Office of Public Relations:                                           For more information, contact: Stephen E. Snyder

(229) 931-2028                                                                         (229) 931-2037 ssnyder@canes.gsw.edu

(229) 931-2072 fax

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June 16, 2009

GSW STEM announces Academy for

Future Teachers June 21-30

            AMERICUS--The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) program at Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) will host an Academy for Future Teachers (AFT) June 21-30.

            Twenty area high school juniors and seniors who have strong backgrounds in science and mathematics and who have indicated an interest in becoming teachers have been accepted into the Academy workshop.  

            The participants qualified based upon high school GPA, high school activities, an essay on teaching and teacher recommendations. The participants will enjoy room and board in one of Southwestern’s newest residence halls, meals in the campus dining hall, exciting off-campus field trips, quality college-level instruction and a stipend at the workshop's completion.

            The classes will include mathematics problem solving and enrichment; physical science principles and experimentation; geological fossils, strata, aquifers and planetary science; biological water quality and herpetology; computer science robotics; and pedagogical, assessment, reflection and presentation. The field trips will be taken to he Coca-Cola Space Science Center in Columbus, Providence Canyon near Lumpkin and Cumberland Island. The Cumberland Island trip will also include stops at the National Environmentally Sound Production Agriculture Laboratory (NESPAL) in Tifton and the Okefenokee Swamp. 

            According to current STEM Advocate William Kipp, Ph.D., Mathematics Professor Emeritus, the AFT will involve ten GSW science and education faculty, two science consultants from the Georgia Youth Science Technology Center (GYSTC), four current GSW students and two area mathematics teachers.

            Funding for the program comes from the University System of Georgia and constitutes a major effort to reverse the marked decline in the number of science and mathematics teacher graduates within the University System. Similar AFT workshops are being held at other state institutions this summer.

            The STEM Office will communicate with participating students over the next few years to determine their college major and professional career choices.

            For more information, contact the STEM Office at (229) 931-5137.

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