Carson City School District science teachers presenting at the National Science Teacher Association area conference in Reno

While students in the Carson City School District may have off of school Friday, the science teachers will be hard at work.

Eight Carson City educators are attending the National Science Teacher Association area conference in Reno today through Saturday to present their findings and expertise on their science curriculum, assessment and instruction efforts that have been funded by the Race to the Top grant over the last two years.

Chris Whitcome, a seventh grade science teacher and department head at Eagle Valley Middle School and Amy Burton, a CCSD Implementation Specialist supporting middle school science will present on Friday on their curriculum work involving the new Nevada Academic Content Standards for science.

Also presenting for the Nevada Academic Content Standards are: Josh Billings, Carson Middle School STEM teacher; Phyllis Atkinson, Carson Middle School sixth grade science teacher; and Sandi Helfrick-Hendrix, former Carson Middle School seventh grade teacher.

The group will present their study they had conducted on their shift from a delivery centered model to a learner centered model of teaching last year on Saturday. They will share their perspective regarding action research as a form of professional learning.

Carson Middle School seventh grade science teacher Gail Bushey will also present Thursday at the conference about her journey through science literacy. She will highlight student’s learning experience and instructional transformation when she used student written arguments to assess a higher level of scientific understanding.

Because of the mass of CCSD teachers attending the conference Friday, the Associate Superintendent of Educational Services, Susan Keema, scheduled a district professional development day for Friday to allow all K-12 science teachers to attend the conference without missing time with their students.

NSTA representatives, community partners, and district coordinators negotiated reduced rates and scholarships to help fund attendance for over 200 local teachers.