Library Media Specialist Kelly Budd has significantly broadened the scope of her students' learning at Keene High School in Keene. Concerned that "so many of our best and brightest" are reluctant to choose teaching as a profession, she partnered with fellow Milken Educators to pursue her dream of encouraging those interested in a career in education. Her pilot program, Future Educators Exploring Teaching (FEET), was tested in part at Keene State College, where high school students "shadowed" professors to gain a real-world sampling of the profession. Experience based on FEET workshops led to the founding of the Future Educators Academy, a program offered nationally with a curriculum based on the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. As a teacher at Keene High, Budd's ninth-grade Holocaust unit once culminated in a trip to the National Holocaust Museum for the entire freshman class. She also posted the unit on the World Wide Web for use by other teachers. Budd transformed Keene's yearbook into an award-winning publication; sponsored a student video club that documents school events; developed a schoolwide Honor Roll recognition program; organized the school's Multicultural Day; and established a Field Day to celebrate student accomplishment.
