Mattoon, IL – Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education, and media company, recently announced that Tim Wheeler, Fourth-Grade Teacher at Riddle Elementary School, was selected as one of 12 educators from across the country to join the company’s second annual Teacher Fellows Cohort. He will serve through July 2024.
These accomplished K-8 teachers will collaborate with Scholastic Education Solutions’ product development, research and publishing teams for the duration of the school year, offering a direct pathway to their wide range of expertise and experiences in today’s classrooms.
“Our first class of Teacher Fellows tested lessons in their classrooms, surveyed their colleagues and students, shared pain points and successes, and worked side-by-side with our staff to design resources that would truly meet their needs in the classroom,” says Tara Welty, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Scholastic Teaching Solutions. “We cannot wait to see how this impressive next class of educators will share their diverse perspectives and experience to help us continue to meet the needs of teachers today and help us develop innovative and useful classroom resources.”
Wheeler is in his sixth year of teaching and has taught both third and fourth grade. A 2019 Book Love grant winner, Wheeler is known at his school for promoting a culture of literacy in his classroom. He strives to find innovative ways to differentiate and personalize instruction while building strong relationships with students and using technology in the process. While he has a reputation for silliness and might be found with a ukulele, a sock puppet, or a wig on during a lesson, he also serves as a member of Riddle’s leadership team, working in academics. Wheeler also serves as the current president of his local chapter of the Illinois Reading Council.
"The opportunity to collaborate with a diverse group of teachers from across the country is thrilling,” says Wheeler. “Scholastic teacher resources have been a part of my life as a student and as a teacher. To have the opportunity to be a voice for teachers through this fellowship is really an honor. Additionally, I’m grateful for the opportunity to bring back ideas to students and colleagues."
Along with Wheeler, another local teacher was selected from Champaign Unit 4 Schools, Kevin Frederick, a First Grade Teacher at Dr. Howard Elementary School.
Scholastic Teacher Fellows were selected through a call for applications which were then reviewed by a panel of judges to assess overall teaching experience, classroom practices and more. Each fellow will complete a capstone project during the course of the program, to be showcased at a Summit at Scholastic’s NYC Headquarters in the summer of 2024. Fellows will also receive a stipend of $2,000 as well as at least $500 in Scholastic products.
For more information on the Scholastic Teacher Fellows program, visit: scholastic.com/teacherfellows.