Program has trained over 800 teachers in the past five years.
By: Gwen Runkle
Summer vacation is normally a time for kicking back and relaxing, but not for more than 100 dedicated elementary school teachers in the West Windsor-Plainsboro, Ewing, Lawrence and South Brunswick school districts.
Instead of lounging on the beach or checking out the latest tourist attractions, the teachers are participating in the E=MC2 Summer Institutes on Content, Inquiry, Assessment and Technology in Science, which kicked off one of three programs Monday.
E=MC2 is a professional development program in science for local elementary school teachers working with grades kindergarten through eight. It offers teachers the opportunity to enhance their personal knowledge and develop skills to apply such knowledge in the classroom through a variety of hands-on activities.
"We are teaching not only to think, but to also do," said Sona Polakowski, E=MC2 director. "I learned by memorization, but now students are learning by gathering, analyzing and applying information.
"In the past five years, E=MC2 has trained over 800 teachers," she continued. "It’s not just about books anymore. The way science is taught is being transformed."
On Monday, she and nearly 50 teachers, several school administrators and even a few government officials gathered at the Princeton Materials Institute in Bowen Hall at Princeton University to launch E=MC2’s Institute on Inquiry, which will run through Friday.
To start, three people state Sen. Robert Martin (R-Morris Plains), chair of the state Senate Education Committee; Arthur Mitchell, science standards coordinator for the state Department of Education; and Sally Goetz Shuler, director of the National Science Resource Center in Washington, D.C. were all honored with E=MC2 Friend of Science Education Awards.
Each honoree, except for Sen. Martin who was not able to attend, thanked E=MC2 for the recognition personally and praised the teachers for taking the time to enhance their science knowledge and teaching skills.
"The state couldn’t do anything without good quality teachers," Mr. Mitchell said.
Ms. Goetz Shuler agreed.
"In the early ’80s, less than one-half percent of children in the nation had access to a good science program," she said. "Most elementary students were not exposed to science and if they were it was through the traditional book and read about it approach.
"Many middle school programs were limited to social sciences and high school students were only required to take one science class," she continued. "But this program here is representative of how change can work."
Today, she said, about 15 percent of children nationwide have access to good science programs.
"We’ve gained a lot but there’s still a ways to go," she said. "You (the teachers) are the base and must sustain what we continue to do."
After the awards, teachers watched a short video from the New Jersey Education Association and took part in a hands-on activity where they got to work with ice balloons and ice cubes to learn three approaches to teaching a lesson.
After the Institute on Inquiry, E=MC2 is expected to hold an Institute on Assessment and Technology from July 15 to 19 at the Millstone River School, formerly known as the Upper Elementary School, in Plainsboro.
Its Institute on Content, which explored earth, life and physical science, took place from June 25 to July 2 at the Community Middle School in Plainsboro.