MESA Advisors Attend American Geological Institute Summer Institute!
This past June, St. Vrain Valley School District had four Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) advisors attend a K-5 Earth Science Leadership Academy at Exxon Mobile in Houston, Texas. The four advisors, Helen Douglass (Centennial Elementary), Nina Amabile (Spangler Elementary), Emily Schmidt (Columbine Elementary), and Jayme Margolin (Westview Middle), were chosen part of a select few in the nation to attend this academy. This weeklong program involved learning more about the Earth Sciences, as well as learning and participating in perfecting Earth Science labs and activities for the classroom.
Jayme Margolin, a volcanologist with a graduate degree in the geosciences and past work in education and outreach, helped teach some of the rock and mineral lab identification activities, as well as aid in teaching about the rock cycle processes. She brought new ideas to the group of 30 teachers from across the US, such as the human seismic wave activity and a rock cycle song.
On the switch side, this fall will be Ms. Margolin's first full year in her own classroom. Jayme found the workshop, "very beneficial in speaking with and hearing who other teachers run their classroom labs." Not only was this workshop a learning experience for all participants, but there were several opportunities for the participants to share some of their successful techniques. These included specific rubrics for science journals, starting a short story about a rock, and making a placemat for the key ideas to be used throughout the unit.
By the last day of the academy, each group presented what they would take back to their region and how they would run a half or full day workshop for other educators. The St. Vrain MESA advisors planed out a full day workshop on plate tectonics, the dynamic Earth, and understanding geologic hazards. Beyond this workshop, the participants are also bringing back over eight MESA projects that can be used to gather student's interest and curiosity in the MESA program by having students make and interpret topographic maps, make and explain core samples, fossils, clouds and atmosphere and more.
This was a busy week with lots of learning, questioning, and commenting. The academy was put on by the American Geological Institute (AGI) and fully funded by several sponsors. Now, St. Vrain Valley is ready to step up and be the leaders for Earth Science both in the classroom, as well as with the MESA program throughout the state of Colorado!