Focus on TUSD - June 2007

Pueblo Students Develop Science Skills
Science students in a special program at Pueblo Magnet High School are continuing their work this summer.

Selected ninth-graders who failed the fall semester of their integrated science class and 10th-graders who failed biology participated in the spring in Developing Job Skills in Science, a program that develops science job skills. Teachers who recommended the 23 students understood that although these students failed, they had potential and promise in the science field, said Wilma Amaro, who helped with the program.

"We wanted to help them get ready to eventually pursue a career in science by increasing their interest, developing skills that are marketable and exposing them to people who make a living doing science," she said. Speakers told students about their own experiences as high school and college students.

During the summer portion of the project, students spent a week at a University of Arizona chemistry lab, working on experiments using university equipment and applying the science skills they'd acquired.

"Every teacher involved has had real experience and has made a living, at some point, doing science in a professional setting," Amaro said. "We want our students to see themselves as university students capable of 'doing' science by learning to work in collaboration with others, solving problems and presenting their findings to their peers, just like scientists do," she explained.

During the six-week spring session, students met with two teachers twice for two hours. During the 13-day summer session, which ends June 20, students worked with their teachers for four hours a day.

A grant from the city of Tucson helped fund this program.

-- By Sharon Dunham
Communications & Media Relations

TUSD - Proud Supporter of Small Classes

All photos in the June issue by Jes Ruvalcaba of Communications & Media Relations.

The deadline to submit material for the August Focus is Friday, August 3. The Focus will be published Monday, August 13. Email submissions to Chyrl Hill Lander or Sharon Dunham in the Communications & Media Relations Department or use the Focus Online Submission Form.