WELLINGTON, TEXAS -- A small town teacher got the chance of a lifetime recently, to spend two weeks with some of the world's top scientists.
It was all part of a research program to help bring that to the classroom and help inspire students. That teacher is Pam Hill, a Science teacher at Wellington High School, who was surprised to find out she was one of the 20 teachers chosen to participate in the Siemens Teachers As Researchers Program (STARs) over the summer.
Pronews 7 is featuring her experience in this week's Region 16 Spotlight Education report.
"I want to bring the world into my kids, I want my students to understand how science fits in their world," said Pam Hill, Science Teacher.
It's that, which inspired Pam Hill to apply for the program. In June, Hill spent a few weeks at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a location best known for "The Manhattan Project". She says she was shocked to find out she was chosen to participate in the program, especially since Wellington does not have AP science classes. Working with the world's top scientist, changed her outlook on teaching.
"It has changed, totally changed, the way I view my approach to preparing students to go out in the scientific careers," said Hill.
Hill worked on several projects including how to look at chromosomes and detect if a person has been exposed to radiation. Now, she's excited to use her experience and research at ORNL in the classroom and inspire students to hopefully pursue a career in science technology.
"We're not just going to study nuclear decay and all of that, we're going to bring in the issue of policy and how we have to keep an eye on each other to make sure everybody is playing fair with their nuclear materials. I have some really good ideas for things that I can suggest to students to say well why don't you think about doing this for a research project. You could really provide some meaningful information that we don't know yet," said Hill.
She says on the first day of school, she can't wait to share her experience with students. She even made a video of the laboratory and slide show of pictures she took.
