After school program for middle school science teachers helps hone skills
NEWPORT NEWS, VA – After school programs aren’t just for kids anymore! Now, there’s an after school program for upper elementary and middle school science teachers that features informative and fun, hands-on activities to help teachers hone skills while earning enrichment credit.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) is accepting applications for its 2019-20 science enrichment program for fifth-, sixth- and eighth-grade teachers of science. The Jefferson Lab Science Activities for Teachers program is designed to increase teachers' knowledge of the physical sciences and to strengthen their teaching skills.
The JSAT after-school program extends September 2019 through May 2020 and offers interactive activities to enhance physical science instruction at the upper-elementary and middle school levels. A wide range of topics will be addressed, including: matter, energy transfer, force and motion, magnetism and electricity, atomic structure, waves and sound, simple machines, watershed and optics.
“This year’s JSAT program will reflect the recent updates to the Virginia Standards of Learning assessments for sixth and eighth grade science," said Lisa Surles-Law, the 8th grade JSAT program administrator and Science Education team lead. “We chose to focus on the SOL updates this year, because it’s an area that teachers have requested support in developing new activities that pertain to the updated standards.”
Participants receive supplies and materials, so that they will be able to conduct the planned activities in their own classrooms. As a professional development opportunity, teachers also present an activity at the Region II Jefferson Lab Teacher Night in the spring of 2020. Participating teachers can earn a stipend and up to 48 recertification points for 2019-20.
The JSAT program, funded by a grant from the Jefferson Science Associates Initiatives Fund, addresses components of National Science Education Standards and the Virginia Standards of Learning.
Fifth-grade teachers will meet on alternating Thursday evenings, sixth-grade teachers will meet on alternating Tuesdays, and eighth-grade teachers will meet on alternating Wednesdays*. Sessions will take place from 5-7 p.m. at Jefferson Lab, located at 12000 Jefferson Ave. in Newport News.
Additional information about the program and the application form is available at: http://education.jlab.org/jsat/.
Questions may be directed to Surles-Law at surles@jlab.org or 757-269-5002. The application deadline for the 2019-20 program is Friday, Sept. 6, 2019.
The JSA Initiatives Fund Program was established by Jefferson Science Associates to support programs, initiatives and activities that further the scientific outreach, and promote the science, education and technology missions of Jefferson Lab in ways that complement its basic and applied research focus. Initiatives Fund awards are for those projects that benefit the lab user community and that leverage commitments of others. Information about the JSA Initiatives Fund is online at: http://www.jsallc.org/IF/IFIndex.html.
*Correction: The meetings days were updated to the correct days of the week on Aug. 5, 2019.
Contact: Kandice Carter, Jefferson Lab Communications Office, 757-269-7263, kcarter@jlab.org