Fifty students from Dodge City attended portions of the MASTERS summer institute earlier this summer.
Kansas teachers are working with students in rural parts of the state this summer to increase student learning in key areas.
All totaled, more than 60 teachers met with 150 students in Dodge City, Fredonia, Independence, and Neodesha in late May and early June for MASTERS – Math and Science Teaching Excellence in Rural Schools. MASTERS is a nearly $200,000 grant partnering Emporia State, Pittsburg State and the Southwest Plains Regional Service Center.
They worked with kindergarten through sixth-grade grade teachers to improve the teaching quality in STEM fields while providing an enhanced integrated curriculum for teachers’ classrooms.
“The end goal is – as always – to increase student learning and engagement, in this case within the content of STEM – science, technology, engineering, and math,” said Dr. Matt Seimears, the project’s director and chair of Emporia State’s department of Elementary Education, Early Childhood and Special Education. “Time was scheduled for both the teachers and the students to interact with businesses to learn how what they’re teaching and learning is integral in the jobs and operations of their industry, thus furthering the connection to real world applications.”
The project’s co-director was Dr. Karla Childs from Pittsburg State’s department of Mathematics; other Emporia State faculty involved included Dr. Tiffany Hill, Dr. Sara Schwerdtfeger, and Dr. Kelly McErnerny.