The University of Wyoming's Science Posse, the dean of UW's Graduate School and seven educators from Albany County will spend spring break on the other side of the world.
The Wyoming contingent will be at the Tibetan Children's Villages (TCV)
in northern India, March 14-24, to work with students in two schools to
test the quality of local water and establish the beginnings of a
partnership with schools in Albany County.
"Our goal is to expand the international perspective of our graduate
students and local teachers and explore novel opportunities to enhance
science education in Wyoming classrooms," says Don Roth, dean of UW's
Graduate School. "By establishing sustainable partnerships with schools
in India, we can also provide our students with unique opportunities to
interact directly on science issues with international colleagues.
This will inevitably promote motivation and self-directed learning and
the application of science in a real-life and relevant manner."
He adds, "This is the essence of a quality educational program."
The Science Posse, a group of UW graduate students that travels the
state to raise awareness and understanding of science amongst middle-
and high-school students, is funded by the graduate school through
grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National
Science Foundation (NSF).
The Science Posse will be represented in India by Sherry Adrianos of
Kemmerer; Liz Flaherty of Cheyenne; Shawna McBride of Buffalo; Eric
Anderson of Seattle, Wash.; Jesse Anderson of Houghton, Mich.; Sabrina
Cales of Riverside, Calif.; Scott Carleton of Willard, Mo.; Jacque Keele
of Loveland, Colo.; Maggie Renken of Sumter, S.C.; and Nancy Van Dyke
of St. Louis, Mo.
Albany County School District One Superintendent Brian Recht and
Assistant Superintendent Susan Perry will accompany Roth and the Science
Posse. They'll be joined in India by five Laramie science teachers:
Julie Eakin, Leslie Roth, Teresa Strube, Jill Walford and Theresa
Williams.
"I can't wait to get there!" says Strube, a teacher at Laramie High School.
The TCV, founded in 1960, is an integrated educational community for Tibetan children in exile, as well as for the hundreds of people who flee Tibet each year. It now has branches across India, with nearly 17,000 children in its care.
For more information on the Science Posse, go to the Web site at www.scienceposse.org.
For more information on the TCV, go to the Web site at www.tibet.net/tcv/eng.