The following district directors have submitted news items for NCSTA members:

• District 1
• District 7
• District 8

Not sure which district you are in? Check out the district map at the bottom of this page.
Have news to share? Email your District Director!

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News From District 1
Director: Colleen Karl

It was great to see so many NCSTA members and many new members from that District 1 in attendance at the NCSTA Professional Development Institute on November 13th and 14th in Greensboro, NC. The Institute was certainly an intensive two days packed with excellent workshop sessions, special speakers and opportunities for networking. Let’s keep the spirit of working together going for 2004! Good news also seems to be the word for the Northeast. From awards to grants received to National Board Certification, our corner of the state is well represented.

District One is proud to recognize Tonya Little-Williams as our Outstanding Science Teacher for this year, an award that was presented at NCSTA Professional Development Institute in November. For those of you who may not know Tonya, I will share the comments of her principal, Hans D. Lassiter, from Perquimans County High School. Mr. Lassiter spoke about his first visit to Perquimans High school as a new principal and his first impressions of Tonya Little-Williams. In his words: “When I toured the building to look at classrooms, I entered her classroom (without the benefit of meeting her first) and saw how the classroom was organized and the massive number of artifacts and work products that she had on display and said to myself: This is a good teacher!” We offer congratulations to Tonya for her dedication to excellence in the teaching profession.

Many more congratulations need to go out to all of District One’s new National Board Certified Teachers in the certificate areas of Early Adolescent /Science and Adolescent and Young Adulthood/ Science. These teachers are: Linda Lindsey Stewart, Karen Saxe Cahoon, Margaret Brothers, Alicia Carawan, Susie Jackson, Duncan Moore, Lynette Trueblood Baker, and Virginia Jones Noblitt. The determination to become one of the very best educators in the nation does not go without notice. The NCSTA recognizes your professional expertise in the classroom.

There are many available opportunities for classroom grants to teachers. Recently, Steve Karl, with the Edenton-Chowan school system was the recipient of a three-year Learn and Serve Grant from DPI to provide training and equipment to middle school and high school earth science students to become community/classroom weather watchers. NCSTA offers grant funding each year in several categories with staggered dates for sending in your application – review the following site for details: http://www.ncsta.org/grants/index.html.

It is the time of year for preparation for the upcoming Science Olympiad and for Science Fairs. For District One, the date for the Northeast Regional Science Fair is Friday, April 9th with the entry forms due to Linda James by March 19th. Contact Linda at East Carolina University for specifics about the regional Science Fair at jamesl@mail.ecu.edu. For the official N.C.Science Fair Handbook, visit www.ncsta.org/sciencefair/. Volunteers for these events are needed – if you are interested, please contact Karen Dawkins at from the Center for Science, Mathematics and Technology at East Carolina University at http://www.soe.ecu.edu/csmte/.

The Center also offers many rewarding staff development sessions as well as e-mentorship opportunities. Mark your June 2004 calendar for a special middle school program at East Carolina University. The East Carolina Reach Up Program is a science enrichment program for Afro-American Middle school students (grades 6-8). The Program will focus on specific goals with designed activities to: (1) develop student self esteem, (2) connect science to student experiences, and (3) encourage and motivate students to want to seek employment where job prospects exist. The Program is free to all participants and will take place on June 14-18th and June 21-25, 2004. Contact Rhea Miles, Ph.D. at East Carolina for more details (252-328-1604 (work) or milesr@mail.ecu.edu or Elaine Thus (summer coordinator) at Pactolus Elementary School.

The Science House at NCSU also has great professional development opportunities for your needs – see http://www.science-house.org/workshops/ or give Scott Ragan a call at the Science House to tailor workshops to the focus of a larger group. On a personal note, after Hurricane Isabel left the Northeast feeling rather uprooted, it should be mentioned that the Bennett’s Millpond team of teachers and students from Chowan, Gates, Perquimans and Bertie counties are again sampling the waters and researching the Millpond. We have had the good fortune to welcome several professors from NCSU to this Project either via videoconferencing or special Saturday visits to the Millpond. We have much to learn and lots to share about this unique coastal environment. Find us at http://www.sciencehouse.org/student/hhmi/millpond/.
Think big, think small, and remember that science education is for all – spread the word. Best wishes for 2004 to all of you.

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News From District 7
Director: Scott Childers

On Halloween, the North Iredell Science Wizards visited Central and Harmony elementary schools in Iredell County. The wizards performed various demonstrations during this traveling science extravaganza. Of course, the elementary kids loved the explosions the best. The goal of this club is to get students excited about science!

Now, the Wizards are preparing for the upcoming Science Olympiad. On November 21st Dr. Wesley Bonds from Western Carolina University worked with a select group of North Iredell students. These science students learned to sequence the gene that predisposes an individual to nicotine addiction. These students were very excited about this experience.

The Western Satellite Office of The Science House in Lenoir is holding Reach for the Stars, an astronomy workshop series February 24 - March 22, for 3rd, 6th and 8th grade teachers. Learn astronomy activities you can do during the day with your students as well as what twentieth century astronomers do and
how elements in the body are produced during star explosions from active scientists. Visit www.science-house.org/info/west/astro.html to register.

If anyone in Disrict 7 would like to recognize a particular event or workshop coming soon, please contact Scott Childers.

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News From District 8
Director: Kyle Carver

Many thanks to Ann Scarborough, Jayson Duncan, and many others who worked so hard to make this year’s Science Institute a great success! The following is a sample of the comments I heard following the 35th annual NCSTA Conference/Institute: “I went to the Science Convention this year hoping to learn some new ideas for teaching 8th grade science. I attended several workshops on water and forces…middle level workshops that pertained to my curriculum. I was appreciative for all of the free materials that I was given. All of my presenters were well prepared and knowledgeable of their particular area. Over all I was very pleased with what I came away with and will be in attendance again next year”
(Jessica Banks, C.A. Erwin Middle, Asheville, NC)

We in District 8 are very proud of our own Dr. Renee Coward, president- elect of NCSTA. Renee is an outstanding educator who recently earned her Ed. D. and was elected president-elect of our association. She will make us all proud.

Congratulations to Mark Etheridge of Tuscola High School in Haywood County. Mark was named outstanding science teacher for District 8. He is one of those creative teachers whose classroom extends beyond the walls of a school building to the Great Smoky Mountains, where his students do much of their environmental studies.

The Asheville Outreach office of The Science House has several opportunities this spring for teachers and students. The Physics on the Road show has already been to several schools in District 8 from Macon Middle School to Asheville Middle School. Beth Snoke performs physics demos to get students charged up (literally) about physics. Visit www.science-house.org/info/asheville/ to schedule a show for your school. The Science House and Progress Energy are also sponsoring a CBL Workshop on February 21 at The Health Adventure for middle and high school teachers as part of the Teacher Pioneers Program. Registration information is also available at the link above. Look for an astronomy workshop coming in March!

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