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SPRING/SUMMER 2000 ARCHIVES Last Updated May 30, 2000 FEATURE: NATIONAL ENGINEERS WEEK 2000
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Overnight Success in Just Five Short
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"OK, so A…O…P stands for Anderson, Oconee and Pickens. But, what does H…U…B stand for?" While HUB is not an acronym, the Hub name does stand for something. While the AOP Hub is part of Clemson University, it is also an independent entity. While the Hub is a place, it is not the place where most of our work is done. Confused? Read on! The AOP and its 12 partner Hubs came to be as a concept in the early 1990's. Leaders in education envisioned covering the state with an infrastructure for support of K-12 science and mathematics teachers. The idea was that no teacher in South Carolina should be more than an hour away from a "hub" of activity in science and mathematics reform. Hence the name. A Hub was meant to be more than a place; it was to be a market place of exemplary practices and support for systemic reform. |
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This plan was approved and funded by the National Science Foundation and the state legislature in 1993. The Anderson Oconee Pickens (AOP) Hub came to Clemson University in 1994 thanks to the support of key faculty leaders including Doris Helms and DeWitt Stone. It found a home as a "center" in the College of Engineering and Science as part of the University wide reorganization in 1995. Though it is located on the Clemson campus, much of the work of the Hub takes place in nearly 90 public and private K-12 schools across the tri county area. | |||
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As part of NSF's Statewide Systemic Initiative's program all Hubs are faced with the challenge of the transforming educational opportunities in science & mathematics for all children. The AOP Hub has met this challenge head on with a strategic portfolio of services. Perhaps our best known "overnight success" is something we call Science and Math to Go!. With the financial assistance of the Appalachian Regional Commission and General Electric, six of the AOP consortium school districts set out in 1996 to rethink the support system offered for elementary school teachers who teach science. With a handful of teachers, we began to implement a research-based model for support that features extensive professional development for teachers, science materials kits maintained from a centrally located Materials Resource Center, and active involvement of the community. This experiment has grown into a $1 million project impacting some 15,000 K-6th graders and over 600 science and mathematics teachers in nearly 70 schools in the AOP area alone. With the support of corporate partners including BMW, Carolina Power & Light, DuPont and Michelin North America, and the assistance of the National Science Resources Center of the Smithsonian Institution, the Science & Math To Go! model is spreading across the state. With it goes the Clemson name. The College of Engineering and Science's reputation as an innovator in outreach to elementary and middle schools grows along with the program. The Hub does not live on Science & Math to Go! alone. Over the years more than 4,000 teachers have come to the Hub for over 45,000 hours of professional development ranging from use of calculator based laboratory tools to using mathematics manipulatives, to learning about the SC Achievement Standards in science and mathematics. If you have a child learning science or math in an AOP area school, chances are we've provided some service to their teacher. So what does HUB stand for? It stands for nothing less than offering the very best programs and support to teachers such that they can positively influence and impact their students. After all, someday we hope to see these kids enrolling in the College of Engineering and Sciences. For more information or to arrange a visit to the AOP Hub or a Science & Math To Go! classroom, please contact Tom Peters at 656-1863 or tpeters@clemson.edu.
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Earnest is published by the College of Engineering and Science at Clemson University for the alumni and friends of the College. Subscriptions are free upon request. Send any comments/questions to:
Ron Grant (email: ron.grant@ces.clemson.edu) |
