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Mary Bitterlich; Lakewood, CO:
 "Science
is just about my students’ favorite subject now, and honestly,
years ago when I was teaching, I wouldn’t say that was true – you
know, there wasn’t as much excitement by the kids when you
started a new unit. But with the actual exploring built into the
curriculum, all the things they do themselves, it gets them excited
and that’s a big part of what’s fun about teaching
science."
School at a Glance:
Glennon Heights Elementary School
Lakewood, CO
Enrollment: 257
Students per Teacher: 15.9
Ethnicity:
72% White
17.5% Hispanic
7.5% Asian
1.5% American Indian
Percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch: 18% versus a
state average of 32%
Mary Bitterlich teaches third grade at Glennon Heights
Elementary School in Lakewood, CO, a suburb of Denver west of the
city, toward the mountains. Lakewood is a quiet middle class community
that has watched the population in the Denver area explode during
the past thirty years. Founded in 1958, the school has seen what
was once a sparsely built stretch of land between Denver and the
mountains fill in with young communities full of new homes.
About
25% of the school’s 270 children are from minority
populations. Glennon Heights’ students’ state test
scores tend to be consistent with or higher than state averages.
Mary
credits her children’s interest in science to the hands-on
nature of the subject and she has noticed that her school’s
new curriculum, the Biological Sciences
Curriculum Study’s
(B.S.C.S.) Science T.R.A.C.S. (Teaching Relevant Activities
for Concepts and Skills), does a good job encouraging children
to explore
and use their hands and minds. She feels it’s made a big
difference: “Not only is that a great way for the kids to
learn, but it’s also a fun way to teach the kids, because
they’re so involved, so motivated, so engaged.… Science
is their favorite subject now, and years ago, I wouldn’t
say that was true.” Life science especially appeals to them,
said Mary, because of the many ways they can connect to the subject
matter.
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Teacher & School
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