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Congratulations
to our winners!

Congratulations
to our winners!

Congratulations to our entire Teacherpreneur cohort! 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
Saul Calzadilla

Whitsitt Elementary School
Saul Calzadilla designed an idea to provide the framework and tools for schools to start their own community gardening programs to build relationships, grow knowledge, and address food insecurity. 

Second Place
John Stayskal

KIPP Antioch College Prep Middle

John Stayskal, an English Language Arts teacher at KIPP Antioch College Prep Middle, earned second place for his idea to reimagine the school day schedule to provide longer dedicated planning time to educators to reduce teacher burnout and increase student success.

Third Place
Jamia Lockmiller

Tusculum Elementary School

Jamia Lockmiller, a Physical Education teacher from Tusculum Elementary, earned third place for her idea to create a program to borrow and learn about sports and recreational equipment to promote exercise and student engagement.

Community Favorite
Celia Bowman-Jeffries

Antioch Middle School

Celia Bowman-Jeffries, a Multilingual Learner teacher from Antioch Middle School, earned the Community Favorite award for her idea of Multilingual Learner Advocates to create more welcoming and supportive social and academic learning environments for multilingual students.

Help select one of this year's Teacherpreneur winners!

Watch pitch preview videos from the cohort and vote for the Community Favorite award March 3 through March 4 at 5:00 p.m. CT.

Learn more and cast your vote

Meet the Cohort

Celia Bowman-Jeffries
Multilingual Learner Teacher, Antioch Middle School

What made you want to apply to Teacherpreneur?
"I joined Teacherpreneur to provide my students with opportunities to advocate for themselves in education. My goal is to empower them to effectively communicate their needs to teachers, develop strong self-advocacy skills, and access the resources they need to succeed academically and in life."

Raymond Boyd
5th Grade Teacher, Thomas Edison Elementary School

What made you want to apply to Teacherpreneur?
"I attended a conference after fall break and some previous winners told me about the program."

Saul Calzadilla
STEAM Teacher, Whitsitt Elementary School

What made you want to apply to Teacherpreneur?
"I want to develop a program that can create impactful growth within my school community."

DaKennya Goines
Social Studies Teacher, KIPP Academy Nashville

What made you want to apply to Teacherpreneur?
"The opportunity to expand my knowledge on pioneering effective change."

JC Gordon
STEAM Facilitator, Cumberland Elementary School

What made you want to apply to Teacherpreneur?
"I’m passionate about sparking change in education through creativity, innovation, and hands-on learning. Teacherpreneur presents the perfect opportunity to collaborate, refine my ideas, and scale impactful solutions that bridge creativity with real-world learning."

Jamia Lockmiller
Physical Education Teacher, Tusculum Elementary School

What made you want to apply to Teacherpreneur?
"I believe in my project and have hopes of inspiring other teachers to do the same or similar projects."

Nathanael Reveal
Accelerated Mathematics Teacher in the Zilphia I. Page Mathematics Lab, Martin Luther King, Jr. Magnet School

What made you want to apply to Teacherpreneur?
"Have been thinking about this idea for a while now and this seemed like a good way to develop it. Regardless of the outcome, I'm sure to meet some wonderful and interesting people!"

Hayley Smith
1st Grade Teacher, Alex Green Design Technology Magnet Elementary School

What made you want to apply to Teacherpreneur?
"Two educators I am so inspired by were selected last year, and because of them being selected I heard about the program! Also, the passion I have in my heart to help the students of my school and hopefully others get the help they so desperately need in math."

John Stayskal
ELA Teacher, KIPP Antioch College Prep Middle

What made you want to apply to Teacherpreneur?
"I want to engage with, be challenged by, and learn from, like-minded innovate teachers striving to remove in classroom and school barriers to success so that all students can thrive."

Jennifer Caudle Williams
3rd Grade Teacher, Thomas Edison Elementary

What made you want to apply to Teacherpreneur?
"I’ve had an idea for awhile—it grew when I got my certificate in DSLE. I’ve no business acumen, but the idea never left my mind. I’m not confident that it’s a good idea, but I think Teacherpreneur will help build my confidence and knowledge in order to make this idea a success."

Meet the Cohort

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Celia Bowman-Jeffries
Multilingual Learner Teacher, Antioch Middle School

What made you want to apply to Teacherpreneur?
"I joined Teacherpreneur to provide my students with opportunities to advocate for themselves in education. My goal is to empower them to effectively communicate their needs to teachers, develop strong self-advocacy skills, and access the resources they need to succeed academically and in life."

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Raymond Boyd
5th Grade Teacher, Thomas Edison Elementary

What made you want to apply to Teacherpreneur?
"I attended a conference after fall break and some previous winners told me about the program."

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Saul Calzadilla
STEAM Teacher, Whitsitt Elementary School

What made you want to apply to Teacherpreneur?
"I want to develop a program that can create impactful growth within my school community."

