Mississippi Science Teachers Association 05/04/2013
MSTANewsletter / / /
Mississippi Science Teachers Association / May 4, 2013
2
Mississippi Science Teachers Association 05/04/2013
Table of Contents:
§ Presidential Post
§ President-Elect Post
§ Scholarship and Grant Opportunity
o Otis Allen Criteria
o R. C. Roberts Grant
§ 2011-2012 MSTA Board of Directors
§ MSTA on the Internet
§ MSTA Membership Form
§ In Rememberance Of Johnette Davis Bosarge
§ 2012 MSTA Award Winners
§ Mississippi 2013 International Science and Engineering Fair Finalists
§ Workshop: Confronting the Challenges of Climate Literacy
§ Free Stuff From Beth Dunigan
§ Workshop: Fauna, Flora and Coastal Habitats
§ Student Workshop: 2013 Engineering Camp
§ Workshop: Delta State Math and Science Initiative for Middle School Teachers
§ Workshop: Mission Intermodal Excellence
§ The Corner of Just For Fun
§ Student Workshop: Mississippi’s Materials Camp For high school general science, chemistry, physics, math, and technology teachers. Also, Middle school physical science teachers.
§ Workshop: Greater New Orleans STEM Initiative Core Element Resource Center Modeling Method of Instruction Physical science and chemistry workshops
§ April 25 – May 8, 2013 Science Matters Network in Michigan eBlast
§ Lab: Oreo-Cookie Plate Tectonics
§ Professional Development: Institute for Marine Mammal Studies
§ Professional Development: PHY 610 - Astronomy For Teachers
§ Workshop: MAST Flyer ($4000 and more)
§ Workshop: MAT-PD
§ Award: Outstanding UndergraduateScience Teacher
Internet Sources For this issue I decided to move the Internet Sources to a separate file. This should shorten the download time and make the printing easier to handle. I hope you like this change. Let me know what you think. Click the link and a new file will open.
Presidential Post:
It is springtime, and we are all ready for the summer. Do you have the days left marked on your calendar? You have worked hard this year and deserve to relax. If you plan to do as little as possible this summer, then I encourage you to explore our state. If you visit the coast and you haven’t visited the new Infinity Center, it is a must for the summer. While you are in that area, visit The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport. Bring plenty of mosquito repellant if you walk at the Gulf Islands National Seashore – or anywhere in the state. Planning to be in the central area? The Mississippi Museum of Natural Science gives you a state-wide experience with its system of aquaria and dioramas. Check out the Mississippi Children’s Museum and the Russell C. Davis Planetarium while you are in town. In Tupelo you should visit the Tupelo Automobile Museum and of course, the birthplace of Elvis. As you head in different directions, check out the local state parks. My personal favorite is Tishomingo State Park. Visiting (and camping!) in the parks are a good way to unwind. Not into camping? There are cabins for rent! Unplug your family for the summer and explore nature.
As much as I’d like to have a summer, my calendar is booked. If you are like me, you look for opportunities during the summer that will extend your content knowledge, gather CEU credits or learn new strategies. We science teachers have the most wonderful opportunities presented to us. Many of these do not cost us money, and better, they provide stipends! Locally we have programs through the University of Mississippi Medical Center will present the Summer Research Institute (http://basepair.library.umc.edu/sri/sri.htm) and Jackson State University will again conduct MAST (http://143.132.8.23/projectmast/). NASA has programs ready for teachers (http://education.ssc.nasa.gov/workshops.asp). Each university in our state has summer teacher enrichment programs. Contact the nearest one to you to find out more. This does not mean you should limit yourself to the state. An internet search will lead you to dozens of programs around the nation. No matter how you choose to spend your summer, enjoy yourself!
Sincerely, Betsy Sullivan, President
President Elect Post:
As the school year ends, I know that most of us feel like the person at the circus that keeps all the plates spinning on the top of poles, trying desperately to keep them from falling. As you “spin the plates” of school, home, community and personal responsibilities, take some time to take care of yourself and to plan for next year.
As I plan my summer, I try to do what I taught my children—something academic, something athletic (even if it is a daily walk), something in an art or music area, something for others, and something totally fun, in addition to all of the things I “have” to do.
Academically, I will attend and present some workshops. As I choose professional development activities, I try to find something to increase my knowledge and to make me a more effective teacher. Now that Next Generation Science Standards have been released, I will spend some time making sure that I am covering the material I need to cover and that I am prepared for the curriculum changes I will need to make.
Many years ago, I made a commitment to myself that I will continually revise my lesson plans and my methodology so that I offer my students the foundation they will need for the future. I challenge you to do the same.
As you make plans for the fall, mark October 27-29, 2013 on your calendar for our MSTA conference. MSTA conferences provide content knowledge, ceu’s, entertainment, renewing acquaintances, and new friends.
Sincerely, President Elect Ann Huber
Johnette Davis Bosarge
It is with a broken heart that I write about our former colleague. On Wednesday, March 13, 2013, Johnette Bosarge died unexpectedly and without warning. Johnette had fallen and broken her knee cap two weeks prior and she had had corrective surgery. Surgery was successful and recuperation was going well. On March 12, Johnette had a great doctor’s report and the staples had been removed. All looked good and mending was a sure thing. On the following morning Johnette’s oldest daughter and a registered nurse, Jessica came to check on her mom. Jessica found her mom unresponsive. Much was done to revive Johnette.
