Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--More than 30 teachers from around Mississippi and neighboring states are graduates of two recent professional development programs at Mississippi State.
Organized by the university's Center for Science, Mathematics and Technology, both of the separate July training sessions were designed to help classroom leaders better infuse their students with the latest knowledge and skills now required for successful 21st century careers.
The first was the weeklong Rural Educators of Physics and Physical Sciences Summer Institute, which was supported by the American Association of Physics Teachers' Physics Teaching Resource Agents Program.
Free to the selected participants, the hands-on, inquiry-based activities and lessons were correlated to National Academy of Sciences/National Science Education standards and presented by AAPT-PTRA-certified classroom teachers Marsha Hobbs of the Jackson [Miss.] Preparatory School and Tommi Holsenbeck of Jeff Davis High School in Montgomery, Ala. Participants chosen for the 2005 institute are eligible to attend the follow-up sessions in 2006 and 2007.
The second was Project SMART (Science and Mathematics Advancement and Reform utilizing Technology), an intensive, two-week workshop for teachers in grades seven-12 that use computer-generated sensory materials as instructional tools. Involving work on the Starkville campus and at the Red Hills Power Project, a high-technology lignite coal mining operation in Choctaw County, SMART is a collaboration with the Appalachian Regional Commission.
Teachers selected to attend the expense-covered SMART training are exclusively from Chickasaw, Choctaw, Clay, Kemper, Marshall, Montgomery, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Panola, Webster, Winston, and Yalobusha counties. All counties are Mississippi's members of the ARC, a federal-state partnership that works with residents to create opportunities for self-sustaining economic development and improved quality of life.
Graduates of the Rural Educators of Physics and Physical Sciences Summer Institute include (by hometown):
ECRU--Rich Dilling of North Pontotoc High School.
HAMILTON, Ala.--Cully Hartsell of Hamilton High School.
JACKSON, Tenn.--Burton Rutledge of Crockett County High School in Alamo.
McCOMB--Gail Knox of South Pike High School.
RIPLEY--Wanda Jackson of Falkner High School.
SPRINGFIELD, Tenn.--Tracey Raines of Sycamore High School in Pleasant View.
TOOMSUBA--Gloria Clark of Sumter County High School in York, Ala.
TRUSSVILLE, Ala.--David Dobbs of Hewitt-Trussville High School.
VICKSBURG--Susanna Stewart of Warren Central High School.
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Graduates of Project SMART include (by county):
CHOCTAW--Diane Chancellor, Suzanne Crowley and John Draper of Ackerman High School, and Gina Bishop, Jessica Utley and Carol Wright of Weir Attendance Center.
MONTGOMERY--Jean Fisackerly, Amy Ivy and Kristy Wilson of Winona High School.
NOXUBEE--Sam Gilky, Glenda Liddell and Virda Triplett of Noxubee County High School.
OKTIBBEHA--Ida Boose, Carolyn Rice and Earlean Rogers of East Oktibbeha County High School, and Talisha Cheeks, June Holdiness and Debbie Tolbert of Starkville High School.
PANOLA--William Funderburk, Arnie Oakes and Pat Oakes of South Panola High School.
WEBSTER--Becky Garrett, Tammy Neal and Joy Walker of Eupora High School.