>newground
IU President Adam Herbert recently noted that one key to the state’s future prosperity is the quality of education from pre-school to 12th grade. Luckily, the work he foresees to improve this education is already well under way at the IUPUI Teacher’s Resource Center (TRC). And the achievements of the TRC are becoming more and more tangible with the indispensable aid of FedEx, which delivers the center’s materials free of charge to their intended destination—the region’s students and teachers.
A Hands-On Approach to Science
In August 2000 IUPUI assumed management of a “math and science kit center” established by Raytheon, a defense technology corporation, to help teachers discover and use hands-on math and science in their classrooms.
The center provides kits containing all the necessary supplies, teacher’s guides, and worksheets to central Indiana's teachers. The kits themselves are part of an award-winning, innovative program designed at the University of California Berkeley to help teachers, who are typically not scientists themselves, teach science and to help students learn more effectively.
Getting Kits to Classrooms
The success of this program, which is available free of charge, has been phenomenal. TRC Manager Deb Robertson describes its exponential growth, which began with a marketing program in January 2001 and by May 2001 was delivering kits to 1,000 students per month. During the 2002-03 school year, TRC math and science activities reached 35,477 students in Marion County and the seven contiguous counties.
“We have no trouble getting users,” explains Robertson. “We have trouble getting kits to keep up with the demand. Without a strategic delivery partner like FedEx, we would be unable to deliver the kits free of charge.” FedEx donates its services to deliver the kits to and from area teachers.
“With FedEx’s in-kind donation,” says Robertson, “we will be able to use the savings to increase kit inventory and development. We will also be able to keep pace with an ever-increasing demand for service across Indiana.” Costs for delivery previously ran about $40,000 annually, about 17 percent of the center’s budget.
“The partnership,” Robertson reflects, “is a great example of university, business, and community working toward the common goal of improving the education of our children.”
> Liz Rosdeitcher
Take a look at the TRC website or their catalog of math/science kits.