Choosing a high school to work with

Spring 2012

The Delta Science Center decided that the first school they would work with on the Rice Culture project would be Freedom High School. Our group had worked with the high school before with good results. The executive director of the Delta Science Center, Roni Gehlke, was familiar with the principal and it made it easier for the first year of the project.

In spring of 2012 Gehlke set up a meeting with the high school's principal Erik Faulkner and the head of the science department Heather Harper. The meeting turned out to also be attended by several other members of the science and math staff. The school was excited about being picked for the program.

At first the idea was to work with just a small group of about 30 students. With the Principal's excitement about the project, we decided to take a chance and make some changes. Faulkner hoped to bring in all the students in the science department as well as other classrooms like math, agriculture and economics, all features of the project study.

In fall of 2012 the group met again and discussed the parameters of the project. This time about 20 teachers and the principal attended the meeting, as well as Gehlke and DSC committee member and education coordinator Carol Boyd.

The idea of a science fair/career day was mentioned. This would be an opportunity for all of the students to see the program and decide how involved they would like to get in the program. There was also discussion on how the students could otherwise benefit from the project in other classrooms.