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DaKennya Goines
Social Studies Teacher, KIPP Academy Nashville

What made you want to apply to Teacherpreneur?
"The opportunity to expand my knowledge on pioneering effective change."

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JC Gordon
STEAM Facilitator, Cumberland Elementary School

What made you want to apply to Teacherpreneur?
"I’m passionate about sparking change in education through creativity, innovation, and hands-on learning. Teacherpreneur presents the perfect opportunity to collaborate, refine my ideas, and scale impactful solutions that bridge creativity with real-world learning."

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Jamia Lockmiller
Physical Education Teacher, Tusculum Elementary School

What made you want to apply to Teacherpreneur?
"I believe in my project and have hopes of inspiring other teachers to do the same or similar projects."

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Nathanael Reveal
Accelerated Mathematics Teacher in the Zilphia I. Page Mathematics Lab, Martin Luther King, Jr. Magnet School

What made you want to apply to Teacherpreneur?
"Have been thinking about this idea for a while now and this seemed like a good way to develop it. Regardless of the outcome, I'm sure to meet some wonderful and interesting people!"

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Hayley Smith
1st Grade Teacher, Alex Green Design Technology Magnet Elementary School

What made you want to apply to Teacherpreneur?
"Two educators I am so inspired by were selected last year, and because of them being selected I heard about the program! Also, the passion I have in my heart to help the students of my school and hopefully others get the help they so desperately need in math."

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John Stayskal
ELA Teacher, KIPP Antioch College Prep Middle

What made you want to apply to Teacherpreneur?
"I want to engage with, be challenged by, and learn from, like-minded innovate teachers striving to remove in classroom and school barriers to success so that all students can thrive."

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Jennifer Caudle Williams
3rd Grade Teacher, Thomas Edison Elementary School

What made you want to apply to Teacherpreneur?
"I’ve had an idea for awhile—it grew when I got my certificate in DSLE. I’ve no business acumen, but the idea never left my mind. I’m not confident that it’s a good idea, but I think Teacherpreneur will help build my confidence and knowledge in order to make this idea a success."

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.

SEE previous WINNING SOLUTIONS

THE COHORT's JOURNEY

See below for some highlights from our inaugural Teacherpeneur cohort as they prepared to pitch their prototypes on February 24.

Cohort mentor Brian Purvis advises the inaugural cohort

Teacherpreneurs David Myers and Paula Pendergrass discuss root causes of educational inequities

Teacherpreneurs Addison Barrack and LaKesha Rayford share findings from their empathy interviews

Teacherpreneurs Justin Montenegro and Nita Smith practice their pitches and provide feedback

Inspired by words from local entrepreneur and educator Emily Freitag, CEO of Instruction Partners, to “find a problem you can fall in love with,” our 12 Teacherpreneurs are designing solutions to problems they are most passionate about addressing. Some of these include:

  • The effect of high teacher turnover on teachers and students
  • The need for more effective instructional supports for English Learners
  • The struggle of balancing work and school for some students
  • The lack of access to teachers of color
  • The lack of accessible opportunities for parents to engage in their child’s education

"Teachers are the backbone of education! To hear the passion and brilliance of my Teacherpreneurs cohort members was confirmation of why this think-tank is needed and even more so amid such perilous times in education."

- Inaugural cohort member

Teacherpreneurs Nikki Bolling and Chriseni Pulse discuss ways to increase equitable access to parent involvement activities

Each cohort member received a box full of books, supplies, and mementos

Teacherpreneurs Daven Oglesby and Quanita Adams practice their pitches and provide feedback

NPEF's Katie Cour interviews Instruction Partners CEO Emily Freitag

Applications for Cohort 3 close November 5 at midnight.

The Teacherpreneur application is open to any MNPS or MNPS-operated public charter school educator who is certificated non-administrative staff (teachers, librarians, counselors, etc.) instructing students at least 50% of the time.

Teacherpreneur sessions will take place from 5:00 – 7:30 p.m. on the following dates:

Session 1 | December 7, 2023

Session 2| January 11, 2024

Session 3 | January 25, 2024

Session 4 | February 1, 2024

Session 5 | February 15, 2024

Teacherpreneurs will also participate in office hours held virtually in between sessions and the pitch event in late February, exact time/date TBD.

Teacherpreneur D. Olige pitches her idea to provide behavioral supports to students in the classroom at our inaugural pitch night.

Teacherpreneur Daven Oglesby reacts to being named the second place winner in 2022.

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.”

"The Teacherpreneur experience empowered me to fight for change within the education world, and showed me that change is truly possible within our classrooms, schools, and district!"

Teacherpreneur in the news

Nashville teachers confronting classroom inequities through 'Teacherpreneur' program

NewsChannel 5, 1/11/22

A dozen Nashville teachers will try to tackle some of Metro Schools' biggest challenges

The Tennessean, 12/27/21