Westminster's Science in Motion at Capitol Demo Day
Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Bernie Durkin, director of the Westminster College Science in Motion program, and Stephanie Corrette-Bennett, biology mobile educator, went to Harrisburg to demonstrate some of the experiments they bring to area school students in support of Senate bill 414 and House bill 1512, which will provide funding during the 2005-2006 school year.
This year Westminster's Science in Motion team presented spring and fall workshops for all four science disciplines, including elementary, chemistry, physics, and biology. They also visited 22 area school districts in Allegheny, Butler, Crawford, Lawrence, and Mercer counties impacting the education of 4,063 local students.
"Those numbers will probably increase, as we generally have a lot of requests right at the end of the public school year," Corrette-Bennett said. "We also have summer workshops for chemistry, physics, and biology educators set for June 20-24. Teachers can visit our website or call us directly for more information."
While in Harrisburg, Corrette-Bennett and Durkin presented Senators Bob Robbins and Gerald LaValle with certificates of appreciation for their continued support of this program.
"Our primary goal was to promote awareness and support for our program and convey to our representatives how we are already serving and benefiting schools in their district," Corrette-Bennett said. "We spoke with Representatives Rod Wilt, Sean Ramaley, and Michael Veon."
"The Science in Motion program links 200 school districts with 11 higher education institutions via professors traveling to different school districts and teaching scientific techniques such as gas chromatography and IR spectroscopy," said Dr. Lorraine Mufinger, director of the state-wide program. "It's one of the best kept education secrets in our state."
Mufinger also commented that in 1957 the United States rallied to support science education due to the race to space, but now that race has been placed on the back burner even though industry is begging for a better trained workforce.
"Pennsylvania Science and Technology Partnership has won national attention many times, most recently winning the 2003 Council of State Governments Innovation Award for being an effective and cost-efficient program," Mufinger said while requesting that the program's future be solidified, not cut altogether as Governor Rendell' 2005-06 budget has proposed.
Contact Durkin at (724) 946-6295 or e-mail durkinbm@westminster.edu for more information about Westminster's Science in Motion program. Visit the website www.westminster.edu/sim for details of the summer workshops.
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