Clarkson students to teach high schoolers
POTSDAM — Clarkson University has selected seven students to teach alongside north country teachers next year as part of its inaugural Alcoa Fellows program.
The program was funded with a $56,400 grant from the Alcoa Foundation, a nonprofit investment organization supported by Alcoa Inc. The fellowship will pair juniors and seniors at Clarkson with north country teachers to provide secondary school students with lessons in science, technology, engineering and math.
"We're very thankful to Alcoa for allowing us the opportunity to serve the north country schools and to give our students the opportunity to take their coursework and their research into the classroom to supplement the current science and technology curricula," said Mary-Margaret Small, K-12 curriculum coordinator in Clarkson's Office of Educational Partnerships. "We hope to bring in some opportunities that might not typically be available, particularly in the area of nanotechnology and in some of the new developments in building materials such as porous concrete."
The 2011 Alcoa Fellows are aeronautical engineering major Katelyn Virga of Lowville, mechanical engineering major Gregory Nowak of Massena, biomolecular science major Sara Lambirth of Norfolk, civil engineering major Jacob Earl of Otsego, environmental engineering major Holly Engel of Miller Place, mechanical engineering major Emily Garrant of Onondaga and aeronautical engineering major Megan Williams of Binghamton.
Massena, St. Lawrence and, possibly, Norwood-Norfolk central schools will participate in the program. A previous 10-year partnership between the college and the National Science Foundation provided a similar opportunity for Clarkson students and has resulted in a curriculum from which the Alcoa Fellows can draw lesson plans.
"They're interested in outreach," Ms. Small said about the seven students. "What they really want to do is motivate students and help them understand that science and math are not boring. Engineering in particular has a strong role in solving our nation's problems from an energy perspective, a construction perspective and a medical perspective."
The seven Alcoa Fellows, who applied for the program by submitting a letter of interest, a transcript and faculty references, will participate in a weeklong training course in August to learn teaching methods. They will receive a $4,000 stipend and will complete an average of 12 to 15 hours of preparation and teaching each week during the semester.
Ms. Small said she hopes the fellowship program will receive additional funding to allow it to continue beyond the 2011-12 academic year. While the program will benefit Clarkson and the north country schools directly, she said, the fellowship is also part of a bigger picture.
"We know that right now there's a national crisis in the areas of math and science and in the number of undergraduate engineering majors that the United States is producing," she said. "This is part of President Obama's national call for strengthening math, science and engineering in the public schools. Alcoa has been generous to support that national need."
