Teacher Enrichment Program (TEP) Sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Education (CEE)

Feb. 7, 2012 - PRLog -- McLean, VA - The Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) announces the Teacher Enrichment Program (TEP).  The program will offer scientific best practices and resources, as well as exposure to the breadth and depth of scientific discovery often not available to rural and urban high school teachers and their students.  The mission of the Teacher Enrichment Program is to assure a future talented and diverse U.S. workforce in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The Teacher Enrichment Program is available cost-free to science teachers and teachers of humanities who are interested in broadening the perspective of science in their classroom.  “The Center’s Teacher Enrichment Program will provide U.S. science teachers with opportunities that will enhance their classroom teaching to enrich the experience of their students,” said Charles Farmer, Manager of Teacher Enrichment Program.  “TEP is a fantastic program that will connect the research lab to the classroom and allow teachers to broaden science teaching and discovery while encouraging students to become the future STEM leaders.”

Over the past two years, CEE has convened top STEM leaders at meetings which included representatives of institutions of secondary and higher education, industry, and government in McLean, Virginia to formulate the components of the program.  

Teacher Enrichment Program Components

The Clearinghouse is an online compendium of science resources within targeted states. Laboratory-based programming in the state, national, and virtual level are highlighted in the clearinghouse.  Programs within the Clearinghouse include public/private partnerships that are cost effective, replicable, scalable and assessable.  

*Bite of Science…Dinner with a Scientist.  This opportunity will bring together 25 teachers with 1 to 2 leading scientists.  Teachers will be given the opportunity to interact with research scientists from industry, academia, or government that share a common research area, i.e. environment, health, national security, energy or agriculture.  Scientists will share information about current research techniques and trouble shooting strategies, and will be afforded the opportunity to ask questions and interact directly with the scientists as well as networking with their peers.  

Each Bite of Science will impact at least 3,125 students per year.  CEE intends to host four sessions in each target state (Virginia, California, Illinois, Indiana, and Texas) which will reach at least 12,500 students per year per state.

Lab Bench is a collection of resources for teachers that attend the BITE of Science.  The Lab Bench is a scientific resource provided to teachers for use in their classrooms.  It will also contain a “student” component which includes a selection of Lab Bench content suitable for high school students.  

TEP Blog will serve to encourage collaboration and understanding between STEM teachers and leaders in the U.S. and global communities.  Contributions to the blog will come from U.S. and international scientists and will provide opportunity for high school teachers and university professors to discuss “Big Ideas in Science.”

TEP/STEM Round Table Discussions will be hosted regularly for science teachers by CEE in Virginia to discuss critical science and laboratory education.

# # #

About the Center for Excellence in Education:

The Center for Excellence in Education was founded in 1983 by the late Admiral H.G. Rickover and Joann P. DiGennaro, President of the Center. The Center's mission is to nurture high school and university scholars to careers of excellence and leadership in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and to encourage collaboration between and among leaders in the global community. CEE sponsors the Research Science Institute (RSI), the USA Biology Olympiad (USABO), and the Teacher Enrichment Program (TEP) free of cost to all participants competitively selected to attend. For more information about the Center and its programs, visit CEE’s Web site, www.cee.org