Palm Springs sizzled as news of NEED spread to hundreds of science teachers across California attending the California Science Education Conference October 25-27, 2013 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. A constant stream of teachers, veterans and those new to the profession visited our booth learning the various merits of NEED, its history, purpose and desired goals. Teachers delighted in learning about the myriad of resources available to both themselves and their students – online or in print, if desired in a kit – and were impressed with the scope of the curriculum and its suitability across grades K-12. Eyes lit up as further educational opportunities NEED makes available to teachers through workshops were noted along with the grant programs that could be pursued. Those of us manning the booth were most delighted to have teachers who have used NEED’s curriculum rave about their experience and share out how they have taught electives at their school based solely on NEED’s resources.
Enthusiasm continued to peak over the two day conference as teachers additionally enjoyed the presentations put on by NEED’s presenters, Barry, Josh, and Jennifer. Such was initially confirmed by teachers hurrying back to the booth after the workshops to access more information for implementation and ultimately confirmed by the sell out crowd attending the last workshop of the day Saturday put on by NEED, The Science of Energy – Exploring Forms of Energy and Energy Transformation. Over 60 teachers crammed into the room eager to attend the workshop. Rather than turn anyone away, Barry quickly and cleverly revamped his plan to add Jennifer, Loree and Elly to his staff that initially consisted of himself and Josh so all interested teachers could readily partake in the workshop. It was amazing to see everyone happily participate in the lesson and enjoy the activities offered by the Science of Energy kit. All left enthusiastic from their interactions.
