Interview Panelist Information

Thank you for your interest in acting as a Charles Butt Scholarship for Aspiring Teachers interview panelist.

The Charles Butt Scholarship was founded in 2017, as part of the Raise Your Hand Texas Foundation’s Raising Texas Teachers initiative. The goal of Raising Texas Teachers is to elevate the status of teaching and ensure every student has a quality teacher.

The Charles Butt scholars will reflect the kind of teachers, and people, who will advance students’ learning in their classroom and improve the culture and climate of their school. We value principals’ perspectives on the scholarship finalists. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email Thea Ulrich-Lewis at tulrichlewis@ryht.org, or call Thea at (512) 617-2133.

Interview panelists are responsible for:

• Reviewing student applications before the interview date: Raise Your Hand will provide your assigned applications 3-4 weeks before the interview day you are participating in electronically. Before receiving the applications, you will be asked to sign an affidavit affirming you are not related to any of the students you will assess.

• Reviewing interview panelist handbook: When you receive your assigned applications, you will also receive a handbook, which will provide information on evaluating applications and interviews.

• Attending a training webinar: 3-4 weeks before the interview day, you will attend a training webinar. The webinar will be provided several times.
• Attending a final training session the night before the interviews: You will be provided with a hotel room for the night.
• Spending the interview day observing and evaluating scholarship finalists: The interview day will last from approximately 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Finalists will participate in three activities during the interview day. You may be responsible for observing and evaluating candidates in each activity:

• 5-minute sample lesson
• Individual interview
• Group activity