The program provides a stipend for teachers while they attend workshops and seminars over the summer at Sinclair. Teachers will also serve in internships with local companies to gain real, hands-on experience in the related fields.
About 170 high school and junior high teachers from all of the county’s public school districts will participate in the program, said George Sehi, president of Sinclair’s Mason campus.
Sehi said the goal is to ultimately produce high school graduates who are better qualified for entering college-level courses.
“In Ohio and in the nation, there’s a shortage of people entering STEM (science, technology, engineering and math),” Sehi said. “We need more scientists, more engineers and more students with a background in math and technology. If we can get teachers engaged, they can relate to students in more meaningful ways.”
Sinclair deserves much of the credit for being the impetus behind getting the grant, said Tom Isaacs, assistant superintendent of the WCESC.
Isaacs said the program will be developed and partly instructed by Dan Michaels, science curriculum specialist, and overseen by former Springboro Superintendent David Baker, both of the WCESC.
“It’s really innovative,” Isaacs said. “This component of getting math and science teachers into businesses is really the unique and powerful part of this grant.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4542 or rwilson@coxohio.com.
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