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Rita Ferrandino Attends White House Community Briefing on Education Issues

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WASHINGTON, DC – July 19, 2011 – Sarasota resident Rita Ferrandino joined roughly 150 Floridians at the White House on Friday, July 15th, as part of the Office of Public Engagement’s Community Leaders Briefing Series. Ferrandino, CEO of Science Companion’s publisher, Chicago Educational Publishing Company, LLC, is involved in a number of education and STEM Education advocacy organizations.

The Briefing Series is a unique opportunity for grassroots leaders to come to Washington to hear directly from White House officials on the issues that are affecting communities and to learn more about the President’s priorities and initiatives from the people that work on them every day. In return, the White House gets to hear directly what is going on in our communities. The goal of the program is to strengthen the dialogue between community activists and their government.

During the briefings, Ferrandino heard from a number of top administration officials, including Deputy Commerce Secretary and Tampa resident Francisco Sanchez and Deputy NASA Administrator Lori Garver. The session included an hour-long Q&A with top White House officials, during which Ferrandino stressed the need for investment in STEM education. Ferrandino also participated in a roundtable discussion with officials from the U.S. Department of Education. President Obama made a unscheduled stop after his press conference on the debt ceiling to address the community leaders.

“Each year, we lose more ground in our global competitiveness because we lag behind in STEM education,” said Ferrandino. “It is vitally important that we support our educators in providing the best STEM education possible, challenging them to help our children build their curiosity and comprehension.”

Rita with DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Shultz

“Most children only get about two hours of science a week in elementary school, despite studies showing that science learning must start early – both because it’s cumulative learning and kids fall behind quickly, and because by middle school, kids have already defined their interests,” continued Ferrandino. “If they don’t get any real exposure to science before that, they rarely find it engaging.”

While in DC, Ferrandino also attended a meeting held by Senator Bill Nelson and Representatives Ted Deutch and Frederica Wilson and Democratic National Committee Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz,. The meeting focused on key education issues, as well as including a discussion about the on-going debt negotiations. If you are interested in engaging and monitoring in activities at the White House, go to www.whitehouse.gov/engage where you can sign up receive e-mails directly.

Have Questions about the Conceptual Framework for Science Education?

Leading science education consultant (and former Science Companion Academic Advisory Board Member) Harold Pratt shares a helpful article about what the Conceptual Framework is all about.

Read it here!

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New Legislation Introduced to Support STEM education.

New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has introduced some exciting new legislation designed to help educators bring great STEM education to their students.

Read more here!

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Home Energy Challenge Contest

(By way of NSTA):

Last week U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu joined with U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan and NSTA Executive Director Francis Eberle to announce the launch of the America’s Home Energy Education Challenge, a competition that will be run by NSTA to educate students about the benefits of energy efficiency, motivate them to play an active role in how their families use energy, and help families across the country save money.

This fall, school teams in grades 3–8 participating in the Home Energy Challenge will be asked to implement energy efficiency activities that reduce the energy use in their homes. Teams will be asked to monitor and measure their energy consumption over a specific three-month period and compare it to data from the same period the year before, to track if they have successfully reduced their energy use. Participating schools can compete for more than $200,000 in prizes that will be distributed at the regional and national levels of the competition, including some additional prizes for honorable mention competitions. All participating schools and students will receive a DOE certificate of recognition, along with benefitting from the energy and money savings that come with energy efficiency improvements.

Students can also earn an Energy Fitness Award via a number of online activities where they will improve their knowledge of energy use in buildings, better understand energy-saving techniques, identify local energy-saving opportunities, develop an energy savings plan, and learn to undertake various energy use calculations.

“Energy efficiency is all about helping families save money by saving energy,” said Secretary Chu.  “America’s Home Energy Education Challenge leverages the passion and curiosity of students to encourage families across the country to reduce energy waste in their homes while inspiring the next generation of America’s energy leaders.”

“Science teachers nationwide will recognize that America’s Home Energy Education Challenge is a valuable teaching tool that encourages active learning about energy and science and will help students to connect science to real world applications,” said Dr. Francis Eberle.

Click here to find out more!

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Join our marketing director Leigh (and a host of other critters) as they explore the Catskill Mountains around her farm — and what happens when it rains and rains and rains, with a lesson from our new Soils module!

Click here to download our Mud in the Mountains! Virtual Field Trip…

Want to be a Science Companion Virtual Field Trip Guide?

We’re having so much fun with these that we’d like to share!

Send us pictures from your vacation this summer to enter our Intrepid Virtual Field Trip Guide contest. If we choose your photos to fit with a lesson from one of our modules (you’re welcome to make suggestions or leave it to us), we’ll feature you as our guide and send you a free Science Skill Builders module, which is a great tool for any elementary classroom!

Send your photos and/or any questions to leigh(a)sciencecompanion.com!

Join us for a celebration of speed and motion at the Indianapolis 500, combined with a lesson from our Motion module.

Click here to download the Indy 500 Motion Virtual Field Trip…

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Want to be a Science Companion Virtual Field Trip Guide?

We’re having so much fun with these that we’d like to share!

Send us pictures from your vacation this summer to enter our Intrepid Virtual Field Trip Guide contest. If we choose your photos to fit with a lesson from one of our modules (you’re welcome to make suggestions or leave it to us), we’ll feature you as our guide and send you a free Science Skill Builders module, which is a great tool for any elementary classroom!

Send your photos and/or any questions to leigh(a)sciencecompanion.com!

This month, we invite you to look up!

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Science Companion Life Cycles Virtual Field Trip

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Additional free Virtual Field Trips are located here

Introduce technology and engineering seamlessly to your students at an unbeatable price!

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Get the S, T & E of your STEM education needs met easily and affordably.

Our Design Projects can either stand alone or support both compatible Science Companion modules and curriculum from FOSS and STC , making it easy to add technology and design right onto your existing science lessons. They’re accessible and engaging for both students and teachers.  (And did we mention they were a great price?)

Click here to find your rep!

Click here to download a flyer!

Find out what’s cooking at Science Companion!

Coming to the Indiana Textbook Caravan?

We’re looking forward to meeting you!

Stop by our booth and try your hand at inquiry science, take away a sampler to share Science Companion with your colleagues, and check out our presentation to find out how you can get your classrooms cooking with Science Companion.
(And ask us how you can win a chance at your own Let’s Get Cooking! apron…)

Can’t make it live? Join us for a Virtual Caravan!

For those of you who are unable to join us OR for those who just can’t get enough Caravan, come one by to find photos, presentations, science teaching tips, Virtual Field trips, recipes from friends and colleagues, and chances for an apron as well, all on our website. We’ll be updating it daily, so stop by to see what’s cooking!

Click here to visit the First Ever Annual Science Companion Virtual Indiana Textbook Caravan!

Download it here:

Science Companion Light Field Trip

A great resource for teachers and administrators curious about inquiry-based science.

Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards: A Guide for Teaching and Learning (2000)