On Saturday, March 16, 2013, a beautiful memorial service and tribute was held for Johnette in her home church of Bonnie Chapel United Methodist Church, in Vancleave, MS. There was a two hour visitation period before the service. Attendance was in the hundreds. Friends and associates from around the state and country flocked to pay their respects and admiration for this dear person.
Johnette Bosarge served on our MSTA board as treasurer and chair of the Convention Registration Committee. She also served as a vital board member for the Southeast Area Marine Educators Association, the administrative assistant for the National Marine Educators Association and was the administrative assistant to Dr. Sharon Walker, the Director of Education and Outreach at the Institute of Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, MS.
Johnette was married to Paul Davis. She was the mother to Jessica Bosarge Clifford and to Paula Bosarge McQueen. Johnette was a vital member of her own Davis family and to the Bosarge family. She was a vital member to her church and community. She and her husband gardened fresh vegetables. She canned and cooked.
It is not enough for me to say that Johnette was a vital family member, friend, and contributing member to all that she participated in. She is already missed by us in MSTA and by all of her family, friends and associates. There are multiple human beings trying to take on all the roles and responsibilities Johnette accomplished. Those jobs will get done eventually. The hole in our hearts left by Johnette will be the hardest and take the longest to fill.
Following is an excerpt from “The Purpose Driven Life”. I place it here as a tribute to
Johnette Davis Bosarge.
“Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, hours or days. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else. Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed. Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear.
So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire. The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away. It won’t matter where you came from or on what side of the tracks you lived, at the end. It won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.
So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured? What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built, not what you got, but what you gave. What will matter is not your success, but your significance. What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught. What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example. What will matter is not your competence, but your character. What will matter is not how many people you know, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone.
What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you. What will matter is how long you will be remembered by whom and for what. Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident. It’s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.”
Johnette, we are feeling a lasting loss. You chose to live a life that mattered. We love and miss you!
Respectfully submitted,
Belinda McKee Matlock
Ann Huber Remembers Johnette: Johnette Bosarge gave of herself to others. She will be missed as a friend, a coworker, and as anadviserto me. I could always count on Johnette for a quick, accurate response. Johnette was so efficient that we do not realize all the ways she will be missed. I continue to keep her family in my prayers.
2012 Mississippi Science Award Winners
Herb Handley Outstanding New Science Teacher
Brandi Duncan-Herrington, Armstrong Middle School, Starkville, Mississippi is the Herb Handley Outstanding New Teacher. Brandi realizes that each day is an opportunity to learn as well as to teach. She is a dedicated life-long learner, consistently researching and gathering information to keep her a highly motivated teacher.
Brandi has created a Wikispace to assist her in teaching her students. The Wikispace provided both students and parents access to her classroom calendar, assignments, tutorials, simulations, virtual labs, online games, class documents, flash cards and other teaching tools. She also uses the Wikispace for intervention, extensions, and remediation.
Brandi says that she “inherited” educational veins, thick with talent, passion, and dedication. She has used that background as a foundation and continues to build her teaching skills through professional developments such as ATOMS2xp, Project MAST, and MSTA participation.
Outstanding Middle School Science Teacher
Debbie Martin, Florence Middle School, Florence, Mississippi is the Outstanding Middle School Teacher. Debbie challenges her students in creative and innovative ways, seeking to “make their brains hurt”. Her personal motto is to “Be an educational leader who embraces growth with enthusiasm and excitement.” She strives to learn something about her students, the content she is teaching and about herself as an educator each year.
Debbie has been involved in several professional development activities involving both science and literacy. She has written and received several grants, including a grant titled It’s Alive/Connecting Literacy With Science.
Debbie states that each year she revisits old theories and analyzes new ones so that she can build on what works and add new tools to improve what doesn’t work, an eclectic combination that makes her the teacher she is today.
Fred W. Brown Outstanding High School Science Teacher
Kathy McKone, Enterprise Attendance Center, Brookhaven, Mississippi is the Fred W. Brown Outstanding High School Teacher. Kathy hosted the first Princeton Satellite in Mississippi which provides cutting edge biotech equipment and training for students and teachers. She recently hosted her twelfth Princeton Satellite Training workshop for teachers. Kathy has transformed her training into resources and opportunities for rural Mississippi students.
Kathy also established Mississippi’s first Wolbachia Rodeo. High schools, community college, and University of Mississippi Medical School worked together to make the event a success.
Kathy was awarded the Presidential Award of Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching in 2011. Kathy has been active in her personal professional development and providing professional development for others.
Outstanding College Science Teacher
Joe Sumrall, University of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi, is the Outstanding College Teacher. Joe describes teaching as a complex and multiple tasked endeavors. In his early years of teaching, he learned to peak student interest by providing purpose and relevancy to subject matter. Joe continues to build the confidence of his students as they learn to teach science. Joe’s classroom strategies include motivating students using both humor and the students own personal interests.
Joe is a prolific writer who has had many articles published in national journals. He has written a workbook and a textbook and is currently writing a book that focuses on the relationship between science, technology and society and the new national science education standards.
Joe continues his own professional development through his research and his attendance at NSTA, MSTA, and other national and international professional associations.