FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Diane LaFollette
Arkansas Discovery Network
c/o Museum of Discovery
      500 President Clinton Avenue, Suite 150
Little Rock, AR 72201
Phone: 501-396-7050, ext. 119
E-mail: dlafollette@amod.org

What They Did Last Summer
Arkansas Educators Share Hands-On Science Fun With Fellow Teachers

Little Rock, AR (November 6, 2006) – A room filled with science teachers from across the state were engaged and having fun, all the while learning easy-to-build, inexpensive science “snacks” they can use in their own classrooms to engage their students with hands-on inquiry-based science. Those who were teaching them were recent students themselves — having attended the 4-week 2006 Summer Institute held at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. 

James Arce, a high school science teacher at Cutter Morning Star High School in Hot Springs, was one of eight teachers presenting their newfound knowledge at the Arkansas Conference on Teaching, held in Little Rock on November 2 and 3. These eight teachers were sent to the renowned, four-week Summer Institute by The Arkansas Discovery Network, funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. The Exploratorium prides itself on it’s simple exhibits that can be sized-down and rebuilt with products that can be purchased at Wal-Mart. The eight teachers from Arkansas who attended the Summer Institute not only are seeing an impact in their own classrooms, they are sharing their experiences with fellow teachers to broaden the impact even more.

Arce has brought back what he learned about inquiry-based, hands-on science to his biology and environmental science students as well as to his fellow teachers. Arce said, “I feel that the experience of the teacher institute was invaluable for Arkansas teachers. Students retain 85-plus-percent when they can have their hands on what is being taught. I could go years without having this much information. I have already collaborated with my fellow science teachers at Cutter Morning Star. I hope the connection between the network, Arkansas teachers and the Exploratorium can continue for a long while.”

The participating teachers experienced a rich mix of hands-on activities to invigorate their classroom lessons. They have come back to Arkansas with new ways to make science more involving for students, using activities and materials that cost very little – certainly a boon to any school budget. In all, the teachers spent a total of 110 hours over the four weeks immersed in inquiry learning techniques.

The other teachers selected for the Institute were Renay Autrey-Treat, West Fork Middle School in West Fork; Tami Davis, Rogers High School in Rogers; Allan Wade Geery, Norfork Elementary School in Norfork Schools; Gail Hayes, Bentonville High School in Bentonville; Lynn Kelsh, Pinkston Middle School in Mountain Home; Connie Tenberge, Huntsville Middle School in Huntsville; and Lisa Tice, St. Joseph Catholic School in Fayetteville.

Teacher outreach programs such as this are just one aspect of the Arkansas Discovery Network’s mission. The first program of its kind in the nation, the Arkansas Discovery Network will tour innovative teaching exhibits among seven local member museums, making a hands-on, interactive museum experience more accessible to all the state’s 498,000 school children and their families.

About the Arkansas Discovery Network
The Arkansas Discovery Network, funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, works to strengthen partner museums by sharing resources and expanding discovery learning opportunities throughout the state. Member museums include the Museum of Discovery in Little Rock, Mid-America Science Museum in Hot Springs, Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas in Pine Bluff, Texarkana Museum System in Texarkana, Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources in Smackover, Arkansas State University Museum in Jonesboro and the University of Arkansas Center for Mathematics and Science Education in Fayetteville. Visit the website at www.arkansasdiscoverynetwork.org.

About the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation
The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, headquartered in Las Vegas, is a national philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it is named. The Foundation is one of the 50 largest private foundations in the United States.

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Photos from ACT Program
(Higher Resolution Photos Available On Request)

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