SOS Receives Generous Contribution from Vernier Software and Technology!
Science Outreach Society toured the Vernier Software and Technology Facility in Beaverton, Oregon. The tour was led by David Vernier himself. At the end of the day, David Vernier presented SOS President, Misti Byrd, with a generous contribution for the SOS Foundation.
SOS would like to thank David Vernier for his support!
SOS would like to thank David Vernier for his support!
SOS would also like to thank Barbara and Jon Stroud for their donation and support.
Science Outreach Society Featured in a News Column for Portland State University's CLAS Newsletter
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Science Outreach Society featured in the Portland State University Vanguard! |
STEM Feedback
Vernon Elementary School
To whom it may concern,
On Thursday, January 31, 2013, the PSU Science Outreach Society (SOS) came to Vernon School to work with Ms Polly Sheckels's and Ms Jeanetta Mashia's second grade classes. My daughter is in Polly Sheckels's class.
Prior to the visit, I spoke with Director Misti Byrd regarding the second grade curricular goals and the International Baccalaurete unit on which they were currently focusing: Weather. Misti and her team provided relevant and exciting activities and investigations for the students. Teacher Polly Scheckels gave the following feedback regarding the session: " Our current IB Unit on weather requires a strong science focus, so the SOS session fit perfectly. The activities and presentation retained a high level of interest in the kids, and the 2nd graders were able to grasp the concepts, yet at the same time the presentation was not too simple."
The program was well done, the students were enthralled during the hour-long sessions, and there were no discipline or attention issues. These are two very diverse classes with a wide range of academic and behavioral abilities, and SOS was able to engage even the most challenging students. I spoke with both my daughter as well as other students from Jeanetta Mashia's class, asking them how they liked the session, and they all replied with a big smile and with great enthusiasm, "It was awesome! Great! Really fun!" And, "Can SOS come back again?" According to Polly, "The kids loved it all, and the Van deGraff machine was definitely a hit." My daughter's favorite was the snow making demonstration.
This program is so valuable and important, especially for a school like Vernon, both a Title 1 and an International Baccalaureate School. The teachers have the challenge of addressing federally mandated reading, writing and math goals, while at the same time, addressing IB and state mandated science concepts. A program like SOS helped to bridge these two goals. The program brought free, relevant, hands-on science instruction and resources to the classroom to support the concepts Ms Sheckels and Ms Mashia are currently teaching. At the same time, the sessions provided the teachers with real material to use with the students as follow up, and to sharpen the students' reading, writing and math skills. For example, students could be offered writing prompts to reflect on what they learned, or they could be encouraged to read informational texts relevant to the experiments. This, in my mind, is the best form of education: when all the pieces are tied together to offer students a complete package of learning. SOS helped to facilitate this process.
Thank you you very much again to the staff of SOS. We hope to work together again in the future.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Hulford Odell
Parent
Environmental Education Consultant
Former Middle and High School Science Teacher
[email protected]
To whom it may concern,
On Thursday, January 31, 2013, the PSU Science Outreach Society (SOS) came to Vernon School to work with Ms Polly Sheckels's and Ms Jeanetta Mashia's second grade classes. My daughter is in Polly Sheckels's class.
Prior to the visit, I spoke with Director Misti Byrd regarding the second grade curricular goals and the International Baccalaurete unit on which they were currently focusing: Weather. Misti and her team provided relevant and exciting activities and investigations for the students. Teacher Polly Scheckels gave the following feedback regarding the session: " Our current IB Unit on weather requires a strong science focus, so the SOS session fit perfectly. The activities and presentation retained a high level of interest in the kids, and the 2nd graders were able to grasp the concepts, yet at the same time the presentation was not too simple."
The program was well done, the students were enthralled during the hour-long sessions, and there were no discipline or attention issues. These are two very diverse classes with a wide range of academic and behavioral abilities, and SOS was able to engage even the most challenging students. I spoke with both my daughter as well as other students from Jeanetta Mashia's class, asking them how they liked the session, and they all replied with a big smile and with great enthusiasm, "It was awesome! Great! Really fun!" And, "Can SOS come back again?" According to Polly, "The kids loved it all, and the Van deGraff machine was definitely a hit." My daughter's favorite was the snow making demonstration.
This program is so valuable and important, especially for a school like Vernon, both a Title 1 and an International Baccalaureate School. The teachers have the challenge of addressing federally mandated reading, writing and math goals, while at the same time, addressing IB and state mandated science concepts. A program like SOS helped to bridge these two goals. The program brought free, relevant, hands-on science instruction and resources to the classroom to support the concepts Ms Sheckels and Ms Mashia are currently teaching. At the same time, the sessions provided the teachers with real material to use with the students as follow up, and to sharpen the students' reading, writing and math skills. For example, students could be offered writing prompts to reflect on what they learned, or they could be encouraged to read informational texts relevant to the experiments. This, in my mind, is the best form of education: when all the pieces are tied together to offer students a complete package of learning. SOS helped to facilitate this process.
Thank you you very much again to the staff of SOS. We hope to work together again in the future.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Hulford Odell
Parent
Environmental Education Consultant
Former Middle and High School Science Teacher
[email protected]