The 2009 Banquet and Award Ceremony for Graduate Partners in Science Education (GPSE) will take place Tuesday, April 7 from 5:30-8 p.m. at Phoenix Preparatory Academy in downtown Phoenix. The program is a unique partnership between two science classrooms at Phoenix Prep and the graduate student community in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University (http://gpse.asu.edu).
On a weekly basis since October 2008, 11 graduate students have mentored almost 50 Phoenix Prep middle-school students. Starting in January, both graduate and middle-school students teamed up to work on student-driven science projects at the Phoenix Zoo or Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Project.
According to Mike Butler, GPSE project coordinator, “We are proud of the work these teams have done, resulting in more than half of the students receiving medals at the Arizona Science and Engineering Fair, including seven gold medal winners.”
Graduate Partners in Science Education characterizes true social embeddedness and responsible scholarship on the part of the graduate students, while providing strong benefits to diverse community partners and a new direction for science education in an urban public school. For more information about the program, contact Mike Butler at Mike.Butler@asu.edu.