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Workshop Detail: Thursday, July 23, 2009
(K-12): Rural Schools Initiative 2009
presented by
Robin Fuchs-Young, Ph.D., U.T. M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Heather Reddick, MPH, U.T.M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Todd Sherron, Ph.D., Info2Knowledge
Curriculum Developed by The CENTIPEDe Project, U.T. M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
A special workshop for RURAL SCHOOL EDUCATORS:
Please join us for the Rural Schools Initiative (RSI) designed specifically to address unique challenges faced by rural educators. This year’s RSI will be a two-day workshop, and participants must sign up for both Thursday and Friday to be eligible to participate.
Selecting RSI on Thursday will automatically register you for Friday's session and appropriately adjust your travel grant eligibility, if awarded.
The first day, Thursday, will consist of two sessions. The first session will focus on grant writing, and will include discussions with experts who will provide information about successful grant writing techniques. Attendees are asked to bring grant applications that they are currently working on and/or potential funding opportunities that they would like to discuss. The second session, on Thursday afternoon, will emphasize career development for students in rural and underserved districts. Rural teachers tell us that students are concerned about their ability to find good jobs that will allow them to retain a rural lifestyle in or near their hometowns. There is a lack of awareness of the many scientific, health and technical career opportunities in rural and semi-rural communities. This session will feature personnel from waste/surface water treatment plants, landfills, environmental regulatory agencies, clinical and research laboratories and human and animal health clinics, who will provide information on science/technical/health training, jobs and certification procedures.
On Friday, we will be your guide to rural Central Texas field experiences that provide novel, inexpensive and exciting learning experiences for you and your students. This RSI workshop will include innovative ideas and integrated activity plans for field experiences that are correlated to the TEKS/TAKS and can be implemented at your school. We will visit a power plant, water treatment plant, a fish hatchery that studies endangered species and a landfill/recycling plant. Activity plans and learning experiences can be adjusted to your specific rural area!
There is no cost to participants - RSI will provide bus transportation and sandwich lunch. This workshop is for teachers working in rural schools/districts as determined by the National Center for Education Statistics (eligibility will be verified).
Friday, July 25, 2009
- 7:30am: Check In, Continental Breakfast & Orientation
UT Thompson Conference Center
**PLEASE BE AT THE CONFERENCE CENTER NO LATER THAN 7:30** - 8:00am: Bus Departure
- 9:00 Aquarena Springs
- 10:45 San Marcos National Fish Hatchery & Technology Center
- 12:00 Lunch at Surface Water Treatment Plant (provided)
- 12:30 City of San Marcos – Surface Water Treatment Plant
- 2:00 Texas Disposal System - Landfill and recycling plant
- 5:00pm Return to Thompson Conference Center
Robin Fuchs-Young, Ph.D., PI – Dr. Fuchs-Young is an Associate Professor of Carcinogenesis at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, Science Park Research Division. She directs the Community Outreach and Education Program (COEP) that focuses on K-16 scientific education, community scientific literacy and disease prevention education. Dr. Fuchs-Young also conducts an active research program investigating the environmental and genetic causes of breast cancer. In addition to serving as PI on grants supporting her research activities, she is also the PI on a R25 grant (NIEHS/NIH) that funds the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP), that provides short term research training for students interested in research careers. She also serves as the PI of grants from the HHMI and the Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) program of the NIH, that focus on K-12 science and community education and scientific literacy. Dr. Fuchs-Young also serves as the Associate Director of the Center for Research and Minority Health and the Co-director of the Research Education and Training Core of the EXPORT (Excellence in Partnerships for community Outreach Research on health disparities and Training) Project. She is also a member of the Steering Committee for the Molecular Carcinogenesis graduate program and has trained numerous high school, undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral fellows in her laboratory. Dr. Fuchs-Young has served on grant review panels for the NIH, the DOD Breast Cancer Research Program, Susan Komen for the Cure and the California Breast Cancer Research Program.
Heather Reddick, MPH, Education Coordinator – Ms. Reddick is a former math and science teacher. After receiving a Master of Public Health in Environmental Health, she worked with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to ensure environmental toxicological clean up values were protective of human health. Heather joined the COEP to combine her environmental health and teaching background. As part of her duties, Ms. Reddick coordinates the contributions of the staff to COEP programs and activities.
Summer Institute, a component of the MIDAS Project, is supported by a