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Jul 2, 2009 3:29 pm US/Central
Science Teachers Are Students In Dallas Class
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
Many students across North Texas are currently facing a hot session of summer school. But there is also a group of high school educators who are taking some special classes of their own. It's a science program for adults looking for ways to motivate young high schoolers.
Viviana Mendez recently finished her first year teaching biology at Adamson High School in Dallas, after teaching for the past 15 years in her native Puerto Rico. But this summer, she is a student at a lab littered with other high school educators. They are attending a summer session about ways to better connect kids with biology, medicine and other health fields.
"[We are] able to take these things and enrich them into our classrooms, our own classrooms," explained Mendez, working as scientist, student and cheerleader in her small lab group.
UT Southwestern Medical Center calls the program STARS, for Science Teacher Access to Resources.
Eight and ninth graders from the Dallas Independent School District, like 13-year-old Gabrielle Paboe, are the co-stars, receiving enhanced biology lab lessons to gauge the impact that the teachers are providing. The complete assignments and projects, but the real test is their motivation level. "It motivates me to keep doing science," Paboe said, "to challenge myself more."
Paboe will begin her high school career next year at South Oak Cliff High School. She plans to become a veterinarian, and said that the STARS program helps teens and teachers.
The program is designed to teach the teacher, but STARS is developing something broader, by working with young people and building the future. "The long term goal is to make the U.S. better in science. We are the leaders, but we aren't leading as much as we should be," said STARS director Joel Goodman.
The teachers are all from public schools, those facing the challenge of building better science programs in order to build the doctors and researchers of tomorrow. Or, according to UT Southwestern, building the 'stars' of tomorrow.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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