UMW, the Caroline, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania and Stafford public school systems and their nonprofit partners--the Friends of the Rappahannock and the Science Museum of Virginia--received the grant from the Virginia Department of Education*s Mathematics and Science Partnership.

The 18-month Science Inquiry in the Environment (SINE) project will kick off in mid-June when 70 teachers from Caroline, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania and Stafford schools will gather on the banks of the Rappahannock River to learn about local ecosystems as part of the program*s first professional development opportunity.

The project will bring teachers together with university professors for the upcoming five-day summer course as well as for professional development experiences during the 2009-10 year. A workshop at the science museum is planned, and the project culminates with a summer 2010 conference where participating teachers will share what they*ve learned with peers.

“K-5 teachers have to be knowledgeable about all content areas they have to cover, and science is sometimes daunting,“ said Kelli M. Slunt, UMW professor and chair of chemistry. “I'm looking forward to helping teachers be more comfortable with and confident about teaching the sciences. Hopefully, we can show them that science is fun.“

The grant will cover stipends for participating teachers, teaching supplies they*ll receive, and many other expenses. The SINE project is aligned with state and local standards and curricula and it must result in measurable improvement in student academic achievement in science, in keeping with the requirements of the state*s grant program as authorized by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

For more information, contact Kelli Slunt at kslunt@umw.edu, Venitta McCall, UMW professor of education, at vmccall@umw.edu or Eric Rhoades, supervisor of mathematics and science for Stafford County Schools, at rhoadesem@staffordschools.net.