Table of Contents
ASC Public School Partnership Advisory Committee News
August 21, 2007 Meeting
A sub-group of the Public School Partnership Advisory Committee met on August 21.
Public school attendees were:
- Jon Stonebraker, New Albany Plain Locals Schools
- Deborah (Deke) Kidwell, Columbus City Schools
- Tim Dove, Worthington Schools
- Ann Getz, Grandview Schools
Ohio State attendees were:
- Jacqueline Jones Royster, Colleges of the Arts and Sciences and English
- Nancy Nestor-Baker, P-12 Project and Education
- Mindy Wright, Colleges of the Arts and Sciences and English
At that meeting, we learned about some exciting projects in which committee members are involved:
Public School News
Jon Stonebraker, New Albany Plain Locals Schools
Partnership with Ohio State's Foreign Language Center and the teaching of Spanish 104D.
Partnership with COSI's Surgical Suite
Deborah (Deke) Kidwell, Columbus City Schools
Columbus Teaching Academy's second year, a partnership with Ohio State's Colleges of Arts and Sciences. Thirteen young women and men considering a career in education meet with their Columbus City teacher every afternoon in the Frank W. Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center. Throughout the school year, they will meet at different sites across campus, including the Central Classroom Building and Sullivant Learning Commons. In addition to studying education as a career, students will serve internships in Columbus elementary and middle schools and work with Ohio State Arts and Sciences faculty, staff, and students in pre-college enrichment activities.
Tim Dove, Worthington Schools
Opening of the Phoenix Middle School. "The Phoenix Project exists to facilitate our students' opportunity to discover a deeper understanding of self and their relationship to the world in which they live. Phoenix is a community where students, parents, teachers, and community members are actively involved in teaching and learning from each other. The responsibility is shared for providing a stimulating environment in which all students are encouraged to reach their highest potential. We value self-direction, having choices, relevance of curriculum, students being responsible for their own learning and the evaluation of their own progress."
Ann Getz, Grandview Schools
Curricular review projects and searches for outside funding for special projects
Partnership Projects/Next Steps
We also brainstormed about possible projects that might address the four goals we set at the January 2007 meeting:
- Ohio State faculty visits to public school classrooms
- Teaching partnerships
- Middle and high school student visits to Ohio State's campus
- Sharing of resources
Byrd Polar Research Center Takes Students to Polar and Alpine Sites
As a result of a brainstorming idea at this meeting, we've begun work to design and pilot a technology-based teaching partnership through which students can share virtual experiences with researchers at a distance, somewhat like the COSI Surgical Suite. On September 7, a group of New Albany teachers, Carol Landis of Ohio State's Byrd Polar Research Center, Nancy Nestor-Baker, and Mindy Wright met to plan the first stage of this project. Our goal is to pilot the project with New Albany, apply for funding, and then open the project to other interested schools.
The project may take several different paths, which could provide geology students, science students, and perhaps elementary students with experiences not normally available in the classroom. Through the use of high quality Video over Internet Protocol, an inexpensive interactive video connection may allow in excess of 100 students close video of the research materials used by polar scientists. In addition, students will be able to interact with researchers by asking them questions about their work at the Byrd Polar Research Center. Students will maximize their learning with substantive work prior to, and follow-up work after each distance meeting. If these meetings show success in student achievement and engagement, opportunities to simultaneously connect may be available to other schools.
Next Meetings
The committee suggested that it meet twice more this year for a dinner meeting, once in the fall (late October or early /November) and again in January. If you have suggestions for specific dates to choose (or to avoid!), please contact Mindy Wright at wright.7@osu.edu
Ohio State Opportunities
