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Teacher brings world of science to the classroom

(Download Image) Tracy High School teacher Dean Reese oversees his student, Vatsal Jhalani, in acquiring a mustard leaf sample to be analyzed.

When you peek inside Dean Reese’s science classroom at Tracy High School, you may find it difficult to spot the teacher among the students. Casually dressed and interacting eagerly with the students, Reese blends in with his scholars.

Reese graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and heard about the Tracy position through a job fair in Braintree, Mass. He has been teaching physics and conceptual physics at Tracy High for six years. His goal is to teach science to students in a way that "will answer questions they may never have been able to understand before."

"I want the students to leave my classroom with a new perception of the world — viewing physics as a science that can be seen in their daily lives, not a mystery," he said. "Until that’s been revealed and someone shows them, they will never know."

After becoming interested in the Laboratory’s education programs through fellow Tracy High science teacher Kirk Brown, Reese completed LLNL’s Teacher Research Academies (TRA), a program that is a joint collaboration of LLNL and UC Davis.

The TRA offers a rigorous, unique four-step approach to introducing teachers to cutting-edge science. Each step, or level, builds upon the knowledge and skills developed in the previous step. The fourth and final level is a capstone six-week internship in a research laboratory at LLNL.

The program provides teachers with access to the scientific community and shows them how to bring the real world of scientific research into the classroom. It also offers flexibility and can be tailored to the needs of individual teachers offering a scientific theme that interests them at level(s) at which they’ll participate.

"I got to be a student again," Reese said about the program. "It was nice to experience ideas. It prepared me for new challenges." And, he had several challenges ahead.

Partnering with scientist Gene Berry last year, Reese presented a Science on Saturday lecture about LLNL’s research on the hydrogen-powered automobile to a packed house at the Grand Theatre in Tracy. "It was exciting," he said. "It’s science that's going on locally, and a hot topic."

Recently, Reese was accepted into the Department of Energy’s Academies Creating Teacher Scientists (DOE ACTS) at LLNL, a three-year program for middle and high school teachers to involve them in hands-on learning activities in one of three fields: biotechnology genetic engineering, fusion and astrophysics, and energy technologies and the environment. Here he is developing the skills and knowledge that will prepare him to be a member of a research team.

Through the Teacher Research Academies, the internship and collaboration on science lectures, Reese has established strong ties to LLNL. He’s had the chance to work alongside Lab scientists that he calls "amazing." And, as a bonus, he brings back a world of science to his classroom.

"Teaching science is a way for me to open doors for students. I have a responsibility to prepare young generations to help solve the problems we are facing today and encourage them to be proactive in how they live, realizing that in our world there are consequences to our actions."

Deadline extended for Teller Centennial Symposium

Steve Libby speaks about Edward Teller's scientific legacy

Laboratory co-founder Edward Teller was one of the great physicists of the 20th century. His work included some of the most fundamental insights into the quantum behaviors of molecules and their spectra, nuclei, surfaces, solid state and spin systems, and plasmas.

In honor of the 100th anniversary of his birth, LLNL, the University of California, Hertz Foundation, and Hoover Institution are sponsoring a symposium on Teller’s science and its impact on physics today. The symposium will take place Wednesday, May 28, at the Bankhead Theater in downtown Livermore.

The deadline to register is May 21. To register or for more information, go to the Web.

May 16, 2008

Contact

Linda Lucchetti
[email protected]