The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia has awarded Sweet Briar its 10th consecutive “Improving Teacher Quality” grant, bringing the College’s cumulative total funding under the SCHEV program to well over $1 million.

This year’s grant of $200,063 will fully fund SBC’s 2008-09 “Inquiry Approaches to Math and Science: Grades 3-8,” a professional development curriculum for public and private school math and science teachers.

The “Improving Teacher Quality” program is funded under Title IIA of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Through the latest grant, the College plans to offer two three-credit graduate courses, “Inquiry Methods in Math and Sciences” and “Inquiry Design and Methodology,” starting in August. Intensive three-day, one-credit math and science courses also will be offered next summer, in addition to several Saturday workshops held during the academic year.

Third- through eighth-grade teachers in the counties of Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte, Nelson and Prince Edward, and the cities of Lynchburg, Bedford and Charlottesville, are eligible for the classes. Tuition is paid for by the grant and attendees receive a daily stipend.

Participants can elect to earn credit toward a graduate degree or teaching re-certification points. Teachers attending the Saturday workshops receive five hours toward re-certification.

Topics cover Virginia’s Standards of Learning in math and science. The SCHEV grant also funds an instructional support specialist who is available to participants as a resource throughout the school year. Arlene Vinion-Dubiel is in her second year as Sweet Briar’s support specialist, a position that is about to go from part to full time under the new grant.

“We are here to do whatever we can to help math and science teachers in grades three through eight do a better job using inquiry as a way of teaching,” Vinion-Dubiel said.

Teachers looking for inquiry-based lessons to implement in their classrooms often call her for ideas. Vinion-Dubiel, who has a doctorate in microbiology, is there to get them started, provide materials and, if requested, go to their classrooms to provide hands-on assistance.

She also can bring along equipment that school teachers likely do not have in the classroom, such as microscopes, spectrophotometers and digital balances. Occasionally, her props live and breathe. She recalls once taking Gypsy the chameleon to a class studying camouflage to demonstrate how the species changes skin color according to emotion or mood rather than surroundings.

Recently, Vinion-Dubiel has taken professional development workshops to schools at their request. To accommodate their needs, she selected sections from Sweet Briar’s course offerings to present to teachers on site, allowing them to acquire re-certification hours as a group.

Above all, she says her job is about helping teachers to get their students to do science, not just learn it. Every so often something she brings into a class — whether a live lizard or a model of a flower — earns an enthusiastic, “That’s so cool.”

“Just seeing the spark of interest is always a big deal,” she said.

Enrollment is full for the 2007-08 summer classes, which begin June 23. Registration is first come, first served and is accepted until classes are full. Early registration is recommended to ensure placement.

Please visit www.sxi.sbc.edu for more information on the program and to view current and upcoming course offerings, or contact Jill Granger, program co-director, at granger@sbc.edu or (434) 381-6166.

— By Jennifer McManamay, SBC staff writer