Contact: Christina Finzel, (601) 974-1034, [email protected]
Jackson, MISS. - Network marketing is one of the hottest ways for small home businesses to expand their customer base exponentially. Now this concept has been brought to education, with an innovative program in Mississippi providing continuing education and classroom resources for public school teachers. Last year, the program offered training for 3,962 teachers and indirectly reached an estimated 12,000 teachers and 350,000 students.
The Science Teachers' Institute was developed by faculty from Millsaps College in consultation with the Jackson Public School District to offer professional development opportunities and interactive learning tools for elementary and middle school science teachers. Now in its second year, the program has expanded its resources and services to include mathematics.
It begins with a two-week summer session at Millsaps for 16 area science and math teachers. The teachers work with hands-on modules appropriate for their classrooms and learn how to use multimedia technology and the Internet as resource and learning tools.
Over the course of the next year, these teachers will use materials from the Institute's resource center in instructing their students, assemble individual portfolios of their classroom experiences, and assist the program directors in leading workshops for other teachers. At the end of the school year, each will receive six hours of graduate credit and become a "Lead Teacher," charged with the task of mentoring six teachers in his or her own school.
In addition, the Institute offers workshops on the local level and at the Mississippi and the National Science Teachers Associations. The directors ask each teacher who attends these workshops to mentor six additional teachers. Through the Lead Teacher and workshop networks, the 1998-99 program aims to reach 700 teachers directly - and about 6,000 K-8 teachers and 175,000 students indirectly.
Central to the Institute is the TNTD (Training and Networking for Teacher Design) Center, equipped with computers, multimedia peripherals, books, computer programs, videos, posters, and other classroom materials. "Our resources showcase science and mathematics as an active hands-on process and are anchored with numerous real-world applications," says Dr. Johnnie- Marie Whitfield, a chemistry professor at Millsaps, who directs the Institute. The materials are available for check-out by participating K-8 teachers and their principals.
The collaboration of Millsaps College and the local school district has proven beneficial. Says Dr. Jayne B. Sargent, Superintendent of Schools for the Jackson Public School District, "Our efforts to prepare teachers as scholars and leaders have been enhanced by our collaboration with Millsaps. The responses from this group of teachers have been overwhelmingly positive. Given the experiences, materials, and customized support the center provided, participants express feelings of empowerment and enthusiasm to plan and implement lessons that emphasize inquiry- based learning and active student participation."
Dr. Whitfield hopes this collaborative effort of college faculty and public school educators will become a model for other programs around the country. "It brings together area teachers, the resources of the College, and exciting new approaches being implemented in K-8 curricula across the nation. Our hope is that this program and others like it can provide the resources, training and support that teachers and students will need to meet the challenges of education in the 21stcentury."
Says Virginia Braden, a 5th grade Lead Teacher from last year's program, "I think it's an excellent program for teachers to stay abreast of what is going on in the field. Having the opportunity to go to the national and regional conferences and talk with my colleagues was wonderful. I received a world of information that will help in my classroom."
For more information about the Millsaps Science Teachers' Institute, call Dr. Whitfield at (601) 974-1403 or visit the program's website.
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