On Wednesday, April 6, 2011, over 80 people attended a TERI Partner Network gathering at Eastcliff, the home of the President of the University of Minnesota. Attendees included superintendents and school principals from our TERI school partners, and additional representatives from districts that also collaborate with the U in teacher preparation with Clinical Cluster Sites.
At this event, representatives from the CEHD Dean’s office, the EDRC, and the Bush Foundation connected with our partners, celebrated our work this year, and acknowledged the faculty and staff of both the school partners and the University who have gone above and beyond their regular work to engage in the redesign. This event was hosted by Jean Quam, Dean of the College of Education and Human Development.
Speakers included:
-Jean Quam, CEHD Dean, UMN
-Robert Jones, Senior Vice President for System Academic Administration, UMN
-Peter Hutchinson, President of the Bush Foundation
-Michael Lovett, White Bear Lake Superintendent
-Keith Lester, Brooklyn Center Superintendent
Dean Quam welcomed everyone to the gathering and thanked our partners and faculty for their work during this pivotal year in the TERI work.
Robert Jones shared his connections both with CEHD and as a board member of the Bush Foundation, and he described how transformational TERI is in creating better teachers and helping all learners achieve in Minnesota schools.
Peter Hutchinson spoke of his past experience as a first-year teacher, and how inadequate his preparation had been to prepare him for the realities of the classroom. He spoke about the Bush Foundation’s vision of teaching and learning, and thanked all those involved in this important work. He commended the Bush Foundation, the University, and all the school partners in their willingness to take risks together, to do the hard work of changing programs,and to create working relationships that put student learning at the center of this process.
Michael Lovett also spoke about his first year as a new teacher and how this experience helped him understand the extensive expertise teachers need. He spoke of the positive impact of TERI in White Bear Lake and about the engagement of four elementary schools as professional development schools beginning this fall.
Keith Lester thanked Dean Quam for her leadership throughout this process and about the positive impact of TERI in Brooklyn Center schools. Dr. Lester described how partnership-developed relationships have brought three UMN centers (the Educator Development and Research Center, the Minnesota Reading Center, and the Center on Early Education and Development) to collaborate with faculty at Earle Brown Elementary School to propose a literacy project to the McKnight Foundation. Such collaborations are made possible by TERI partnerships.

( Pictured above from feft to right: Jerry Robicheau, Interim Superintendent for East Metro Integration District, Peter Hutchinson, President of the Bush Foundation, Linda Madsen, Superintendent of Forest Lake Area Schools, Charlie Kyte, Executive Director of MN Assoc. of School Administrators (MASA), Bernadeia Johnson, Superintendent, Minneapolis Public Schools, Michael Lovett, Superintendent, White Bear Lake Area Schools, Keith Lester, Superintendent, Brooklyn Center School District)