Developing Innovators

PEF develops innovators who drive impact across entire schools and districts.

Our Programs

A group of educators sitting around a table, designing a project.

STEM Fellows

STEM Fellows is a year-long professional development cohort for public school educators who want to transform their teaching practice through problem-based learning, inquiry teaching, and technology integration—and develop the leadership skills to drive change beyond their classroom.

Two elementary students smiling, working on a project assigned by their eLab instructor.

Public Education Forward leads Volkswagen eLabs to provide public school students access to state-of-the-art digital fabrication labs that transform learning and empower students to "make almost anything."

Our Events

A teacher standing up in a fabrication lab working on a hands on project.

July 8-10, 2026 in Chattanooga, TN Registration: $150 per person; Early Bird: 50% OFF

Two male highschool students designing their own video game at BlueSky Game Design challenge.

BlueSky Game Design Challenge is a full-day immersive experience where high school seniors create custom controllers, code original video games, and discover their potential in computer science

Important Information

Registration for Chattanooga FAB Insitute is now open.

Resources

Technology Lending Library

Thanks to a partnership between the Public Education Foundation and the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network, we are pleased to offer public school teachers in the southeast Tennessee region free access to our technology lending library.

Our Team

Cliff Brittingham, Instructional Development Coordinator for Public Education Forward's Innovative learning program.
Dara Lacy, Innovation Learning Specialist.
Michael Stone, VP of Innovative Learning at PEF.