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Operation Biotechnology Summer Institute - myPlantIT
IIT is pleased to announce the following teachers as participants in Operation Biotechnology’s second cadre: Ruben Cortez of Washington High School, Mark Casey of Dunbar Vocational Career Academy and Manoel Ferreira of Hirsch Metro High School. Each of these exceptional teachers instructs in high school chemistry and has consistently participated in professional development. In addition to these Chicago Public School High School Chemistry Teachers, the following Instructional Science Coaches: Elizabeth Copper, Roxane Dupuis and Yolanda Garcia have been awarded the opportunity to join them.
IIT and partners have developed the mathematics and science curriculum for the Instructional Developmental System (IDS)/High School Transformation Project (HSTP) for participating Chicago Public Schools. The HSTP began in 2006 with six participating schools. Now, twenty Chicago Public High Schools have replaced their science curriculum to IIT’s Science Content Foundation to Build Inquiry Approach. Operation Biotechnology is one of HSTP’s teaching resources, in which teaching strategies in curriculum development will be implemented into all participating Chicago Public Schools with the goal of improving standard testing scores in mathematics and science. IIT happily nominated the experienced above-named teachers and coaches to the Operation Biotechnology program to provide Chicago Public Schools with a higher level of teaching to achieve this goal. By implementing Operation Biotechnology’s techniques into the HSTP model lessons, these twenty participating high school science programs can only progress.
Operation Biotechnology is an IIT and Biotechnology Institute initiative created under a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), US Department of Education. Science Coach Elizabeth Copper and each of the above-named High School Chemistry Teachers meritoriously earned their grant from FIPSE for their outstanding efforts in science. In addition, Baxter Corporation Scholarship funded the grants awarded to Roxane Dupuis and Yolanda Garcia for their excellent contributions to science. Since 2006, Operation Biotechnology has contributed to the professional development of teachers in biology, chemistry and physics.
This operation includes each of the above selected Chicago Public School teachers and coaches to attend the Institute’s annual four-day National Biotechnology Teacher-Leader program which is designed to provide the latest updates in biotechnology science content, curriculum and course development through a one-day Best Practices session and two days of hands-on professional development. This four-day event will be held from Saturday, June 14, 2008 to Tuesday, June 17, 2008 in San Diego, California. They are also invited to attend the 2008 BIO Convention where they will receive two days of professional development primarily focused on the execution of biotechnology material in compliance to local and state standards in order to coach other teachers. For more information about Operation Biotechnology, please visit www.biotechinstitute.org.
In addition, the National Science Foundation (NSF) commendably granted its NSF Project Award to Washington High’s Chemistry Teacher Ruben Cortez. The NSF Project Award grants participation to the Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) Summer Institute. Summer Institute for Teachers begins on July 7, 2008 and ends on July 18, 2008. It is a 12-day workshop between scientists and science educators to Develop, Enhance, Explore, Learn, Contribute and Share strategies for teaching science. ITEST also involves the myPlantIT project for teachers in preparing students for diverse careers by engaging them in active, collaborative science experiences that integrate IT content and skills in the context of plant biology. The process consists of two phases of classroom engagement: Cases and Collaborations. For more details, visit www.myPlantIT.org.
IIT congratulates Elizabeth Copper, Roxane Dupuis, Yolanda Garcia, Mark Casey, Manoel Ferreira and Ruben Cortez for their extraordinary achievements in science!