Tennessee teachers will be looking to some of Loudon High School’s own for direction as the state transitions to the new Common Core standards.

LHS English teacher Cassie Watson and math teacher Melissa Haun were selected as Common Core coaches for training sessions this summer. Both teachers said they were excited for the opportunity and believe the training will benefit not only their classrooms and peers, but the school as well.

"I'm sure that we will both present what we present this summer to our faculty and to our department," Haun said. "The principals haven't received information on how many they get to send to those training sessions. Of course, they can't send the entire faculty, so I think it will be great that we will be the front runners and know all the ins and outs and be able to bring it back here.

"I'm pretty excited about bringing it back to Loudon County because not every county is going to have a teacher represented there," she said.

"By us getting the training ahead of time, it will be like Loudon High School will be able to send more (teachers). We will get the firsthand knowledge on the new standards, so it will be fun to be ahead of the curve," Watson added.

LHS Principal Cheri Parrish agreed, emphasizing that coaching will solidify the new standards for teachers.

"They're going to be more ingrained as to expectations in the classroom because if you can teach others it's going to benefit you also," Parrish said.

Haun will serve as a math core coach and Watson will serve as an English/language arts core coach.

The two will participate in extensive training on Common Core instruction, goals and objectives in their grade level and content area, facilitate training for teachers during the summer and provide ongoing support in the region as peer leaders, according to a press release from LHS.

Haun and Watson were selected from among more than 1,300 applicants.

"As a math teacher, we were really fortunate - math and English - that we already started putting Common Core standards in effect in our classrooms, so as a math teacher when they said we are going to start implementing Common Core standards in our classroom that is exactly how math teachers think," Haun said. "We think, 'How can you use this in life and how can you get more in depth with it?' I was thrilled that we already started and we were getting to learn the cool new things and how much farther in-depth kids will be going and all the different concepts."

To be considered for the coaching position, teachers submitted a letter of intent and summary of student growth, completed a practice instructional task exercise and formal interview and created a Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers model content presentation.
Parrish believes the opportunity reflects on the high school as a whole.

"To go through the application process they had to turn in an extensive amount of work to begin with. It wasn't just like turning in a resume. They had to do a PowerPoint, they had to do lesson plans and several different things, so there was a lot of work on the front end," Parrish said. "They had to be motivated and challenged to do that and then to be selected, and then two for two in my building - we were thrilled they were selected, but they are very high quality teachers and individuals."

Parrish said Watson and Haun were the only teachers at the high school to apply.

"I hope it reflects (Loudon High School) in a really good way that we have that kind of quality teachers here that were hand selected, so to speak, out of 1,300 applicants," Parrish said.

"I am proud of Dr. Watson and Ms. Haun for their hard work and dedication to the students of Loudon High and Loudon County as a whole," Loudon County Director of Schools Jason Vance said. "I believe it is a great honor to have two teachers chosen as Common Core coaches for the state of Tennessee. I know their work will prove to be beneficial to everyone in the Loudon County school system."