The Joint Education Committee met this week for a presentation about the Arkansas Excellence in Teaching Fellowship Program, delivered by Jacob Oliva, Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Education, Lyndsey Laster, a 3rd-grade teacher from Poyen Elementary, Melanie Brotherton, who teaches 3rd grade at Drew Central Elementary in Monticello, and Lissa Monroe, a 3rd-grade teacher at Ward Central Elementary in Cabot.
The Arkansas Excellence in Teaching Fellowship program celebrates some of our state’s greatest educators. The program is intended to uplift educators who receive merit pay and make clearer to the public what great teaching looks like and how it is celebrated.
Selected teachers participate in a series of virtual sessions to improve their practice, increase understanding of the state’s Merit Teacher Incentive Fund, and raise public awareness of the teaching profession. Participants benefit from professional learning, networking, and collaboration and receive a $1,500 stipend.
Lawmakers spent over two hours on questions and answers with Secretary Oliva and the teachers, discussing the program, the new literacy standards for third graders, and other developments related to LEARNS Act standards.
For the first cohort in 2025, the Arkansas Department of Education selected 23 high-performing educators from across the state to participate in the inaugural fellowship program:
- Jessica Adair, a math teacher in the Vilonia School District in Vilonia.
- Cheron Atkins-Butcher, a 5th-grade teacher at Sherwood Elementary in Sherwood.
- Mark Bauer, a geometry teacher at Rogers High School in Rogers.
- Jamie Bond, a 3rd-grade teacher at Genoa Central Elementary in Genoa.
- Monica Brewington, a 5th-grade math teacher at M.D. Williams Int. School in Pocahontas.
- Melanie Brotherton, a 3rd-grade teacher at Drew Central Elementary in Monticello.
- Hayleigh Harris, a 5th-grade English language arts teacher at Valley View Middle School in Jonesboro.
- Kim Herdes, a 4th-grade teacher at Willowbrook Elementary School in Bentonville.
- Amber Hern, an English language arts teacher at Danville High School in Danville.
- Chelsea Jones, a 4th-grade teacher at Parkview Elementary School in Van Buren.
- Lee Ketchum, a 5th-grade teacher at Central Elementary in Magnolia.
- Lyndsey Laster, a 3rd-grade teacher at Poyen Elementary School in Poyen.
- Heather McGhee, a mentor teacher at Fairview Elementary School in Fort Smith.
- Lissa Monroe, a 3rd-grade teacher at Ward Central Elementary in Cabot.
- Tiffany Moore, a math teacher at Spring Hill High School in Hope.
- Carlie Qualls, a 5th-grade English language arts teacher at Cave City Elementary in Cave City.
- Araya Ossius, a 4th-grade science teacher at Eastside Elementary School in Greenbrier.
- Lou Petrone, an 8th-grade math and Algebra 1 teacher at Woodland Junior High in Fayetteville.
- Melissa Rogalla, a Biology and Environmental Science teacher at eStem High School in Little Rock.
- Beverly Rogers, a 3rd-grade teacher at Cherokee Elementary School in Highland.
- Sonya Taylor, a 5th-grade teacher at Thomas C. Brunson Elementary in Warren School District.
- Ginny Schwope, a 3rd-grade math and science teacher at Nashville Primary School in Nashville.
- Lance Walters, a 5th-grade teacher at Lakewood Elementary School in North Little Rock.
