Huntsville, Ala. — The HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology received a $50,000 grant from the Boeing Charitable Trust to assemble educational resources that align with Alabama’s new biology course of study.
Led by Educational Outreach team member Madelene Loftin, and in collaboration with A+ College Ready and the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative with the AL State Department of Education, this project brings together ten experienced biology teachers who all teach ninth grade from across the state. The teachers will evaluate certain resources and see how well they bring the new science education standards into the classroom. The evaluations will help the project collaborators create a compendium of science teaching resources.
“The goal is by the end of this school year to have a completed compendium,” said Loftin. “It can then be incorporated into the teacher training programs of all three collaborators, which collectively reach every public school biology class in Alabama.”
The selected teachers are as follows:
- Mary Busbee, St. Clair County High School
- Susan Dial, Gardendale High School
- Nerissa DeRamus, Thompson High School
- Teresa Gregory, Clay-Chalkville High School
- Ben Johnston, Bob Jones High School
- Eve Kendrick, Northside High School
- Leslie Machen, Sparkman High School
- Kim Miller, Fairhope High School
- Melody Hopkins-Tucker, Citronelle High School
- Keshia Williams, Lee High School
“This compendium – carefully compiled and enhanced with educator tips and background – allows teachers to confidently select the most appropriate resources and learning tools for biology instruction,” said Neil Lamb, PhD, Vice President of Educational Outreach at HudsonAlpha. “Without it, teachers face the daunting task of sorting through an array of activities, modules and materials that may be interesting to their students but do a poor job of upholding the explanatory learning required by the new course of study.”
Teachers will test each resource and provide useful tips that will improve the student learning experience.
“Boeing works toward a future where all students have access to learning so that they can develop their skills, do what they dream, and build something better,” said Tina Watts, Boeing Community & Education Relations Specialist. “To that end, Boeing supports learning from birth through college and career readiness to improve how students learn and teach them the skills needed to be adaptable – to both acquire knowledge throughout their life and apply it successfully.”
HudsonAlpha Educational Outreach has had an impact on more than 700,000 teachers, students and lifelong learners this year, and generous supporters such as Boeing help make this outreach possible.
About HudsonAlpha: HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology is a nonprofit institute dedicated to innovating in the field of genomic technology and sciences across a spectrum of biological challenges. Founded in 2008, its mission is four-fold: sparking scientific discoveries that can impact human health and well-being; bringing genomic medicine into clinical care; fostering biotech entrepreneurship; and encouraging the creation of a genomics-literate workforce and society. The HudsonAlpha biotechnology campus consists of 152 acres nestled within Cummings Research Park, the nation’s second largest research park. Designed to be a hothouse of biotech economic development, HudsonAlpha’s state-of-the-art facilities co-locate nonprofit scientific researchers with entrepreneurs and educators. The relationships formed on the HudsonAlpha campus encourage collaborations that produce advances in medicine and agriculture. Under the leadership of Dr. Richard M. Myers, a key collaborator on the Human Genome Project, HudsonAlpha has become a national and international leader in genetics and genomics research and biotech education, and includes 29 diverse biotech companies on campus. To learn more about HudsonAlpha, visit: http://hudsonalpha.org/.
HudsonAlpha Media Contact:
Margetta Thomas
256-327-0425
mthomas@hudsonalpha.org
