Beth Foster, a teacher at Annapolis Middle School has been chosen to participate in the prestigious Siemens Teachers as Researchers (STARs) fellowship program taking place this summer at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)Office of Science national laboratory. Beth joins an elite group of just 40 middle and high school teachers from across the country selected for this honor.
The two-week STARs fellowship (taking place July 8 – 20) is designed to empower teachers to bring the excitement of authentic research into their classrooms and inspire students to pursue science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. During the program, Ms. Foster along with the other educators will work alongside some of the nation’s top scientists on short-term projects focused on the most current and innovative scientific research happening today.
STARs was developed by the Siemens Foundation – a division of global powerhouse Siemens Corporation that supports educational initiatives in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) – in collaboration with Discovery Education – the global leader in standards-based digital media, professional development, assessment tools and a passionate educator network to support districts in accelerating student achievement – Oak Ridge Associated Universities and the College Board. The program is part of the Siemens STEM Academy, a national professional development community designed to support educators in their efforts to foster student achievement in STEM, and in doing so, help nurture tomorrow’s scientists and engineers by inspiring students to pursue these fields of learning.
In addition to conducting research side-by-side with leading scientists, Ms. Foster and the other STARs participants will also benefit from a number of facility tours and seminars aimed to assist teachers in effectively incorporating research into their science and math classrooms. Each teacher will also receive a grant to purchase equipment and/or supplies for their classrooms.
