Local teachers participate in chemistry certification training

Local teachers participate in chemistry certification training

HUNTINGTON -- Seven teachers from Cabell and Wayne counties are participating in a three-year summer training that will get them certified to teach science classes up to Chemistry I.

The seven -- Natosha Griffith, Barboursville Middle; Perry Casto, Beverly Hills Middle; Rebekkah McDaniel, Jennifer Nash and Rhonda Wood of Cabell Midland High School; Greg Page, Spring Valley High School; and Jennifer Pollinger, Wayne High School -- joined 16 others in an effort to become more marketable and fill a statewide shortage of certified chemistry teachers.

"There is a huge difference in teaching high school chemistry from just the book to hands on," said Melaine Hall, a middle school teacher from Mingo County. "Teachers here are learning the hands on, not to be afraid of it."

In classes that do not have a certified chemistry teacher, instructors are less likely to do experiments and more apt to rely on the textbook to teach students. Two of the 17 sections taught at Cabell County's two high schools were by a non-certified teacher, both at Huntington High.

The grant-based Project REACT covers six weeks over three summers and could produce as many as 23 newly certified chemistry teachers, said Kelly Watts, program development director for Regional Education Service Agency II. It partners RESA II and III with Marshall University, Marshall Graduate School of Education and Professional Development, the June Harless Center for Rural Educational Research and Development, and the Marathon Petroleum Company.

Changes in state policy that will require freshmen starting in 2010 to take Chemistry I or Conceptual Chemistry for high school graduation, which creates a need for more certified teachers. Project REACT was designed as a pathway for teachers who are certified in middle school science or another science discipline.

For some, this means becoming more marketable in the teaching profession. For most, it means enriching more students' lives.

"Even if I don't take this to teach chemistry anytime soon, I can still enrich my students in physical science," said Rhonda Wood from Cabell Midland High School. "It will help Cabell County and the state in general."

There also is a math cohort receiving similar training, although Watts said it is not for certification. They, like the science teachers, also are getting trained in project-based learning for 21-century teaching.

Marshall professors Ken O'Conner and Edna Meiselle taught this past week.

The teachers return Aug. 1 for their second week of instruction.

Mark Webb/The Herald-Dispatch

Teachers Amy Salmons, Lori Helmick, and Sonya Picklesimer test temperture and pressure for chemistry class on Friday, June 26, 2009, in the Science Building at Marshall University.

Mark Webb/The Herald-Dispatch

Teachers in the chemistry class gather for a group photo on Friday, June 26, 2009, in the Science Building at Marshall University.