• NSTA Issues National Call for Entries for the 2008–2009 NSTA New Science Teacher Academy
• Four Teachers Win “Ultimate Science Classrooms” in Boston
• Education Week’s Technology Counts 2008 Focuses on STEM
• Deadline Approaches for 2009 National Conference Proposals
• The Great Copy Machine Epidemic of 2008
• NSTA Executive Director Presents at the Amgen-Teach For America Mathematics and Science Summit
• NSTA on Facebook
• Special Offer for NSTA Members!

NSTA Issues National Call for Entries for the 2008–2009 NSTA New Science Teacher Academy

On April 1, NSTA announced a call for entries for the 2008–2009 NSTA New Science Teacher Academy. Cofounded by the Amgen Foundation, the NSTA New Science Teacher Academy is a fellowship program created to help promote quality science teaching, enhance teacher confidence and classroom excellence and improve teacher content knowledge. NSTA Fellows selected for the program will receive a comprehensive membership package, online mentoring with trained mentors who teach in the same discipline, and the opportunity to participate in a variety of web-based professional development activities, including web seminars. In addition, each NSTA Fellow will receive financial support to attend and participate in NSTA’s 2009 National Conference on Science Education in New Orleans. This year’s 150 new science teachers supported by the Amgen Foundation will be named Amgen-NSTA Fellows.

Science teachers located throughout the country who will be entering their second or third year of teaching and whose schedule is a minimum of 51 percent middle or high school science, can apply to the become an NSTA Fellow. For more information about the NSTA New Science Teacher Academy or to learn how to apply to become a fellow, please visit www.nsta.org/academy. Applications must be submitted no later than May 23, 2008, to be considered.

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Four Teachers Win "Ultimate Science Classrooms" in Boston

Thomas Molesky, Cheryl Miller, Dean Martin, and Adam Felzani were the proud and surprised winners of the Ultimate Science Classroom Giveaway at the National Conference on Science Education in Boston. The Giveaway awarded four well-equipped classrooms—elementary, middle, high school, and college—to teachers who will turn each over to the school of their choice. Nationally known vendors, including Carolina Biological, Delta Education, EF Educational Tours, National Geographic, Anova, and hundreds of others, generously donated the equipment for each classroom. Read more at the Giveaway page and examine the contents of each classroom. Congratulations, winners!

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Education Week’s Technology Counts 2008 Focuses on STEM

The focus for Education Week’s Technology Counts this year is on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Articles in the special issue include:

• States Heeding Calls to Strengthen STEM: Unnerved by job losses, weak test scores, and competition from an increasingly skilled foreign workforce, state officials have launched a variety of efforts to improve science, technology, engineering, and math education.
• A School Where STEM Is King: A selective, specialized high school in Baltimore uses an interdisciplinary approach that enables students to experience the subjects as a way of life.
• Learning to Teach With Technology: More teacher colleges are incorporating technology education directly into math and science courses, rather than offering such training separately.
• Software Industry Promotes Goals for School Technology: The goals address student engagement and achievement, equity, access, accountability, and 21st-century skills for students.
• Probeware on Increase in Schools Science Labs: Companies are offering schools a new generation of high-tech instruments for collecting and analyzing data from the physical world.

Read "Digital Directions April 2008: States Heeding Calls to Strengthen STEM" at the Education Week website.

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Deadline Approaches for 2009 National Conference Proposals

Don’t delay! Proposals are now being accepted online for the NSTA 2009 New Orleans National Conference on Science Education, March 19–22, 2009. Share your teaching experience with our attendees! Visit the online submission page to submit your proposal for the New Orleans conference. The deadline is April 15, 2008.

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The Great Copy Machine Epidemic of 2008

A website has sounded the alarm: “An unidentified contagious disease is striking school photocopiers across America, causing them to chew up trees at an amazing rate, using tremendous amounts of energy throughout the process, and contributing to a warmer world through climate change in a big way.”

If you’re looking for something new to engage your students this year as Earth Day approaches (April 22 in the U.S.), join in a national day of action to stop climate change on April 17 by putting your school photocopiers under quarantine and pledging not to make or use any photocopies in classes on that day.

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NSTA Executive Director Presents at the Amgen–Teach for America Mathematics and Science Summit

Teachers and industry leaders will convene at Stanford University on April 12–13 for the Amgen–Teach For America Mathematics and Science Summit to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing math and science education and to reflect on what leaders in the effort can do to ensure that achievement is possible for all students. The Summit will open with a keynote address by Dr. Gerald Wheeler, Executive Director of the National Science Teachers Association, and panel sessions with Jason Kamras, 2005 National Teacher of the Year, and Page Keeley, President-Elect, National Science Teachers Association.

• More information on the 2008 Summit and other presenters

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NSTA on Facebook

Communicate with colleagues, read our Boston Conference Blog, and learn more about membership in NSTA by visiting NSTA’s group page on Facebook.

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Special Offer for NSTA Members!

Announcing a special No-Annual-Fee MasterCard credit card with WorldPoints rewards now conveniently available to NSTA members. Earn points and get the rewards you want—cash, travel, merchandise, and gift certificates—now with easy online redemption, too! Learn more or apply securely online for the National Science Teachers Association credit card today. Or call 1-800-932-2775 and mention priority code FACCIF for more information or to apply.

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And Don’t Forget…

Visit our member services web page to ensure that NSTA has your current contact information.

Visit the NSTA Science Store for an outstanding array of bestselling books and teaching resources. Receive 30% off of the April featured book, Science Fairs Plus: Reinventing an Old Favorite, Grades K–8.