Congratulations to our entire cohort of outstanding Teacherpreneurs! We are so proud of the work they put in and are excited to see what is next for them and their ideas.
First Place
Molly Goss
Molly Goss, a Spanish teacher and Cane Ridge High School, created a program to help multilingual learners become professional interpreters by earning industry certifications in high school.
Second Place
Katie Fitzpatrick
Third Place
Courtney Antonello
Courtney Antonello, an English Language Arts teacher at H.G. Hill Middle School, earned third place for her idea to develop a book club for native and non-native English speakers to read and discuss books in their primary languages to promote language development and a sense of belonging and empowerment.
Community Favorite
Likisha Rhodes
Likisha Rhodes, an Exceptional Education teacher at Cane Ridge High School, earned the Community Favorite award for designing a professional learning program to help educators better understand the experiences of students with disabilities and learn about the best ways to support them in the classroom.
The Teacherpreneur program harnesses educator innovation to develop and support teacher-driven ideas that help all students thrive.
Create. Refine. Pitch. Pilot.
The Teacherpreneur program is designed to harness educator innovation to remove barriers to success so that all students thrive.
This professional learning opportunity will help teachers identify an issue, research root causes of the issue, and create innovative solutions while developing their skills as change-makers both in and beyond the walls of their classroom.
The Teacherpreneur cohort will participate in professional learning in January and February 2025 to design and refine their solution to a challenge they see in their classroom or school. The cohort experience will culminate in a pitch event awarding $25,000 in cash prizes to the top concepts.
The top three winners will also receive seed funding to implement their innovative solution as a pilot program.
Teacherpreneur D. Olige pitches her idea to provide behavioral supports to students in the classroom at our inaugural pitch night.
Teacherpreneur Saul Calzadilla reacts to being named the first place winner in 2025.
The second cohort of Teacherpreneurs pose for a group shot following pitch night in 2023.
Teacherpreneur Sarai Ovalle pitches her idea to increase access to academic magnet schools for English Learner students.
Here’s what past cohort members have to say about participating in Teacherpreneur:
"The opportunity to become a Teacherpreneur with NPEF shifted my perspective to view how I might package my ideas and get them into the hands of people who want to know more. This training expanded my knowledge in ways that I did not know existed."
“I learned strategies for networking, marketing, and change management. I feel empowered as a teacher leader to now use these strategies in a variety of contexts. Teacherpreneur was unique in the opportunity to develop interpersonal skills that can initiate and cultivate lasting changes in an organization.”
“The NPEF facilitators effectively crafted development sessions that attended to our time, engagement, expanded our resources, and more. This experience helped me to deepen my understanding in a whole new direction. After 30 years of teaching, this was the first professional development that provided a new paradigm shift of how my expertise can be harnessed for others to succeed in and outside of the classroom.”
