WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCES NEW SUMMER PROGRAM FOR TEACHERS

WASHINGTON, DC -- Hundreds of middle and high school teachers from across the country will sharpen their science and mathematics skills at 16 world-class federal laboratories and facilities under a new Summer Teacher Enhancement Program announced today by Dr. John H. Gibbons, President Clinton's Assistant for Science and Technology.

The four-week Summer Teacher Enhancement Program will retrain 800 teachers each year in mathematics, science, and technology by exposing them to hands-on projects and experiments conducted by scientists and engineers in the nation's R&D laboratories. In addition, the teachers will work on-site with education specialists to learn how to use new curriculum and teaching aids.

"This innovative program moves beyond traditional education training by teaming teachers with working experts on actual projects," said Dr. Gibbons. "As teachers return to their classrooms, not only will they be better eqipped to inspire students to careers in science, engineering, and mathematics, they will seed the teacher corps with new ideas as well."

The program takes a unique approach to teacher retraining that combines classic instruction with hands-on experience in an intense four-week period. It is the first such program to collaborate so broadly across the agencies. Each host facility will set its own criteria for selection of participants. Follow-up contacts between participants and facility experts will provide continuing education beyond the four-week period. An external evaluation of the program will be jointly funded by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy, with input from the other agencies involved.

The $4 million Summer Teacher Enhancement Program is funded through the Department of Energy and was arranged through the Committee on Education and Human Resources of the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (FCCSET). The Council coordinates Federal R&D programs and other multi-agency activities, and is comprised of Cabinet members from the major Federal Departments and the heads of Federal science agencies. Dr. Gibbons is also the Chair of FCCSET.

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The following 16 federal laboratories and facilities will each host 50 middle school or high school teachers from their regions: Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA; Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA; Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA; Environmental Research Laboratories, Boulder, CO; Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC; Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Il; National Wetlands Research Center, Lafayette, LA; Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM; Research and Development Center, Research Triangle Park, NC; Breidenbach Environmental Research Center, Cincinnati, OH; Cooperative Extension Service, Clemson, SC; Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Education, Oak Ridge, TN; Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory, Dallas, TX; Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility, Newport News, VA; and Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, WA.

For additional information about specific sites and programs, please contact Cindy Musick, Education Development Specialist, Office of University and Science Education, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC 202-586-0982.

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