CALIFORNIA PARTNERS IN NEUROSCIENCE EDUCATION WIN TRAVEL AWARD TO SFN ANNUAL MEETING
For immediate release.
NR-13-05 (sent 11/04/05) For more information, please call Sara Harris at (202) 462-6688.
CALIFORNIA PARTNERS IN NEUROSCIENCE EDUCATION WIN TRAVEL AWARD TO SFN ANNUAL MEETING
WASHINGTON, DC, November 4 – Two local educators—one teacher and one neuroscientist—are one of six pairs nationwide to win an award for their innovative work bringing neuroscience into the classroom.
Fernando Galvez, a fourth- and fifth-grade teacher at Kingsley Elementary in Hollywood, and Dr. Deborah Colbern of the Brain Exchange Electronic Mentorship Network (BEEMNET), Inc., in Venice won a 2005 Neuroscientist-Teacher Partner Travel Award to attend Neuroscience 2005, the Society for Neuroscience’s scientific meeting in Washington, DC, November 12–16. For the first time, the Society for Neuroscience award recognizes teachers working in partnership with researchers.
Colbern first worked with Galvez when children at his school were chosen to judge a neuroscience fair she organized in conjunction with California State University, Los Angeles scientists. They have continued to consult regarding the science curriculum. Colbern emphasized the importance she places on equality in these relationships. “We are really interacting with the teachers as colleagues,” she says. “We may be teaching them specific scientific information, but the teachers are telling us what’s important to children, how people learn. It’s good insight into how to relate to the public better.”
For his part, Galvez is excited about the opportunites the partnership presents not only for his students to learn about science but to boost their self-esteem. “Allowing the students to judge puts them on a pedestal,” he says.
A teacher of gifted and talented classes as well as of basic English, he has found material applicable to a range of teaching needs, he says: “There are so many possibilities for me to embed the vocabulary coming from the sciences.” And when Cal State LA student scientists interact with his students, "on the social level, they are helping me transcribe the idea that 'You can be scientists,' he says. “This collaboration provides models for future scientists.”
At the meeting, each pair of partners will participate in a planning workshop to develop long-term teacher-neuroscientist partnerships, including a summer institute. Awardees will also have the opportunity to attend the wide variety of scientific sessions available at Neuroscience 2005, including lectures on neurotransmitters, healthy aging, and meditation. In addition, there are several education-related workshops designed to help teacher awardees focus more on the needs of their classrooms at home.
The Society’s Committee on Neuroscience Literacy is looking to the long term in sponsoring educator pairs this year. While praising earlier teacher travel awards as “a great experience for the teachers,” committee Chairman Dr. William Cameron notes, “It was unclear if these experiences ever led to a connection with neuroscientists in their local area.
“The new partnership awards give us the opportunity to explore the elements of existing successful partnerships that might serve as models for members of the Society interested in engaging K-12 teachers and students,” he adds.
More than 30,000 scientists from around the world will gather to present and discuss the latest developments in neuroscience research at the 35th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, which will feature nearly 17,000 presentations covering research ranging from single molecules to human behavior.
The Society for Neuroscience, with more than 37,000 members, is the world’s largest organization of basic researchers and clinicians studying the brain and nervous system.
