Aug. 3, 2007

VCU offers Summer Workshop Series for educators

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By Mike Porter

From left: Loudoun County High School biology teacher Gini Temple, Michelle Peace, Ph.D., VCU Department of Forensic Science; and Jamestown High School biology teacher Roberto Sepulvedo conduct a lab experiment in VCU’s “DNA, Drugs and the Law” Summer Series Workshop. The workshops give teachers a hands-on experience and offer engaging strategies for teaching their students. Photo by Mike Porter/VCU Office of University News Services
From left: Loudoun County High School biology teacher Gini Temple, Michelle Peace, Ph.D., VCU Department of Forensic Science; and Jamestown High School biology teacher Roberto Sepulvedo conduct a lab experiment in VCU’s “DNA, Drugs and the Law” Summer Series Workshop. The workshops give teachers a hands-on experience and offer engaging strategies for teaching their students. Photo by Mike Porter/VCU Office of University News Services

Melinda Wargacki wasn't quite sure where to turn. Not long after she became a biology teacher at Oakwood High School in Ohio, Wargacki was assigned to teach a new class in forensic science, a subject she didn't know much about.  But she was determined to learn more.

"It was February 2006 and I "Googled" the words 'forensic science workshops' and information about VCU's planned workshop for that summer popped right up," Wargacki recalled.

Wargacki attended the 2006 workshop and used what she learned to develop a curriculum for her new forensic science class.

"Had I not taken that class, I wouldn't have been able to teach forensic science," Wargacki said.

With her school's support, Wargacki returned to VCU this summer for the "DNA, Drugs and Law" course.

Oakwood High School biology and forensic science teacher Melinda Wargacki, from Dayton, Ohio, (left) and Nicole Southards, a chemistry teacher at Green Hope High School in Cary, N.C., perform lab work during VCU’s “DNA, Drugs and the Law” Summer Workshop Series. This is Wargacki’s second year for attending a summer workshop course. Photo by Mike Porter/VCU Office of University News Services
Oakwood High School biology and forensic science teacher Melinda Wargacki, from Dayton, Ohio, (left) and Nicole Southards, a chemistry teacher at Green Hope High School in Cary, N.C., perform lab work during VCU’s “DNA, Drugs and the Law” Summer Workshop Series. This is Wargacki’s second year for attending a summer workshop course. Photo by Mike Porter/VCU Office of University News Services

This is the seventh year for Virginia Commonwealth University's Summer Workshop Series, which began as a single workshop to teach law enforcement personnel and teachers about crime scene evidence collection and storage. Teachers in the first class quickly recognized the workshop's value in helping them teach science to students.

"And based on that overwhelmingly positive response from the teachers, we realized this was an active and engaging way for them to reach their students," said Edward A. Howard, director of Continuing Studies at VCU's Division of Community Engagement.

The Summer Workshop Series now offers 14 courses at VCU and six more off campus, running from late June to early August. In addition to forensic science, the courses now cover entomology, art, history, language immersion and other topics.  Hundreds of teachers, most of them from middle and high schools, participate to learn new teaching techniques and to earn graduate credit.

Some of the participants in this summer's workshops traveled from as far away as California, Montana, Florida and Maine. But the majority are from Virginia, including Lauren Sifranic, an art teacher at Thomas Jefferson High School in Richmond.

"I had a blast in last year's painting class," Sifranic said. "I felt excited and rejuvenated, painting with peers and having a great instructor to bounce ideas around. This year's course will allow me to take back some fun and unique ideas about bookmaking," Sifranic said.

Howard said in addition to classroom lectures, the workshops are meant to be very hands-on.

"If we provide a highly engaging experience for them, they are more likely to provide the same kind of experience for their students," Howard said.

An important component of the workshops takes place after the teachers leave VCU.

"Following up is an important part of the experience," Howard said. "They integrate what they've learned into a lesson plan and get back to us in the fall semester."

One of the greatest measures of success is the "word of mouth" from teachers who have attended previous workshops and come back year after year.

"I'm already checking our next year's classes," Wargacki said. "I plan to come back."

Next year's Summer Workshop Series schedule should be available on March 1, 2008.  To find out more, visit http://www.vcu.edu/workshops/ or contact Ed Howard at (804) 828-8819.