacte.org/professional-development-and-events/washington-week.