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Science Program Gets Energized in Plaquemine

In February 2010, Dow announced a grant providing a fiveyear endowment for the science program at St. John School in Plaquemine. Just nine months later, St. John’s high school students were performing a science-themed Halloween Show for the school’s fourth grade students.

“It was great to see the students so engaged in science,” said school Administrator David Dean. “This is what we had hoped for.”

Deans hopes came in the form of veteran science educator Bill Gregg. Gregg, who has been a teacher for nearly 40 years, had spent the previous 15 years teaching at Louisiana State University in the Department of Physics and Astronomy before joining St. John this school year.

Gregg was hired by St. John to ramp up the school’s science program. The school’s location has historically made it difficult to attract and retain experienced teaching professionals, leading to higher than desired teacher turnover.

“Continuity in teaching leadership is crucial to building an effective program,” said Dean. “We reached out to Dow because we felt it was important to bring continuity to our science program.”

St. John hired a veteran educator not only to teach the high school students, but also to help build a program for the elementary and middle school students, as well. It’s an intentional effort to position the students for future careers in science-related fields.

“We have a product at St. John and that product is educated workers,” said Dean. “By having a better science program, not only do companies like Dow get the benefit of better workers, but the community gets the benefit of people who are able to find good jobs in the petrochemical industry.”

In his first few months at St. John, Gregg has staked out several broad goals. On a practical note, he is improving the physical assets of the program by purchasing additional supplies such as chemicals and laboratory equipment. He also is seeking to engage the students in science through more hands-on learning.

Perhaps most far-reaching, Gregg has started to engage the school’s science teachers. This is how he described his job: “My job is to show teachers how to show science. I’ve worked with teachers for many years and enjoy helping them gain skills and confidence in their teaching. In the classrooms today, we have to compete with technology the kids have outside the classrooms. That means we have to bring in animation, videos and lots of hands-on experiments. If we don’t do those things, we can’t engage the kids.”

Both Dean and Gregg see opportunities for St. John’s newly energized science program to raise students’ expectations for what they can achieve. They hope students will be participating in regional, state and even national science contests in the near future.

For the present, though, the students are eagerly adapting to a more dynamic approach to science. Early in November, Administrator Dean was working in his office when he heard a loud noise just outside the window. “Being an administrator, of course my first reaction was to quickly find out what might be happening at our school. But then I looked out and realized it was just Bill (Gregg) and the kids having fun with another experiment.”

Now that’s hands-on learning!