Brooke Nenadal Named 2020-2021 Fulbright Teacher for Global Classrooms

After researching many programs, Endeavor alumnus and primary teacher Brooke Nenadal of Cochran Primary in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, decided to enroll in the three-course certificate program in the Endeavor STEM Teaching Certificate Project. Nenadal noticed how engaged students were in classrooms around her district where STEM education was being incorporated and she was eager to learn how to do this herself. After experiencing the first few courses, Nenadal decided to continue her studies and enrolled in the more advanced, five-course program to earn the "Distinguished STEM Educator" endorsement on her certificate. Nenadal eventually realized that she was in the "STEM World" for the long haul, and ultimately advanced to the joint master's degree program through Endeavor and Adams State University, where she earned a master's in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in STEM education.

While Nenadal expressed receiving immense value from all her Endeavor courses, there were two she says were truly transformational to her as an educator. The first being The E in STEM: Advancing Meaningful Content. Nenadal shares that this course helped her to develop creative, low-cost lessons that were transformative to students, but also aligned to the goals of the school district and fit within the constraints of her daily schedule. The second course Nenadal felt inspired by was STEM Leadership Seminar. Nenadal stated "The STEM Leadership Seminar coached me through the process of creating impactful and meaningful professional development sessions. I appreciated learning about effective leadership, conversation protocols, and various presentation styles in order to effectively reach a target teacher audience".

With the knowledge gained from Endeavor, Nenadal successfully started the first primary-level robotics program in her district, Third Grade RoCs (Robotics in the Classroom). Nenadal has emerged into a STEM leader as she was recently named the Technology Building Representative for her school. Nenadal shares that while all that is great, her crowning achievement so far has been her selection as a 2020-2021 Fulbright Teacher for Global Classrooms, being one of only seventy-one teachers from across the United States to participate in this rigorous and life-changing experience. Nenadal enthusiastically credits the Endeavor program as being directly responsible for preparing her for this experience. Nenadal stated "Throughout the application process for the Fulbright program, I was able to speak in great detail about my passion and knowledge of STEM education and how I successfully employed everything from no-tech coding to project based learning in order to help create the next generation of students who possess critical thinking, confidence and twenty-first century skills. My work with Endeavor played a direct part in preparing me for this program and I am so excited to have been selected to participate in this life changing experience. I honestly can't thank Endeavor enough for preparing me for such an amazing experience".