SIN FRONTERAS
The University of Arizona, College of Education Borderlands Education Center, in partnership with UA Sierra Vista, is providing professional development (PD) programming in support of teachers in our impacted rural communities in Cochise County. 30% of the student populations in some of our rural districts live in poverty. Our schools are impacted by a lack of funding and low teacher salaries. The Sin Fronteras program, strives to support the PD and induction needs of regional districts in the Southeastern corner of the State.
Teacher Professional Development
Sin Fronteras: An Educator Community of Practice Re-Envisioned by Teachers for Leadership, Induction, and Recertification. Sin Fronteras provides monthly programming in STEM education and asset-based pedagogical training for borderland K-12 teachers in Cochise County. Sin Fronteras also supports Círculos - Math Teacher Circle events in collaboration with Cochise College and the UA Center for Recruitment and Retention of Math Teachers (CRR). In addition, through the UA College of Education and the Borderlands Education Center, a STEM Teacher Leadership Certificate is in development. The Monthly hybrid PD sessions will be offered during the academic year, providing participants a choice of content in the areas of STEM Inquiry-Based Learning including Citizen Science, Equity and the Future of Education, Teacher Health & Resilience. Teachers will be introduced to local field-based STEM opportunities. Exemplary STEM teachers will be given opportunities to participate alongside UA faculty in the development of curriculum, course instruction, and peer mentoring for the Sin Fronteras’ workshops the Noyce Borderlands Master Teacher Fellows program. Content will be determined in collaboration with our Cochise County district partners and will align with their new teacher induction programs.
Sin Fronteras: An Educator Community of Practice Re-Envisioned by Teachers for Leadership, Induction, and Recertification
The Noyce Borderlands Master Teacher Fellows sincerely thank the Arizona Public Service Foundation (APS) for supporting programs that enhance academic achievement in the areas of STEM. The APS Foundation has sponsored 45 hours of leadership training for NBMTFs at the University of Arizona’s renowned Biosphere 2. The APS foundation also supported an Agrivoltaics Institute at Biosphere 2 for Arizona teachers, aimed at creating STEM field-based agrivoltaics curricula, as well as the production of 46 agrivoltaics kits to be utilized in Arizona public education classrooms. APS Foundation support has created a continuing community of STEM field-based curriculum development through Sin Fronteras, a teacher-led community of practice that is led by the NBMTFs