Representatives from the Boeing Company will present the Clearview school district with
a grant for $40,000 at a school board meeting Thursday night. The grant
will help finance a summer training program at Clearview that will
instruct science teachers in modeling, a method of teaching sciences
that is gaining popularity all around the world. Teachers from all over
the United States, as well as countries like Ghana and Australia, will
visit Clearview for training.
“I’m
ecstatic,” said Ron Antinori, instructional supervisor of science,
career and technical education, and family and consumer sciences at
Clearview. “The things that Clearview and the teachers here are doing
are exciting people all over. I can’t thank the teachers enough for the
work they’ve done.”
Modeling
favors an interactive approach to science education, with students
leading class discussions and building on existing knowledge as the
course moves from one topic to the next. Clearview introduced the
program four years ago and found that students learning sciences through
modeling grew in performance at twice the rate of students using
traditional curriculum.
“Since
we started here, we’ve seen great things,” said Antinori. “This grant
is impacting not just Clearview teachers, but teachers throughout the
county, throughout the state, even internationally.” Half of this year’s
freshman have signed up for two science classes next year, and nearly a
quarter of Clearview’s upperclassmen have enrolled in AP science
courses. Although Clearview initially used modeling to teach physics,
the district now uses the method for chemistry and biology classes as
well.
The
grant will pay for registration fees and lodging for the visiting
teachers, who will stay at Rowan University while attending training at
Clearview. About 60 teachers will receive instruction in modeling
curriculum and pedagogy through July and early August. The check will be
presented to the district at the school board meeting on Thursday, May
29, at 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be in the Clearview administration
building, 420 Cedar Rd., Mullica Hill.