Newsclippings and Press Releases

Elementary school teachers from Toledo and Springfield Public Schools were immersing themselves in science at the University of Toledo and Bowling Green State University this summer so they can better present the subject to their students.

They took part in TAPESTRIES (Toledo Area Partnership in Education: Support Teachers as Resources to Improve Elementary Science), a five-year program largely funded by the National Science Foundation.

This program is designed to address the urgent need for effective science instruction in the Toledo Public School (TPS) and the Springfield Local School (SLS) systems. By utilizing hands-on science experiments, participating teachers will be able to take back science lessons that permit greater student involvement to their classrooms. As a result, program coordinators say, children will be able to truly experience and make real-life connections to science.

This method (the two-week teacher training program) makes science more approachable for both teacher and student. The program conducted on the UT and BGSU campuses is designed to reintroduce elementary school teachers to science and help them utilize available programs to excite their students about science.

During TAPESTRIES, the teachers work with University science faculty and professionals from their own school systems to understand scientific principles. The hands-on demonstrations and experiments are based on science kits  Measuring Time, Levers and Pulleys, Mixtures and Solutions, and Experimenting with Plants  available to teachers in both school systems.

"The response has been overwhelmingly positive," said Connie Black-Postl, program coordinator. "Many of the teachers have left with a renewed enthusiasm for science education."

About 250 teachers are returning to their classrooms this fall with fresh ideas on teaching science to their students. In the next five years, the goal of the program is to reach all K-6 grade teachers (about 1,600) in the Toledo and Springfield school systems. The five-year, $13 million effort, with partial funding from TPS, SLS, UT, and BGSU, is part of a federal initiative aimed at improving the teaching of science in public schools.

Co-directors of the program are Dr. Charlene Czerniak of UT and Dr. Jodi Haney of BGSU.